Still Working? How to Handle Office Cutbacks.
So you still have your job, but you're getting a lot less work these days.</br></br>Maybe that overtime you used to count on has disappeared. Or your boss asked you to take a few weeks of unpaid vacation. Perhaps the number of hours you put in each week has been dwindling.</br></br>Whatever the case, your paycheck is smaller, you have more time on your hands and your benefits may be at risk.</br></br>The cuts are often in lieu of -- and sometimes in addition to -- layoffs, and they may be spreading. More than half of the 200 companies surveyed in May by outplacement consultant Challenger, Gray & Christmas said they had instituted salary cuts and freezes. That was double the number from January. Government data show that in June, average weekly hours for all jobs shrank 2% from a year ago.</br></br>And it's not clear when or if workplaces will ever return to normal. A June survey by consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide found that 10% of companies that imposed mandatory furloughs were not planning to get rid of them. More than half of respondents expect smaller staffs three to five years from now.