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Laid
Off Workers Giving Back to Community
Abridged
Version
From a news story by
CNN San Francisco Reporter James Hattori
September 28, 2001
Five months ago, Patrick Lehner was in the Silicon Valley "fast
lane". He was managing contracts for Cisco Systems, the high-tech
equipment maker.
Today, he's updating inventory data programs at Second Harvest. Second
Harvest is a food bank serving needy families in Silicon Valley (California).
Lehner says, "This is an opportunity to really do something that
helps people in the community that are in real need of food."
Lehner is one of about 80 former Cisco workers who lost their jobs,
but found new challenges. The company offered them a novel kind of exit
package.
They're called "Cisco Community Fellows". The company eliminated
6,000 jobs last April. In place of severance pay, it offered employees
another choice. The company offered one-third regular salary, plus benefits
and any stock options for one year if they would volunteer their services
to a community organization.
For Cisco, it was an "upside" despite the high-tech "downturn",
which forced the company to layoff 15% of its workforce.
This is a payback prompted by a cutback that's making the community
a richer place.
Related Websites (more
information about Food Banks):
Note: America's Second
Harvest is a national network of food banks. According to their website,
Second Harvest is made up of "…more than 200 food banks and
food-rescue programs that distribute donated food through 50,000 charitable
agencies to hungry Americans. Our network serves all 50 states and Puerto
Rico. Last year, almost 1.5 billion pounds of food was distributed,
feeding 26 million hungry Americans."
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1999-2001 Cable News Network, Inc.
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