Innovative Alternatives Are Not Bound By Industry Or Location

Companies in virtually every industry are adopting alternative work arrangements to cut costs and keep their best people. Following are some examples of companies that have adopted innovative solutions.

QualxServ, a 1000-employee firm headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, with 30 district offices throughout the United States, has implemented cost controls with layoffs as a last resort. The privately held company services PCs and laptops for contracted clients. Linda Lamonakis, human resources manager, U. S. operations, pointed out that the company has restructured the organization with the appropriate regular and contingent work force to run the business effectively.

Employees were amenable to reductions in costs in lieu of losing their jobs. The contract staff was furloughed during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays when call volume was lower. There was a vacation buyback program twice during the last 2 years, and the firm was considering reducing carryover vacation time. In addition, the company changed the way it paid for standby time and reduced overtime expenses by implementing various workshifts.

A regional medical center in Central Florida created a “transition staffing pool” for those whose jobs were eliminated. The nonprofit single-site acute care regional medical center employs 3400. They have seasonal fluctuations in staff needs and have also restructured a number of departments. As a result some employees were displaced and required reassignment.

The transition staffing pool works in the following way: First vacancies are posted, and then employees in the pool have the option to bid for transfer to other departments. If they don’t want to accept a different assignment, they are paid for 3 months severance. At the end of that time, they are terminated.

The medical center tries to avoid layoffs because of a limited talent pool in the area. They don’t want to terminate talented people when it’s difficult to find them in the first place. This program has been very successful.

Life Cell Corporation in Branchburg, New Jersey, is a biotech firm with 150 employees. Facing a layoff, the firm went with across- the board cost cutting. It solicited volunteers for layoffs with severance packages, cross-trained employees to fill open positions internally, monitored overtime to divide workload more evenly, which provided work for those who might otherwise have been laid off, and budgeted for attrition (not replacing those who left).

It then combined layoffs with alternative work arrangements. Management sent a directive to the employees that said: “We have extra work in this department. If you try a new job, it will keep you occupied and perhaps save a layoff.” It behooved the employees to learn different skills. It was also a good chance for their career development to learn more than one job. They were told that cross training would benefit them, at Life Cell and in their future career.