The PEA Blog

VANOC tells employers they should give their workers the Olympic weeks off – not so they can attend, but because of commuter congestion during those February days:

Vanoc CEO promotes mandatory vacations

Vanoc CEO John Furlong has urged businesses to do what they can to reduce traffic congestion during the 2010 Olympics, suggesting everything from closing up shop for the duration to getting employees to take transit or work from home.

During his annual address to the Vancouver Board of Trade, Furlong made 10 suggestions about how businesses can help out during the Games. Four dealt with cutting traffic congestion, including businesses altering their work days, mandating vacation or allowing telecommuting.

“We’re not suggesting anybody should do something that’s not in their own business interest,” Furlong told reporters after the event.

However, “if it’s in your interest and it’s possible, if you want to,” Furlong said, adding companies should do what they can to help out.

Furlong did not unveil details of Vanoc’s official transportation plan, which is being developed with municipalities and TransLink.

The plan — which will lay out dedicated lane closures for “Olympic-family” traffic, street closures and security perimeters around venues — will directly affect employee commuting and how businesses will be able to move goods around the region.

Furlong gave no indication of how much Vanoc and TransLink want to see traffic reduced, but said whatever businesses can do, “they’ll be making a contribution to whatever that plan is.”

During the Beijing Summer Olympics, the Chinese government ordered thousands of vehicles off the road well before the Games, although it was also combating the capital city’s notorious pollution problems.

Furlong used the analogy of the difference between weekday and weekend traffic, noting Sydney managed to create that weekend-traffic feeling every day during the 2000 Olympics.

“And everybody [in Sydney] played a role in that,” Furlong said, “and that’s what we’re asking people to do is that. Make a contribution.”

Virginia Green, president of the Business Council of B.C., said companies need details from the transportation plan to make their own plans for the Games.

But she said Furlong’s speech is a good initial warning that “it’s not going to be business as usual” in and around Vancouver for the Games.

Green said Vanoc’s proposed adjustments will be easier for some firms than others. A downtown office with no regular contact with the public will have an easier time adjusting hours or letting employees work from home.

Retailers, who will want to capitalize on Games-time crowds, Green said, will have a harder time figuring out how to get employees in and out of the city when they need them.

She said many business council members have already adopted Vanoc’s No. 1 suggestion in appointing a “company leader” whose job is to stay informed about Games developments and liaise with Vanoc on company activities.

In his speech, Furlong acknowledged that economic conditions have recently become tighter than people anticipated, but urged the audience to think of the Olympics as a challenge to rise to even in tough times.

Furlong said Vanoc will be asking businesses to lend it employees (while still paying their wages), for periods of up to two to six months. Those jobs could be anything from tech positions to transportation jobs or “back-of-house” work at venues.

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