Businesses are cutting compensation and tightening up on spending for everything from glitzy corporate brochures to travel arrangements and business meetings. Companies that cashed in on the Internet boom, such as Vignette Corp., are suing some customers for nonpayment. Colorado Springs companies have cut costs by doing everything from asking employees to bring personal computers and other equipment they own into the office to reducing the number of trade shows they attend. Chip-maker Atmel Corp., which hasn't announced layoffs in the Springs, will temporarily idle its local fabrication operations in July to save money. It also had the lights turned off in vending machines on campus to save power.
Cash is much more precious than it was a year ago.
You have to be much more careful about where you are spending that cash. Finding places to cut spending is fairly simple, Smith said. Companies simply go down their lists of check payments and start asking tough questions about whether each check is critical to the survival and growth of the company. Business consultants and accountants say most of the austerity measures being applied in the tech downturn aren't new. They have been tested in past slowdowns, and experienced managers can pick and choose from a long list of techniques.