After hearing Jon Greenberg’s story on National Public Radio last week, Sevencell applauded Lincoln Electric’s and Hypertherm‘s goals of  avoiding layoffs at all costs, but the author seemed worried about the apparent coldness of this kind of an employment policy. I offered up some examples from Spark which emphasize that for many decades, leaders at Lincoln Electric have seen the pursuit of profits and the protection of employees as being in absolute lockstep.

Further to NPR coverage the other day, the discussion continues on Shopfloor.org here and here:

“The reason why unions have been suspicious of no-layoff policies – much more so during the first 75 years of the last century – is quite understandable. In order to work for everyone’s benefit, these policies are based on a sense of trust throughout a company that sacrifices in hard times will be shared…”

NPR (National Public Radio) aired an item this morning  which profiled two companies – Lincoln Electric and Hypertherm – that are committed to avoiding layoffs in hard economic times. Reporter Jon Greenberg interviewed me about Spark and the long history of this idea in the North American economy.

You can listen to his reports:

1. Battered Company Says ‘No’ To Job Cuts (runs 4 mins.)
2. Some Companies Declare a “No Layoff” Zone (almost 6 mins.)