company the way he liked.Feuerstein criticizes those who downsize simply to contract out cheaper labor. Theres a downsizing that is necessary as a rules of technological improvement, he says. But theres a downsizing that is a result of the CEO searching for cheaper labor elsewhere that I dont feel is the right way to go in the long run. At one point during an interview with Thomas Teal from Parade magazine, as he was warming to an attack on Al Dunlap (the man who dismantled Scott Paper and fired a third of its work force), I interrupted to suggest that maybe Scott Paper was overstaffed, and Feuerstein surprised me: "If one-third of the people in that company were wastefully employed, then Dunlap did the right thing." And then the new patron saint of working Americans surprised me some more. "Legitimate downsizing as the result of technological advances or as a result of good industrial engineering? Absolutely. I'm in favor of it. And we do it here all day long ... We try to do it in such a way as to minimize human suffering, but the downsizing must be done." Under the benevolent, angular exterior lurks a businessmana businessman who understands labor. The trick, he told me, is to keep growing fast enough to give new jobs to the people technology displaces, to weed out unnecessary jobs "without crushing the spirit of the work force." If all you're after is cutting costs, if you "just have a scheme to cut peoplethat sort of thing is resented by labor, and you're never forgiven." Feuerstein has a union shop, has long invested heavily in technology that eliminates jobs, and has never had a strike not exactly the hallmarks of a fool. It's here he has shown his real genius. Any snake oil salesman with a strong enough stomach can make quick money, sometimes a lot of it, by slashing costs and milking customers, employees, or a company's reputation. But clearly that's not the way to make a lot of money for a long time. The way to do that is ...
