Lean Factories Find It Hard To Cut Jobs Even in a Slump
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- At a factory here that churns out plastic parts for everything from spray cans to blasting caps, laying off just one worker can be more trouble than it's worth.</br></br>The plant, owned by Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corp., has become so lean over the past decade that many assembly lines run with only a handful of highly trained workers.</br></br>So while mass layoffs have driven the U.S. unemployment rate to its highest in 26 years, Parker and other companies like it are responding to the slump in more surgical ways, mainly by cutting hours and shedding temporary workers.</br></br>"Because of productivity gains, every one of my people carries more dollars in sales today," says Donald Washkewicz, Parker's chief executive. In 2000, the average Parker worker represented about $125,000 a year in sales. Today, that figure tops $200,000. "If I need to cut back, I have to cut back fewer people to achieve the same goal."</br></br>Similar trims are taking place at each of Parker's nearly 300 factories. And to varying degrees, this is happening at thousands of other large and small factories across the U.S.