Furloughs Only Work for the Military
The global economy has gotten so bad that Japan and some countries in Europe have tried to save jobs by implementing “work-sharing” programs. Here in the U.S., employers are equally concerned with keeping employees on staff, while still cutting costs. Their response is to implement furloughs. Furloughs are unpaid days off and Dr. John Sullivan, in his article for ERE, Employee Furloughs Can Be a Bad Alternative to Layoffs, clearly disagrees with this solution.
According to Sullivan, furloughs are used instead of layoffs by companies that “lack the courage to look employees in the eye and terminate them.” He goes on to list the many ways that furloughs can ultimately do more harm than good.
Potential Problems with Employee Furloughs:
- Cost saving? “Most furloughs,” Sullivan says, “save a lot less money than actual layoffs would.”
- The workload doesn’t decrease. Since employees’ work doesn’t get done while they’re away, employee stress, customer wait times, and error rates all increase because of furloughs, Sullivan points out.
- Top performers deserve better. In a nutshell, Sullivan believes the best employees should be spared the indignity of having to take time off without pay. He uses a comparison between Tiger Woods and Homer Simpson to illustrate his point. “A better practice,” he suggests, “would be to reward your top performers by permanently releasing the bottom performers so they don’t have to work alongside them.”
- Turmoil. Gossip, rumors, and water cooler discussions only add to the tempest.
- It’s not really a short-term solution. Furloughs, Sullivan warns, won’t necessarily prevent layoffs from happening.
- Angry customers. Reduced staff can lead to reduced customer care.
- Product quality. Reduced staff can lead to reduced attention to detail.
- Innovation. The disruption and uncertainty caused by furloughs “will kill any innovative spirit almost immediately.”
- Job search. Uncertainty causes employees to start looking for something more stable.
- Recruiting will be damaged. Since furloughs are often publicized, entry-level job seekers will know that a particular company isn’t doing well and they won’t want to work there. In addition, employees will be reluctant to recommend their company to anyone when their own futures there are dubious.
- Teamwork. Projects requiring teamwork will suffer if all team members can’t be present at the same time.
- Lawsuits. Are furloughs entirely legal? Employees are apt to challenge them.
- Scheduling. A nightmare in the making. Whoever is in charge of scheduling will have his hands full trying to accomodate everyone.
No solution is perfect or without pain, but in Sullivan’s opinion, layoffs may be a necessary evil that HR departments will have to face as economic times get tougher.
