For Employers Before Actually Deciding on Closure or Move
Business closures and worker layoffs can occur for a variety of reasons in periods of both economic expansion and decline. These reasons may include financial difficulty, mergers and acquisitions, loss of market share, consolidations, foreign competition, product or service obsolescence, shift in parent company focus, or other factors. Opportunities may exist to save jobs and avoid resulting hardships imposed on individuals and communities when a business closes.
Early response is critical. Adequate lead time is essential.
- Oregon companies that were scheduled to close, but continued operations because of a response initiated by one or more interest groups such as employees, management representatives, government and community groups, and labor organizations. These responses have included management or employee buyouts, sale to other parties, business restructuring and incumbent worker training.
Layoff aversion is a cooperative effort.
An important initial step in Rapid Response is to assess the reason for a business closing or layoff. If there is an indication that the business closing or layoff might be averted, Oregon’s Dislocated Worker Unit, in conjunction with the local Rapid Response Teams and other partners can provide technical assistance to interested parties to investigate possible layoff aversion strategies.
In order for Rapid Response Teams to work effectively, early intervention is critical. For a layoff aversion effort to succeed there must be sufficient time to organize an effective response.