I visited XLI Corporation today for my story on the Power for Jobs program that the state senate is about to let expire.
I asked the president, Peter Schott, if the economy is hurting his tool and die operation. He said business is down 20 percent.
I asked if he’d been forced to lay off workers. He said workers who left voluntarily have not been replaced. A few weeks ago, XLI implemented a 32-hour work week for all employees. On the final day, workers get partial unemployment. XLI opted into a state program that allows this arrangement in exchange for no layoffs. It’s called
Shared Work.
“They know the alternative is a layoff,” said Schott, when asked how the employees took the news. Schott said he can’t afford to lay off workers who will be needed once the economy revives. He doesn’t know when he’ll be able to get the workers back on a full time schedule.
Schott said he knows of many other local companies taking part in the Shared Work program.
I was thinking we should do a story on this program and its impact on workers and their companies.
If we do that story, should we include that Channel 13 is also mandating furloughs? I think so. We all have to take off two weeks unpaid by the end of the year. Democrat and Chronicle employees are going through the same thing. Kodak workers have to take a week off unpaid. Furloughs are way better than getting laid off or seeing your colleagues get laid off, that’s for sure.
But unlike XLI, I don’t think the misery ends for the news business when the economy bounces back. That’s why I have very mixed feelings about furloughs, pay cuts, and the like. Revenues for media companies began declining at the earliest stages of the economic downturn. I just don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. There may not be one. My colleagues and I may have some hard choices to make about our futures in this business.
Despite my fears, I remain an optimist about the future of local journalism. I care about what’s happening in our community and I believe you care. That’s what keeps me going. I hope that’s what keeps me going for a long time.
There’s certainly a lot to think about during all of this time off.
