when a company makes all its employees, on every level/position and in all its plants take two weeks off regardless of whether or not they are eligible to be paid for that time off, or is that just business?

as opposed to being laid off?

I've never even heard of something like that. I would start looking for other work, but don't count on being laid off just yet. Still, if absolutely everybody employed is being forced to take a mandatory vacation then it doesn't look good.

Its not a good sign, they arent doing it to give you a rest.

I don' think thing's are looking any too bright.

Depends, my mom's company has a two week time off for cleaning (but she works in a facility that bottles medication).

Hmmmm - do you think the doors will be locked when you come back from that 2 week hiatus?

Don't freak out until you see the pink slip...nothing you can do about it anyway...except CYA & look into other job possibilities on your "vacation"...

Seems very strange, if your company needs to cut costs, that doesnt sound like a great way to do it. They will save on 2 weeks worth of wages maybe, but thats not really a huge saving over the course of the year.

IDK, I'm still getting tons of over time, yet they want to try to cut labor costs.

Nothing would surprise me anymore with the way companies treat their employees. Good Luck maybe they are trying to save jobs by doing something like that.

Same here, my firm just announced a load of redundancies, and i am still getting plenty of overtime. Today i got the best paycheck i have ever received, and many poor bastards are out of work.

i ve seen this before. once was to do upgrades, other they shut down

The local paper mill here did a mandatory shut down for all employees for 6 weeks I think a few months ago (the first time since it opened in the early 50s) - it was to try to save some money, their orders are down, etc. The employees were not entitled to unemployment as it was a shutdown. When they came back to work, "some" employees were given a "temporary" layoff. I believe these were open-ended, until orders pick up. One friend's husband is a truck driver there and he has been off work for a few months now.

Suspect they are trying to save some wages and maybe look at ways to cut back. Wish you luck.

Well, they're not doing any upgrades. I hope if they are planning to shutdown any plants, it isn't the one I work at.

Some plants do that. They shut the whole company down for two weeks in the summer. That's everybody's vacation time. A steel plant by me did that. They've done it that way for years. I think some car plants might do it too.

I have heard of this...

as Winx said, some companies have a set period that they are closed.. and this is when the employees are off too.

Also... the State of NJ is doing something similiar.. For May & JUne of this year, they have ordered a mandatory day off (without pay) for ALL State employees.. in an effort to reduce their budget.

so you work for GM? be seeing you

not good, the company is trying (dramatically) to reduce it's operational costs (to save cash)... this MAY be indicative of a cash position issue...

IDK, it's hard to tell sometimes whether they are being greedy, or just trying to stay afloat.