H1N1’s Impact on Private Business vs. Government Furloughs
The Milwaukee Business Journal reports that a severe outbreak of swine flu could “devastate businesses” already stretched thin on manpower by staff cuts resulting from the economic downturn. The swine flu made quite a stir a few months ago with every TV news station and many written outlets (the Business Journal was one exception) competing to provide the most over-the-top, hysterical reporting on what a worldwide pandemic this would surely turn out to be. Now that it’s back and actually making inroads, the reporting is relatively quiet.
Ironic that the same update of the Business Journal reports that Milwaukee County, like many other governmental entities (including the State of Wisconsin), has turned to furlough days to address budget concerns (this only avoids a tough decision for the time being, but that’s another story for another blog).
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For-profit business, which must operate efficiently to survive, can’t afford to lose much of their workforce for a couple of weeks without severely hampering productivity. Governmental entities, apparently, have so much extra staffing that the government services can proceed uninterrupted even without a substantial portion of the workforce for a substantial period of time.
