Question

1. Give and explain alternative strategies that General Motors can pursue rather than laying off workers.

Answer 1

Solution:

There are a few strategies that GM can implement to ensure they would not have to lay off employees. The laying off of employees can be because of a poor business performance due to market situation or economic situation we are currently in. This is why many companies often prefer to lay off the employees to save on the business costs and ensure the business is running smoothly. We discuss 2 strategies that can be implemented by GM so that they do not have to lay off their employees.

GM can send their employees on a unpaid leave for a certain duration. This will still keep the employees on the payroll of GM and also GM will be able to save on the costs of the business. Alternatively GM can decide to not send the employees on unpaid leave and rather pay then a traction of their salary after deducting a percentage of their salary to ensure the business saves on its costs without laying off the employees. This can be a good way of saving business costs without having to shrink the workforce.

GM can as well decide to no provide any wage increments to the employees that are scheduled for annual increases. GM can communicate to the employes about the no increments in the given financial year to curb laying off of the employees and also it can implement the policy of "No hiring and No firing" which will ensure that the employees will be okay with reduced pay because their employment is secured with the company.

These are some of the alternatives to the strategy of laying off the employees which GM can use to mitigate the current business situation.