Jon Katz
1/9/2009, 04:17 PM
“I'm grateful to be working at all, considering I live in the state with the third-highest unemployment in the nation, and I think Winthrop is doing the best it can managing the situation it's been given by the state -- but it's a mess. That's a pretty big hit."
Those were the words of Nakia Pope, a 32-year-old education professor at Winthrop University in South Carolina referring to the school’s decision to have workers take unpaid leave as state funding declines. Pope was quoted in an Associated Press story (http://www.gazette.com/articles/york_45698___article.html/companies_force.html) that ran on Jan. 2 discussing how some employers are requiring employees take unpaid “furloughs” as cost-cutting measures.
And according to the AP, the trend seems to be picking up steam.
“Of 10.3 million unemployed workers in November, roughly 12 percent were unemployed because of temporary layoffs, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The last time this many workers fell into the category was February 1991, when 1.4 million workers were unemployed because of temporary layoffs. As a proportion of the total work force, workers on temporary layoff are roughly 1 percent, nearly the same now as 17 years ago.”
The AP cited Winnebago, 3M and Dell as a few manufacturers resorting to unpaid leave. Winnebago said last month that all workers including CEO Bob Olson would take an unpaid week off during the current quarter and a two-week production shutdown during the holidays. 3M had ordered some workers to take vacation or unpaid time for the last two weeks of the year, and in November Dell asked employees to consider taking unpaid vacation days during the fourth quarter.
While undesirable, unpaid leaves appear to beat the alternative. Even the once-untouchable Toyota is resorting to compromises. Toyota said earlier in the week that it’s negotiating with its workers (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihHNaK2a1XQ0J0UR-G2Q8hQs-rwwD95ISCP00)in Japan to cut salaries.
According to a Bloomberg news report (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQMGbD.MefwA&refer=home):
“It’s inevitable for Toyota to shrink its capacity at home, which may include closing a factory,” said Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse who has an “underperform” rating on the stock.” Toyota must start implementing steps to downsize, starting next fiscal year.”
Those were the words of Nakia Pope, a 32-year-old education professor at Winthrop University in South Carolina referring to the school’s decision to have workers take unpaid leave as state funding declines. Pope was quoted in an Associated Press story (http://www.gazette.com/articles/york_45698___article.html/companies_force.html) that ran on Jan. 2 discussing how some employers are requiring employees take unpaid “furloughs” as cost-cutting measures.
And according to the AP, the trend seems to be picking up steam.
“Of 10.3 million unemployed workers in November, roughly 12 percent were unemployed because of temporary layoffs, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The last time this many workers fell into the category was February 1991, when 1.4 million workers were unemployed because of temporary layoffs. As a proportion of the total work force, workers on temporary layoff are roughly 1 percent, nearly the same now as 17 years ago.”
The AP cited Winnebago, 3M and Dell as a few manufacturers resorting to unpaid leave. Winnebago said last month that all workers including CEO Bob Olson would take an unpaid week off during the current quarter and a two-week production shutdown during the holidays. 3M had ordered some workers to take vacation or unpaid time for the last two weeks of the year, and in November Dell asked employees to consider taking unpaid vacation days during the fourth quarter.
While undesirable, unpaid leaves appear to beat the alternative. Even the once-untouchable Toyota is resorting to compromises. Toyota said earlier in the week that it’s negotiating with its workers (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ihHNaK2a1XQ0J0UR-G2Q8hQs-rwwD95ISCP00)in Japan to cut salaries.
According to a Bloomberg news report (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQMGbD.MefwA&refer=home):
“It’s inevitable for Toyota to shrink its capacity at home, which may include closing a factory,” said Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse who has an “underperform” rating on the stock.” Toyota must start implementing steps to downsize, starting next fiscal year.”