Over the past few years, organizations have done an unprecedented amount of restructuring, retrenchment and downsizing. Much of this has been very reactionary,without time to think, plan, or take into consideration the optimal workforce size and structure. Most organizations either lack metrics to measure the workforce or measureeverything and don’t know which numbers really matter.The following five key human capital metrics can help make sense out of the challenges and confusionof economic downturns and growth cycles. Thesemetrics provide visibility to understand and analyze theworkforce and enable data-driven decision-making forthe workforce. In an economic crisis, organizations whouse these key metrics would be much better prepared tohandle the changes, move rapidly with agility, and makeprecise surgical cuts rather than taking an ineffective “cut across the board” approach.