Posted on 02/06/2010 10:36:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind
On Sept. 12, 2001, there were no commercial flights in the United States. It was uncertain when airlines would be permitted to start flying again—or how many customers would be on them. Airlines faced not only the tragedy of 9/11 but the fact that economy was entering a recession. So almost immediately, all the U.S. airlines, save one, did what so many U.S. corporations are particularly skilled at doing: they began announcing tens of thousands of layoffs. Today the one airline that didn't cut staff, Southwest, still has never had an involuntary layoff in its almost 40-year history. It's now the largest domestic U.S. airline and has a market capitalization bigger than all its domestic competitors combined. As its former head of human resources once told me: "If people are your most important assets, why would you get rid of them?"
It's an attitude that's all too rare in executive suites these days. As the U.S. economy emerges from recession, Americans continue to suffer through the worst labor market in a generation. The unemployment rate dipped in January, from 10 percent to 9.7 percent, but the economy continued to lose jobs. There are currently 14.8 million unemployed, and when you count "discouraged workers" (who've given up on job seeking) and part-time workers who'd prefer a full-time gig, that's another 9.4 million Americans who are "underemployed." While the pink slips are slowing as the economy rebounds, the lack of jobs remains the most visible—and politically troublesome—reminder that despite what the economic indicators may tell us, for much of the population, the Great Recession hasn't really gone away.
Companies have always cut back on workers during economic downturns, but over the last two decades layoffs have become an increasingly common part of corporate life—in good times as well as bad.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
The fact that your employer allows you to enter his facility every day that you are scheduled to work and then pays you is all the loyalty any employer owes to his workforce.
Tell that to Sprint, HP, Merck, Dow, GE and countless other companies.
Look, when it is no longer profitable to make buggy whips, no amount of creative management techniques will save the buggy whip manufacturer.
Interesting that you would choose a man who the SEC has been banned from ever serving as an officer in a public company again as your role model.
Dunlap didn't save companies. His sole purpose was to slash costs and inflate sock prices and then sell them. He did that to Scott Paper and tried it with Sunbeam but instead he almost bankrupted them. His policies while CEO at Nitec eventually led to their bankruptcy. Dunlap destroyed companies. He wasn't a savior.
So true.
The SEC should ban itself! We know how well they work, Madoff, anyone want a job surfing porn sites.
******
Fresh Off of PornGate, SEC Suffers Setback in Madoff Case
A federal judge Tuesday threw out securities-fraud claims the SEC brought against Cohmad Securities, a brokerage firm that worked closely with Bernie Madoff. The judge on the case, Louis Stanton, called some of the agency’s allegations “speculative and flimsy.”
. The SEC also has suffered recent setbacks in high-profile cases involving Bank of America Corp.’s takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the Mark Cuban insider-trading case.
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/02/03/fresh-off-of-porngate-sec-suffers-setback-in-madoff-case/
Because offering them severe pay cuts doesn't go over well. Better one grateful worker (still employed) and one less worker than two pissed-off (50% pay cut) workers.
Yet some people here on FR would criticize you also, they seem to always take a company stand no matter what.
What the heck did they expect? Announce a cutback and you are supposed to sit around and hope its not you.
Aww, c’mon. Al was just... creative!
Anyway, he was never convicted of a crime.
... good point...
“If people are your most important assets, why would you get rid of them?”
Whenever I hear “employees are our most important asset, and that they are more than just employees, they are family!”, I immediately know they are so full of it its not even funny...
Haven’t been wrong yet...
BTW, I’m coming up on my 1 year “layoff” anniversary this month...
And I’ll be waiting for the inevitable, “Why have you not found work?”, “Why Why Why???” As if it is my fault??? Or that there is some deficiency or flaw in my “search”???
This should be fun...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus
You got it, gator. I learned the hard way that the average life span of a small company controller/CFO is 18-24 months. You come in, bust your butt to get things cleaned up, work tons of unpaid overtime because you're an "exempt" employee, then are told that "management wants to move in a different direction."
I landed a two year contract with the feds, and I'm not looking back. The work is highly challenging, overtime is paid, and I don't have to put up with the BS I had to at my prior employers.
I'm praying for you, FRiend. Have you been told yet that "your resume's too strong"? I've been told that several times, and they don't like it when I ask, "where do you think I should weaken it?"
In a normal downturn, I'd be agreeing with you. But this is an Obama downturn, and it will be months before any meaningful job growth occurs.
In the interim, it appears that growth will be more due to inventory replacement than anything else. What's that term? Inventory whipsaw, or is it whiplash?
FYI Southwest is THE most unionized airline in the industry.
Well...after twenty+ years in the airline cockpits (nonunion, union, independent union, ALPA union), this has not been my experience. American has an independent pilot union, they are listed with the companies you mentioned. US Airways is an independent pilot union, they are listed as well. You might consider that pilot unions have virtually zero influence on business arrangements such as this. I fear you give unions too much credit. Unions simply don't care about these arrangements as it is of no consequence to them, and outside of their contractual capabilities in any case.
Perhaps I can clear things up a bit. Consider, if you will, why Southwest would not choose to associate with these web travel companies. Could it be as simple as Southwest not wanting to pay the commissions associated with having Expedia selling their tickets for them? This cuts into their bottom line. Could it be that Southwest is perfectly capable of handling their own reservations, thus preserving their profit margins? Southwest does seem to have a different type of customer. At least consider this as a possibility and do your own research on it of course.
I am not hammering you. It's just something that you should consider as an explanation for these business arrangements (assuming that I am correct on the limitations of unions in such matters).
If I worked for NewsWeak I’d be anti-layoff, too. How many buggy whip manufacturers retained their staff and stole market share from their competitors?
“We are “Free Agent Nation.”
I hate that, and would like to see it change...in some way compatible with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. IOW, not through government intervention, but through changes of heart.
Well, bags fly free...;-)
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