Budget cutback avoided layoffs

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

In Hawai'i, Budget Car and Truck Rental also struggled to retain workers after Sept. 11.

Instead, the company scrambled to cut back on travel, overtime, company functions — anything to avoid laying off its 620 employees in 22 locations throughout the Islands.

And it worked.

"Before we even thought of laying anybody off, we had to squeeze every penny we could," said Gordon U. Kai, Budget's director of regional sales and marketing. "Our people are very important to us."

Keeping every worker employed also was a business strategy aimed at making sure Budget's customers didn't see a difference in service after Sept. 11.

"It's hard to measure something like that," Kai said, "but I'd have to say that's one of the things that keeps our customers loyal to us."