 APRIL 16 • 2020 | 23

Jews in the D

Jewish Federation 
Furloughs 35% of Staff

As the coronavirus continues to spread, 
JFMD says it cut jobs that can’
t easily be 
done from home.

T

he Jewish Federation of 
Metropolitan Detroit has 
temporarily furloughed 
35 percent of its staff, effective 
Monday, April 13. The employ-
ees who were affected were 
notified on April 6. 
This decision comes a week 
after the Jewish Community 
Center of Metropolitan Detroit 
temporarily laid off 95 percent 
of their staff due to Michigan’
s 
“Stay Home, Stay Safe” order 
in response to the spread of the 
coronavirus. 
“This decision was made to 
safeguard our organization and 
to safeguard the community,
” 
Steve Ingber, chief operating 
officer of JFMD, told the Jewish 
News. “We wanted to make sure 
that we will be here long after 
this pandemic is over so we can 
continue to meet the needs of 
the community.
” 
While Ingber did not have 
an exact number of how many 
staff members were affected by 
the furlough, internal sources 
give an estimate of around 44 
employees. 
Ingber sat down with the 
rest of the management team 
to reach this tough decision. 
According to Ingber, most of 

the employees who were fur-
loughed could not do their jobs 
remotely since their jobs “do 
not lend themselves to work-
ing from home.
” He declined 
to elaborate further on which 
departments were affected. 
A furlough is a temporary 
leave of absence due to spe-
cial needs of a company or 
employer, which is often due 
to economic circumstances. 
Employees who are furloughed 
can collect unemployment ben-
efits, including the CARES Act 
from the federal government, 
which was set up in response to 
the coronavirus. 
According to Ingber, 
employees will not have to 
re-apply for their positions and 
it is JFMD’
s intention to bring 
back all the staff members 
impacted by this furlough. 
“We are still a family. This 
decision was not based on 
anyone’
s performances, but it 
was simply that some of the 
positions don’
t lend to being 
worked from home,” Ingber 
said. “We have to do what’
s 
best for the long-term health 
of our organization, of our 
employees and of the com-
munity.” 

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF 

METROPOLITAN DETROIT’
S FACEBOOK.

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