Surviving the Workday

So, here’s a story you also never see: Toyota Idles Factories. Apparently during the slow times, rather than laying people off, Toyota is letting them catch up on education and clean-up. Wow.

As the U.S. auto industry sheds workers, and even Nissan offers buyouts, Toyota is sticking by its proud—and expensive—tradition of no layoffs during hard times.

“This was the first chance we’ve really had to live out our values,” says Latondra Newton, general manager of Toyota’s Team Member Development Center in Erlanger, Kentucky. “We’re not just keeping people on the payroll because we’re nice. At the end of all this, our hope is that we’ll end up with a more skilled North American workforce.”