This study examined the nature of teacher layoffs and their effects on the role enactment and coping strategies of teachers. Fourteen high school teachers, who were employed in a large urban school district plagued by declining enrollment, were interviewed. Each teacher had been "riffed" (reduction in force) and recalled at least once in the previous 10 years, and most had been laid off and recalled more than once. An analysis of the interviews indicated that four aspects of the riffing experience creating a perception of crisis among the teachers were: (1) the unpredictability of the phenomenon; (2) the arbitrariness and instability; (3) the adaptational demands; and (4) the dehumanization of the situation. Several coping responses were evident in the teachers faced by the crises: (1) active problem-solving; (2) fatalism (acceptance); (3) disinvestment; (4) cognitive and affective responses such as cynicism, distrust, anger, blame, anxiety, and reevaluation; and (5) dysfunctional and denial responses including absenteeism, depression, alcohol consumption, and sleeplessness. (JD)