Demand briefly surged in the first quarter, and executives dealt with it by increasing production while cutting back on workers and hours.
The federal government is such a large customer that many companies, like Booz Allen or Verizon, could be forced to cut back on workers' hours, though these two companies and many others declined to comment on their plans on Thursday.
For months, Republicans have been sounding the alarm over impending job cuts by small-business owners, who say they will cut back on workers to avoid having to provide health insurance.
[C5.] Oil Rigs Raise Safety Concerns The big oil companies that developed oil rigs on the North Sea a few decades ago have started to move on, cutting back on workers and investments.
To maximize profits and free capital for fresh development elsewhere, they are cutting back on workers and investment in the North Sea, and selling some less productive properties to smaller companies that make a specialty of squeezing oil from them.
As Congress prepared to gather on Tuesday in a post-election session to create a Homeland Security Department, Democrats and Republicans began shaping a compromise proposal that would cut back on workers' rights in the department but could end the deadlock that has stalled its creation for months.
Among other potential snags, they argued, was the possibility that sending wages up might just inspire bosses to cut back on workers' hours or hire fewer people.
New York already has a work-share program, where companies cut back on workers' hours and pay and the state supplements their wages.
In a press release Pam Frache, coordinator of the Fight for $15 & Fairness Campaign, said she thinks Ford is turning his back on workers.
