It is raining lay-offs, downsizing, restructuring and salary freezes among corporates. They are coming up with a lot of cost-cutting measures to improve profits in the current financial crisis. What are the different cost-cutting measures they are adopting to stay afloat during these turbulent times? How good are these strategies to both employers and employees? This article gives you a glimpse and more on the current trends in cost-cutting adopted by organizations.

The global financial crisis is driving corporates hard. Organizations are downsizing and profits don't seem like they will ever be the same. And to adapt to the changing times corporates are slashing down unnecessary costs. This has suddenly become the need of the hour. Cost-cutting helps companies remain profitable in today's challenged economy. By thinking out-of-the-box and moving beyond traditional methods cost-cutting can be enforced without causing pain. Experts across the world have come up with a box full of ideas and strategies to help employers and employees. Consultants are suddenly back in vogue as firms are turning to them to help them figure out how to contain costs in these hard times without causing commotion and harm. How the corporates are doing this humongous job is simply marvelous.

Lay-offs suddenly seem to be the buzzword among corporates. Organizations seem to be paring their staff strength rapidly to improve profits and to keep up loyalty to their shareholders and stakeholders. `Laying off' has, thus, become an important tool for cost-cutting within firms and organizations. According to some experts, lay-offs are valuable in the business cycle of an organization as it allows employers to remove inefficient performers, increase quality of work and promote a high-performance culture. "Lay-offs just mean that some people are more crucial to the survival of an organization than others," says Mark Nadler, a Partner at Management Consultancy, Oliver Wyman's Delta Practice. According to Express News Service, Yahoo! is planning to sack at least 1,400 of it's underperforming employees by 2009 to beat the current crisis. Mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. has plans to lay-off 400 more employees in it's fourth-quarter. The plan is intended to save the company $800 mn in 2009. Many other professionals are of the opinion that lay-offs reduce productivity among survivors and cost a company institutional knowledge. Permanent lay-offs have gained acceptance today as many argue that alternatives such as across-the-board salary freezes and budget cuts are more harmful because they can drive away top performers.

MBA Review Magazine, Global Financial Crisis, Global Economic Slump, Singapore Airlines, Management Consultants, Manpower Maintenance, Short-term Shutdowns, Cost-saving Tactics, Shorter Working Weeks, Flexible Work Schedules, Agilent Technologies.