Late last night I posted about my concerns over the future prospects of the Atlanta Thrashers. As it turns out, I should have been paying closer attention to doings further South, where the Florida Panthers are taking desperate measures to cut costs and conserve cash. As George Richards reported at the Miami Herald last night, the team laid off ten employees yesterday, and instituted a number of other cost-saving measures:
Folks, items 1 and 3 in that list are the sort of steps organizations take when things are as bad as you can imagine financially. What's worse, five of the cuts came from the team's sales staff -- just the sort of people who usually don't get cut because they're the ones responsible for bringing in additional revenue. I think it's not too late to conclude that the Panthers are in survival mode right now. And with all the numbers indicating that we're in the midst of a worldwide recession, it appears they may have to hold out for a very long time.- The team is no longer matching employee money in their 401(k)
- Those who have tickets to the 'specialty' clubs will not be allowed in 30 minutes early as has been the case. This is said to save quite a bit of money.
- Overnight/express mail has been banned. Employees have to have approval to FedEx/USPS anything.
