CSC to Workers: See You in Nine Months

The El Segundo, California-based consulting and information technology (IT) services firm has reportedly asked workers to voluntarily stay home for six to nine months at 20% of their pay.

CSC spokesman Frank Pollare, said the program would allow workers to receive income and the company to “reduce costs for that time,” according to Bloomberg News. Pollare didn’t know how much the move would actually save.

And after all, the reduction is voluntary.  “If they don’t want to take advantage of it, that’s fine,” Pollare told PLANSPONSOR.com . “if they do, that’s to our advantage – and their advantage also.” 
 
According to Bloomberg, Computer Sciences and two larger rivals, IBM. and Electronic Data Systems, have had falling or slowing sales as customers cut information-technology budgets in response to a lagging global economy. That’s hit CSC hard with its shares plunging 25% this year.

Bloomberg said the company has about 37,000 workers in the United States, 21,000 in Europe and 8,000 in Asia. All of them will be offered extended leave if laws in the workers’ nations of employment allow it. Pollare said.

It is “too early to speculate” whether the company will force workers to take the leave if too few workers volunteer, he said. “Whatever level of (voluntary) participation we have, that’s what we have,” Pollare told PLANSPONSOR.com . “There are no layoffs tied to employee participation in the program.”

On July 31, the company said first-quarter profit rose 66%, to $79 million, through cost cuts and an accounting change. Sales rose 1.9%, which was lower than expected.