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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Workforce Reductions, Incentives Compliance, and Adjusting to the “New Normal”

Companies that have reduced their workforces as a result of the COVID 19 crisis may need help getting back up to speed when things return to “normal.”

Q2 2020
Companies are primarily concerned with maintaining operations while also keeping their workforce’s good health a top priority. For some of our larger clients, those with a workforce of more than 1,000, it’s simply not possible to maintain operations and keep their workforce safe. As a result, these companies are temporarily halting operations and furloughing or laying off employees.

Our corporate clients with fewer than 1,000 workers are able to significantly reduce their operations and implement new policies to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. Examples include requiring the use of masks and maintaining a safe distance from other people within the facility. Many of our clients already operate under existing safety protocols more stringent than recent recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Corporate clients that have temporarily downsized are concerned with their ability to adhere to the various state and local incentive agreements to which they are a party. With respect to long-term workforce issues, our corporate clients have expressed concern with being able to quickly return to normal workforce levels when the restrictions caused by COVID-19 are lifted. Many of our corporate clients believe that, when “things go back to normal,” demand for their goods will increase as quickly as it declined due to COVID-19. Companies that significantly curtailed workforce to match reduced production levels may need help to quickly return to pre-Covid-19 workforce levels to meet the anticipated surge in demand for their goods.

Finally, many of our corporate clients that have temporarily downsized are concerned with their ability to adhere to the various state and local incentive agreements to which they are a party. Many of these agreements require achievement and maintenance of certain job-creation thresholds. Depending on the incentive, companies may have to repay a portion of incentives received or forgo incentives in the future due to recent reductions in workforce. Several incentive-granting authorities are adjusting incentive requirements to minimize noncompliance issues related to COVID-19. We are assisting many of our clients with navigating concessions offered by state and local governments for incentive non-compliance caused by the pandemic.

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