We examine patent filings, technological intensity and changes in idiosyncratic risk around downsizing announcements using the Fama-French-Carhart 4 factor model for both the short term and the longer horizon. The average market reaction to downsizing announcements is negative. However, a significant portion of our sample experiences a positive market response. We consider analyst following and institutional ownership to further elucidate this result. Our findings suggest that the short-term market response to downsizing decisions for firms that do not file patents is negative and that the filing of patents reduces the impact of the negative market reaction. Similarly, technological intensity in the face of downsizing is important, exacerbating the negative market response for firms that fail to simultaneously announce a technological innovation. In the long-term, we find a greater than 1% level of significance associated with change in idiosyncratic risk, technological intensity, patents filed, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership, suggestive that all of these factors contribute to explaining the overall market impact to human capital downsizing events.