Sony begins furloughing full-time employees
On the heels of laying off most of its 800 temporary workers, Sony Technology Center-Pittsburgh said it will also begin furloughing regular full-time workers. “It’s not a layoff,’ Mike Koff, manager of corporate communications and public affairs for Sony Technology Center, said.
“There is a difference. We are calling this a furlough because layoffs mean you aren’t bringing anybody back. We intend to bring all the people back,’ he said.
Koff, reading from a prepared statement, cited the same reasons for the current problems as those leading to the temporary worker layoffs: a build up of retail inventory leading to less demand for the company to manufacture its television and electronics products.
Sony plans to meet the situation with temporary shutdowns, furloughs and by closing its computer monitor refurbishing business, Koff said.
The majority of employees will be affected by shutdowns of 30 days or less, he added.
“Those whose operations may extend beyond 30 days will be offered furloughs for up to six months,’ he said.
” It is anticipated that approximately 1,000 employees will be affected for varying lengths of time over the next several months. The majority of employees will be back at work on April 1,’ he said.
Koff said the employees involved in the computer monitor work “have been told that the Pittsburgh operations will be phased out entirely by March 31. This is the result of a decrease in repair volumes as consumers shift from computer monitors with picture tubes to LCD displays.
“Approximately 60 employees are affected and they will be given the opportunity to receive severance or to be integrated back into other businesses at the facility.
“Also affected are employees in the division that manufactures seven-inch picture tubes for rear projection televisions. New CRT (cathode ray tube) designs are being tested as the technology of those tubes changes. When a new design is approved, a decision will be made regarding the startup of those operations,’ he said.
Last week, Koff said the company was laying off most of its temporary employees.
“During our peak season before the holidays, we bring in lots and lots of temporary employees who usually stay through the end of January,’ Koff said.
“What happened this year was that our peak season started a few weeks earlier, in July rather than in August, and ended, largely because of the economy, earlier than anticipated.
“As a result, we have laid off, and are continuing to lay off, most of those temporary employees,’ Koff said.
“The number varies from day to day, but at the peak, we have about 800 temporary workers,’ he added.
Koff said this time of year is also traditionally “our slow period,’ which was made worse by disappointing retail electronics sales over the holidays.
“I think when you look at what retail sales were like over the holidays, you see that it wasn’t what retailers were expecting. It was lower.
“Some of those retailers have some pretty large inventories of consumer electronics. So, when you work backwards from that, their orders are down now, so our production is also down.
“We are looking at balancing our inventory before our new fiscal year starts in April,’ he said.
Koff said the company has about 2,800 full-time workers on the job at present.
Sony Technology Center consists of the electronics factory, which produces consumer electronics, including color TV sets, American Glass Video, which manufactures picture tubes for Sony TVs, Sony Chemicals and Display Systems Service.
The company took over the vacant Volkswagen auto manufacturing plant in November 1990.