Organizations should give serious...

Organizations should give serious thought to furloughs and part time work schedules in order to deal with this economic downturn.  This would be the right thing to do.  Because, employees would rather have more time off than to be without a job. 

An organization could give each employee two days off per week and still keep their staff intact.  Even though this would be a hardship, it would be better than disrupting the entire workforce by having mass layoffs. 

The following is a good example of a progressive organization trying to maintain balance in turbulent times.

Telecommunications giant BT is offering staff the chance of long holidays in return for a big pay cut.

The former state-owned company is looking to reduce its wage bill while trying to avoid redundancies after being hit by the economic downturn.

One option available to staff is an up front sum of 25% of annual salary in return for taking the whole year off.

Employees have also been offered a one-off payment of £1,000 if they agree to go part-time.

Parents will have the opportunity to restrict their hours to school term times to allow them to spend time with their children.