The Work-Sharing Boom: Exit Ramp to a New Economy?

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:




The Work-Sharing Boom: Exit Ramp to a New Economy?
To cope with the recession, some companies are cutting hours instead of employees. Will the trend have long-term effects?

by Juliet Schor
posted Aug 09, 2010


Twenty months into the United States’ worst recession since the 1930s, standard approaches for putting people back to work are proving increasingly inadequate. Corporate bailouts, tax cuts, government spending, and stimulative monetary policy have been the mainstays of the government’s response to the downturn. But unemployment has remained stubbornly high, and job creation has been far below what is needed to return the labor market to its pre-crash state.

There is one bright spot on the policy agenda: work sharing. Government policies that encourage companies to reduce hours rather than lay people off are getting a new look.

Operated through the regular unemployment insurance system, state-based work sharing programs are a straightforward way of spreading and diffusing the impact of downsizing: Workers whose hours have been reduced in order to save jobs at their company are able to claim unemployment benefits for the lost hours, retaining a portion—typically half—of their lost wages. Companies have to maintain benefits for these workers; depending on the state, there can be some other requirements as well.

Shorter work time (SWT) schemes have been around for years, although they have tended to be a little known, even esoteric part of labor market policy. They are far more prevalent in Europe, where they originated in the early 20th century and expanded after World War II. SWT schemes didn’t come to the U.S. until the late 1970s, when California implemented an informal version to cope with stagflation, followed by a formalized policy in 1982. Ten years later, the federal government made these schemes a permanent part of labor market policy through an amendment to the Social Security Act.

After the Crash: A Work-Sharing Boom

The National Association of State Workforce Agencies estimates that work sharing resulted in 166,000 jobs saved in 2009—a record number, and almost triple the number from 2008. New York, in particular, has been aggressively pushing its program, and use has also exploded in a number of other states. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/the-work-sharing-boom-exit-ramp-to-a-new-economy

[zipplewrath]

1. Transitional retirement

Something like this needs to be worked out for a new concept of retirement. Take those 55+ guys and allow them to work staggered or reduced hours, and give them some access to various retirement benefits, maybe a partial pension check, or partial SS. Allow them to either "work for health insurance" or get into the medicare system (possibly for a fee). They work 25 hours a week, or possibly work "surges" with a month off. They can be as much "mentors" to the up and coming leaders as they are anything else. Then after 10 years or so, they go into actual "full" retirement.