September 5, 2001

10:38 AM

As the technology industry lays off thousands, a division of the German conglomerate, Siemens, takes a different approach. I like the idea of having a sabbatical of sorts with half pay instead of simply being laid off. Of course, this would never happen in the U.S. - we love laying people off here and contributing to overall unemployment and higher welfare rates. Just look at what Salon has to say about it.... (note, you need to scroll down to midpage).
posted by gloege (5 comments total)

While reducing payroll costs without canning folks entirely is a goal we totally support, we're a little hung up on the name.

$100 (American) says the snotty bitch over at Salon doesn't speak German... The only infantalizing thing about this is her inane inability to see past the English translation of a policy that deserves more attention than apparently she's capable of giving it.
posted by m.polo at 11:16 AM on September 5, 2001

Actually a friend of mine who works for Accenture is taking a sabbatical and said that many people are being encouraged to do the same thing. She's only getting 20% pay not 50% but it's still better than being laid off. As much as I hate Accenture and all the other big consulting firms, to say no one in the US is doing this is simply wrong.
posted by d_brown3 at 11:23 AM on September 5, 2001

This story talks about Cisco paying one-third salary to some laid off employees to work at local non-profits. Sounds like a win-win-win.
posted by msacheson at 2:20 PM on September 5, 2001

I work for an investment bank in NY that is offering a similar program - 50% of a year's salary, along with a $10,000 bonus for anyone who works for a non-profit organization during their year off. Unfortunately, it's only being offered to the newest recruits in a few divisions, otherwise I'd probably be home right now instead of surfing the internet at work. Also, I'd be drunk.
posted by Samsonov14 at 2:32 PM on September 5, 2001

Motorola did the same thing (for their non-exempts), except no pay was offered. You could essentially take a summer vacation from work, but retain your job (and more importantly, your benefits).

As I understand it, it was not offered to technical staff or management (where some people are mentally on vacation all year 'round!).
posted by j at 7:55 PM on September 5, 2001