Will Unpaid Vacations Be The New Normal At Your Workplace?
Posted November 5, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The economy is in a mess and there’s a good chance your company is, too. As the nervous system of the Western world continues to experience a financial stroke, many are wondering if they’ll even be able to get a raise next year.
And as the belt tightening continues, there’s now another new worry – will you be forced to take some time off without pay?
It’s happened at one giant corporation and there are fears it could become the new normal if things don’t improve.
Computer giant Dell Inc. is asking its employees to take up to five days of unpaid vacation in order to help keep the company afloat. The PC maker has already cut nearly 8,900 jobs but a drop in sales, voluntary severance packages and a worldwide hiring freeze hasn’t been enough.
The last resort: get some people to take time off without pay. “We are asking employees on a voluntary basis to consider taking off (up to) five days … as unpaid time off as a flexible way to reduce costs for the company,” explains spokesman Jess Blackburn.
The requested leave is supposed to be taken within the next three months.
The bottom has fallen out of the computer market for the world’s second biggest PC manufacturer. Hewlett-Packard is number one, but soft global demand is affecting all companies. Dell experienced a huge second quarter profit dip it blames on the lagging economy, but hopes things will take a turn for the better soon.
Like many firms, it’s planning to go where the business is, into emerging markets like India.
So is the unpaid leave idea going to come to your office? No one is sure. It beats layoffs but a week without pay isn’t much of a vacation for many already struggling to make ends meet.
What does seem certain is that there’s no vacation coming from hard times, and that paid or unpaid, that’s going to last a lot longer than five days.
Photo credit: Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images
