Many companies are cutting headcount to reduce the cost base in order to survive the recession but there are other options out there to temporarily reduce costs during a quiet period.
NEMC Group, the Newcastle-based direct marketing house, has recently successfully completed a period working on a four-day week, a move that countered any possible redundancies.
Howard Matthews, chief executive of NEMC, said that the decision to reduce working days was hard but necessary in the face of falling orders.
He said: "It is imperative that everybody from the board to the shop floor is involved; we are all employees ultimately.
"You have to be honest with your staff about how things are going, pat them on the back when things are going well and let them know when things aren't.
"We talked to staff and they came up with the offer to work a four-day week. We made no redundancies as a result, and in fact, were able to end the reduced working week early – although the management and directors continued with the reductions to the end of the three-month period."
The prospect of reducing working hours is one that many businesses will be considering as a way of avoiding redundancies during the downturn.
BPIF corporate affairs director Andrew Brown said that for the right company, it could be an essential way of retaining skills during the downturn.
"For a company that that has a strong underlying business and a strong market that will return after the recession, temporary wage cuts and a reduced working week could enable it to retain skills in time for the upturn.
"Businesses have to consider the appropriate response to the recession, but there is no one size fits all solution and it is not right for every company," he said.
Tony Burke, assistant general secretary of Unite, warned that employers should be careful to avoid being on the wrong side of employment law.
"It is a very complicated issue," he said. "We have recently had to agree to a reduced working week to stop redundancies but it is a very complex legal issue and companies have to be careful.
"In addition, there are other measures within the national agreement that can be implemented and we are currently campaigning for a government wage subsidy to be offered to companies."
Unite is in the process of issuing legal advice to all of its local chapels and regional representatives surrounding the issue.
