Section OneAvoiding Business Cycle–Based Layoffs
The advisability of laying off workers during economic
downturns has been questioned by some companies and
management scholars.^73 Although the no-layoff policies of such
companies as Southwest Airlines and Lincoln Electric are well
known, there have been other examples from contemporary
experience such as in Germany when a financially strapped
shipbuilding company loaned 68 skilled workers to
Daimler-Benz for one year. Another example is provided by
the Sony Corporation. Sony’s refusal to lay off employees in its
San Diego plant after a decline in sales paid off in increased
employee commitment and increased performance in following
years.^74 As Akio Morita, the chairman of Sony, has stated:
American management treats workers as just a
tool to make money. You know, when the
economy is booming, they hire more workers,
and [when] the recession comes, they lay off the
workers. But, you know, recession is not caused
by the workers.^75Other leading U.S. companies that have offered
employment guarantees in the past have included Johnson
Wax, Nucor Corporation, Worthington Industries,
Hewlett-Packard, and Hallmark.^76 Hewlett-Packard has stated