Furloughs Called Off At UTC

United Technologies Corporation called off thousands of furloughs, Monday, due to Pentagon employees being recalled to work there. The company said in a press release on Sunday:

“United Technologies greatly appreciates the efforts of those in the Administration and Congress who facilitated the recall of the furloughed civilian employees in the U.S. Department of Defense.”

According to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the Pentagon will bring almost all of its 400,000 furloughed employees back to work. Hagel said in a written statement, that lawyers have concluded that the law permits the return of employees: “whose responsibilities contribute to the morale, well-being, capabilities and readiness of service members.”

Adding that the Pentagon is now trying to identify: “all employees whose activities fall under these categories,” and expects to “significantly reduce — but not eliminate — civilian furloughs under this process.”

Undersecretary of defense, Robert Hale, said on Saturday that he didn’t have firm estimates of how many defense employees would remain off work during the government shutdown, he said: “We haven’t solved all the problems. We still hope Congress will act very quickly to end this shutdown.”

Gordon Johndroe from Lockhead, the largest defense contractor in the world, said in an email on October 4: “We’ll continue to be in close contact with the Pentagon and are hopeful that our programs and contracts can move forward.”

Mark Amtower, who runs a Maryland-based contracts consulting firm, had a number of questions for the administration: “Are they going to pay them now? Are they going to get paid later?. A little clarification from Congress would be nice.”

It remains to be seen which other defense firms will follow suit and call off the furloughs ensuring that government employees can get back to their jobs in the hope that the government shutdown will end soon.