CSC Tells Workers to Take a Vacation

Employees of Computer Sciences Corp. must use their vacation days to take a week off between Dec. 30 and March 28 to help the El Segundo computer services company save money as its sales and profit slow.

Computer Sciences had asked employees to take vacation for Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks, the company said in a memo sent to employees and posted on the Web site Internalmemos.com. Employees who lack enough vacation time to take another week off before March 28 will have a “negative vacation balance until they accrue more vacation over time,” the memo said.

“It is very common practice for American industry to require some employees to take paid vacations during slow times of the year,” said company spokesman Mike Dickerson. “The memo does not in any way accurately reflect the company’s consolidated financial condition.”

Chief Executive Van Honeycutt said last month that demand for information-technology services in North America isn’t improving, and corporate customers have ordered fewer add-on services. Last month, the company reduced its profit forecast for the third quarter ending this month to about 60 cents a share. The average Thomson First Call analyst estimate had been 69 cents.

“Our financials continue to be weaker than anticipated though we have implemented a number of cost-cutting programs such as reducing travel and training costs as well as layoffs,” the company said in the memo.

CSC shares Friday fell 35 cents to $34.65 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have fallen 29% this year.