April 10 2009
Volume 39, Issue 7 - 04/10/2009
39
7
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Distributors across many sectors face a decision many never faced before: whether to implement layoffs. This article offers insight from two distributors on deciding who, when and how, as well as expert opinion on best practices in this difficult time.
Business is off about 40 percent from a year ago for one industrial distributor in the Midwest. As a result, for the first time in 22 years, the owner has had to lay off roughly a fifth of his small staff. It was one of the worst days of my life, he says.
The fear in employees' eyes as they walked to the conference room the day the layoffs were announced was palpable, he says. The process has taken an emotional toll on him and the remaining workers. For many distributors, a dramatic drop in demand in the ...
- Premium
How layoffs are handled makes a huge difference in the productivity and morale of remaining staff. These days, layoffs are not unusual, which means that although they might not surprise those who are laid off, the fear of being laid off is always present. In a recent survey, 60 percent of respondents said they were afraid of losing their jobs.
Some companies have the attitude that those remaining "ought to be happy to ...
- Premium
MDM: Many companies are having to turn to layoffs in order to survive the recession. What are the broader impacts of these moves?
Skip DeVilling: Labor is the easiest thing to cut. It can be done at any level and the results are immediate. Executives aren't immune, and if you cut one high level executive position, the savings there can be significant. That doesn't mean that they can't be done better. Communication is important. Providing support after the lay off, such as ...
- Premium
Whether we have hit bottom is still wild speculation. The important thing is that these signs of hope are necessary precursors to a recovery. We have to wait to see if they are real. It's encouraging that the first wave of good and less-bad news at the end of March has been more or less sustained into mid-April. Even the steel industry and the deep pit it has been in has started to look better. And this week's market and positive earnings reports ...
- Premium
While the economic stimulus package may not be perfect, Adam Fein saw a potentially damaging level of pessimism in some of the responses to a survey conducted the week the bill passed. About one-fifth of executives indicated they would decrease their focus on growth initiatives because of the stimulus bill, Fein says.
Fein recommends distributors turn their heads from the bad, and instead consider areas where they can benefit from new ...
- Premium
Inventories. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers were $419.3 ...
- Premium
- Premium
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- Premium
Distributors across many sectors face a decision many never faced before: whether to implement layoffs. This article offers insight from two distributors on deciding who, when and how, as well as expert opinion on best practices in this difficult time.
Business is off about 40 percent from a year ago for one industrial distributor in the Midwest. As a result, for the first time in 22 years, the owner has had to lay off roughly a fifth of his small staff. It was one of the worst days of my life, he says.
The fear in employees' eyes as they walked to the conference room the day the layoffs were announced was palpable, he says. The process has taken an emotional toll on him and the remaining workers. For many distributors, a dramatic drop in demand in the ...
- Premium
How layoffs are handled makes a huge difference in the productivity and morale of remaining staff. These days, layoffs are not unusual, which means that although they might not surprise those who are laid off, the fear of being laid off is always present. In a recent survey, 60 percent of respondents said they were afraid of losing their jobs.
Some companies have the attitude that those remaining "ought to be happy to ...
- Premium
MDM: Many companies are having to turn to layoffs in order to survive the recession. What are the broader impacts of these moves?
Skip DeVilling: Labor is the easiest thing to cut. It can be done at any level and the results are immediate. Executives aren't immune, and if you cut one high level executive position, the savings there can be significant. That doesn't mean that they can't be done better. Communication is important. Providing support after the lay off, such as ...
- Premium
Whether we have hit bottom is still wild speculation. The important thing is that these signs of hope are necessary precursors to a recovery. We have to wait to see if they are real. It's encouraging that the first wave of good and less-bad news at the end of March has been more or less sustained into mid-April. Even the steel industry and the deep pit it has been in has started to look better. And this week's market and positive earnings reports ...
- Premium
While the economic stimulus package may not be perfect, Adam Fein saw a potentially damaging level of pessimism in some of the responses to a survey conducted the week the bill passed. About one-fifth of executives indicated they would decrease their focus on growth initiatives because of the stimulus bill, Fein says.
Fein recommends distributors turn their heads from the bad, and instead consider areas where they can benefit from new ...
- Premium
Inventories. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers were $419.3 ...
- Premium
- Premium
- Premium