Last year the company I work for made record profits, by a lot. Think at least 25% over the previous year.
Last Thursday, our entire department (in the office, some salary some hourly) was quite abruptly called into an all-hands meeting. It seems the chip shortage is affecting business, and we may not see increased profits this year, in comparison to last year. We had to reduce headcount by 3 people for a week. Since regular payroll and vacation pay come out of different budgets, first we were asked for volunteers to take the week off with vacation pay. This time that was enough, because in the US we get next Monday off anyway (Memorial Day), so many people were already taking this week off. But we were also told that this will most likely happen again this year, and if someone is without any vacation time left, they will be sent home without getting paid.
I heard shortly after our meeting that all the other departments had the same meeting. The production area is drastically reduced this week. I don't know what their vacation policy is, but I'm sure a lot of those people work paycheck to paycheck, and are home without pay right now.
This is bullshit. The company is privately owned, and the owner also owns many, many other companies throughout the US. He's a billionaire (no, not any of those) and can easily afford to “weather this storm” while many of his “team members” are at home wondering how to pay next month's rent. All in the name of continuous growth. I just find the entire situation disgusting.