Posted by Rob Minton
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As I write this, I am looking at the Dow "ticker" on a financial web site. It's down 183 points right now, mostly because of news this morning that the unemployment rate in the U.S. rose to 9.5 percent in June, after a month of higher-than-expected unemployment claims.
To balance this downer, I am going to share with you a recession story that is more uplifting.
Where I live, in Northeast Ohio, one of the few bright spots in our economy is our vast and renowned health care system. The world-famous Cleveland Clinic is the City of Cleveland's largest employer. Last December, it announced a wage freeze and restricted hiring. The president and CEO even asked employees to do what they could to save the Clinic money, as that, in turn, would save jobs.
According to a Cleveland.com article this morning, the belt-tightening worked. The Clinic announced that beginning in August, it would start issuing pay raises to its employees. The move will amount to $60 million in salary increases, and it comes after a concerted effort by the company's employees to cut costs.
From the article:
Physicians began booking more appointments during the day, giving up research and office time. Catered lunches turned into brown-bag gatherings. Overtime was cut, positions went unfilled and vendor contracts were renegotiated, a Clinic spokeswoman said.
On Wednesday, [Clinic CEO Toby] Cosgrove said it was "a pleasure to recognize those efforts."
"I am incredibly proud of each employee and physician who committed themselves personally, to doing what was necessary to reduce expenses so we could preserve jobs and provide great care to patients," he said in an e-mailed statement.
The company also restricted travel and delayed expansion projects on two buildings. In an era of recent corporate excess, this is a true company success story.
Not long ago, we had to read about private jet trips that CEOs of bailed-out automakers made, and about the huge bonuses Wall Street heads accepted while their companies either went under or were propped up by our tax dollars. So, to me, this news of a concerted effort by this region's largest employer to cut costs TOGETHER, from the top to the bottom, is truly inspiring.
Everybody made an effort -- brown-bagging lunches, working harder during business hours without overtime -- and the company flourished. Revenues went up even as costs went down, and now Cleveland's struggling economy should benefit as the largest employer's personnel all receive a little more money in their pockets.
Who says a business can't prosper in this economy?
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