Jaguar Land Rover offered staff three-month sabbaticals on 80% pay, and 300 employees accepted. Honda announced it would halt production for two months from February. And General Motor’s UK-arm Vauxhall has offered nine-month sabbaticals on 30% pay.
Other companies, in both the auto industry and beyond, are working hard to preserve jobs. Even small businesses are finding ways to buck the current trend of layoffs – see this article in today’s Wall Street Journal about how they’re doing it.
For some companies, it’s about pride and reputation – establishing an employer brand that keeps its people through thick and thin. That kind of care can certainly create a loyal workforce.
But let’s also recognize the pure business sense it makes to preserve jobs, if possible. Sound business strategy includes long-range thinking and is not all reactionary. We’re not going to be in this trench forever. And if the standard statistic is correct – that re-hiring and re-training costs a company three times the job’s salary – then keeping the team in tact during an economic downturn should be a goal.
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Frankly I think that’s abslutoely good stuff.