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How to not fire people during slow times

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  • How to not fire people during slow times

    Al's place of work, a factory, has been having EXTREMELY SLOW DAYS lately. In the interest of making sure everyone still has a job, the powers that be have determined that the way to deal with this will be (when necessary):

    1. 4 day weekends
    2. Assigning people to the "if it's slow I go home today" list which alternates daily

    This has resulted in lots of days off (Al worked maybe a total of two days last week) but no layoffs, and I'm quite happy with that.

    Especially since word is business picks up next month.
    My Guide to Oblivion

    "I resent the implication that I've gone mad, Sprocket."

  • #2
    Laying people off can be expensive (severance pay, etc.). If the rumour that business will pick up next month is true, layoffs would result in another expense - recruiting new people (since some of the people laid off would have found other jobs, and so wouldn't be coming back). If the company knows it's going to have a short slow time, it can be cheaper to cut hours across the board but not lay anyone off, since when things pick up they already have the experienced staff on payroll.
    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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    • #3
      My store will do that. If its slow, they will call people out, or cut back on the number they have, or send folks home early. It never really bothered me, as I was always happy to leave, and as its my second job, i didn't really mind losing the small amount of $$ by not working or going home early. There were always plenty of others willing to stay!

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      • #4
        My father is currently on a four-week voluntary layoff from work. It was just extended another three weeks. He's happy as a clam though; he hopes to retire within a year or so.

        Quoth Catwoman2965 View Post
        My store will do that. If its slow, they will call people out, or cut back on the number they have, or send folks home early. It never really bothered me, as I was always happy to leave, and as its my second job, i didn't really mind losing the small amount of $$ by not working or going home early. There were always plenty of others willing to stay!
        My store used to handle payroll crunches this way, and it SUCKED.

        Management would go on a slashing spree at the end of the month, cutting people's shifts short a couple hours or telling them not to bother coming in. They'd watch as monthly display changes didn't happen on time, planograms weren't done on time, freight started piling up in the backroom needing to be worked, and customer service survey scores dropped for lack of cashiers or floor people.

        Then when we started a new month with new payroll, management would panic, try to catch up on everything at once, call people trying to get them to work extra shifts, and get pissy when nobody would answer their phone or come in. You didn't give a shit about their hours last month, so why should they care about your call now?

        A better idea would've been to seek volunteers to cut out early whenever sales were tanking. I am certain there would be people willing to take them up on that.

        Fortunately, the new management regime seems to be better overall at managing payroll.
        Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

        "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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        • #5
          *snicker* My grandfather managed to have one of the few knitting mills in the US that remained *nonunion* into the mid 60s when we sold them off. How you may ask? Simple. When the economy crashed he did not fire a single person. Everybody got kept on and the mill made product as long as they had the materials even though they ended up stockpiling them until every single inch was full, then people got makework to do ranging from yardwork, cleaning, ragpicking and suchlike, and no rent was charged for the housing. When WW2 kicked in, the mills got contracts to make clothing, blankets, bandages and whatnot and went back to full shifts. They kept sending organizers in, the employees kept driving them to the edge of town and telling them not to come back.
          EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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