Gannet gives Furloughs

After having already laid off some 7000 employees in the last two years, the Gannet Company (the largest newspaper publisher in the country) is trying something new. The New York Times reports that Gannet is forcing its employees to take an unpaid, one-week furlough. The number of people made to take a leave of absence, as well as how much money this will save the company, is unspecified.

Though the "vacation" is unpaid and forced, and without hardship exceptions, I gotta say it beats losing your job altogether.  Plus, you have extra time to spend with your family, read a book, and catch up on sleep. Our recent Vault survey, Downsize This: Employees Sound Off, showed that 64% of you would take a pay cut if it meant keeping your job, while only 19% of the companies even offered the option. Since many companies are already several rounds into layoffs, perhaps they'll start embracing these alternative money saving measures before axing more jobs. 

What do you think? What else could companies do to ride out the recession? Leave us a comment and check out what others had to say in our survey.

--Posted by Linda Petock, Vault News & Commentary