Orange County Register

Employers are trying to do everything they can to avoid layoffs, with permanent job cuts coming third among the top cost-cutting measures, says a new survey.

The Challenger, Gray & Christmas poll of 100 human resource managers shows reducing travel expenses was the No. 1 move taken to reduce costs, with 66.7% of the companies chopping out-of-town visits.

Hiring freezes and reduced hiring came in second at 57.8% with 55.6% of the employers resorting to permanent layoffs.

“Many companies cannot cut their payrolls as deeply as they have in previous downturns, simply because they did not do as much hiring during the most recent expansion. As a result, they are forced to find alternative ways to keep their costs down," says John Challenger, chief executive of the international outplacement firm.  "Companies that have thus far avoided job cuts may not be able to do so for the entire length of this recession, but by reducing costs in all these other areas, they may be able to limit the size of the cuts.”

One new trend:  across-the board pay cuts.

"In the past, companies were more inclined to cut jobs than reduce wages, reasoning that productivity would drop and turnover increase among high-performing workers," says Challenger. "However, we are seeing a reversal in that line of thinking, due to the severity of this downturn and the idea that everyone, including the top executives, will have to make sacrifices to ensure the company’s survival.”

Read the full press release HERE.

Need a job?  Looking for bargains?  Facing  financial setbacks? Visit the O.C. Register's Web page on Handling Hard Times.

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