The Furlough Weekend: An Alternative To Layoffs?

Would you like 10 more three-day weekends per year?

Would you still take them if the third day was unpaid -- and if your alternative was getting laid off?

One of the biggest costs of any employer is payroll. In the ongoing economic crisis, employers are looking for any way to cut costs and many are resorting to layoffs.

But many others — from an RV-maker in Oregon to the state government of California — have turned to involuntary furloughs, or unpaid days off, as a way of cutting payroll costs while avoiding painful layoffs.

That got us here at The Ticker thinking: What if employees facing furlough could choose their furlough days?

Call it the Furlough Weekend.

While this idea may not be for everyone due the type of work, importance of a worker or manager it can be employed by those who would be creative and want to keep valuable workers availabel for the future when the economy will turn around.