Most Furloughs to Go Away - But Will Their Impact Linger?

In a post last week, I explored the question of whether the furloughs of '09 would trigger a fundamental and irrevocable shift in the employment relationship.

It appears, based on the latest research from Watson Wyatt (conducted in June and reflecting 179 U.S. based employers) that most of the companies who implemented mandatory furloughs or shortened work weeks plan to reverse or eliminate them in the next 12 months.

From the survey:

Of those companies who implemented a reduced work week ...

• 29% plan to reverse the practice in the next 6 months

• 39% plan to reverse the practice in the next 12 months

• 10% do not expect to reverse the practice

• 23% do not know

And of those employers who put a mandatory furlough in place ...

• 20% plan to eliminate the furlough in the next 6 months

• 45% plan to eliminate the furlough in the next 12 months

• 10% plan to eliminate the furlough in the next 18 months

• 10% do not expect to eliminate the furlough

• 15% do not know

So most employers hope to put the reduced work weeks and mandatory furloughs behind them in the next 12 months.  The question remains ... while they may move to reinstate full work weeks, will they ever recapture the sense of employee dedication and 24-hour-a-day-availability that they may have counted on before the recession. 

Time will tell, I guess.

Comments

[Michael Haberman, SPHR]

All of my clients who instituted shortened weeks and furloughs did so after already taking actions to cut the "deadwood" from their workforces. Now they feel they will be at proper staffing levels when business returns to previous levels, which many do. They are not quite sure when but for everyone the sooner the better.