has offered buyouts to nearly all of its 8,000 employees, citing the poor economy and having too many workers with not enough work to go around.
Employees were told in an e-mail Friday they could apply for a “voluntary separation program,” regardless of age or tenure.
Union employees have until early January to decide. If they apply for the buyout, it will be granted, Holyfield said.
“That is where the imbalance is,” Consumers spokesman Jeff Holyfield said.
The utility would like to see 250 of its union employees take the offer, and Holyfield said they are optimistic they will hit that mark.
“If we don’t achieve that goal we will have to look at other options including involuntary separation,” Holyfield said.
There is no target number for salaried employees.
The separation agreement includes a pay package tied to years of service and a continuation of the company-paid portion of health care for a certain period of time.
Salaried employees have until early December to decide, however, the utility reserves the right to turn down their buyout request if it would not result in a net reduction of the workforce.
Three years ago, the company made a similar offer to more than 5,000 of its salaried, nonunion employees. They were given eight days to decide if they wanted to remain with the company. In the end, about 5 percent of those eligible applied for the voluntary buyout. Of those 263 who applied, the company approved 189.
The buyout offer does not apply to the union workers in its five call centers around the state because work there is more than steady. None of the call centers are in Jackson County.
The utility employs more than 8,000; about 1,200 work in the company headquarters in downtown Jackson. There are about 2,400 Consumers employees in Jackson County.
The utility said the slow economy is what spurred the move.
CMS President and CEO David Joos told investors last month that 2009 had been a challenging year due to the economy and unfavorable weather. Sixty-six of the 88 days this summer were at or below normal high temperatures.
Compared to 2008, gas sales are down 5 percent and electric sales this year are down 4 percent, with the biggest decline coming in the industrial sector.
Holyfield said new business installations are down sharply since 2005. Gas installations are down 77 percent and electric is down 72 percent, he said.
Natural gas customers fell by 17,000 in 2008, Holyfield said.
“That’s people leaving, that’s businesses shutting down," he said.
Next year’s sales are expected to be flat with a slight improvement in the second half of 2010, according to the utility.
Earnings at the utility have remained somewhat steady recently.
In February, Consumers reported its first positive annual earnings in four years, with a net income of $289 million in 2008.
In October, CMS reported earnings of $73 million for the third quarter, which was slightly below Wall Street expectations and its third quarter earnings from the prior year.
For the first nine months of the year, CMS has a reported net income of $216 million, compared to a reported net income of $224 million, during the same period last year.