The ABC Company has recognized the following demand for the next four quarters:
Quarter Demand
1 3000 units
2 4000 units
3 4500 units
4 3500 units
ABC has traditionally used the hiring and firing of workers to accommodate the changes in demand for their products but is considering maintaining a stable workforce and subcontracting production when demand exceeds the capability of the workforce. They currently have 30 workers, each capable of producing 100 units per quarter. It costs them $3000 to hire a worker and $5000 to fire a worker.
If they subcontract the work, it will cost them $30 per unit above their normal production cost. Given this information, should they continue their current practice or move to subcontracting the production over what their current workforce can produce?

It is cheaper for ABC Company to subcontract the jobs than to hire and fire workers as needed. Even though the cost is similar when it comes to hiring permanent workers and training them vs subcontracting them, when the company needs to produce less goods, the cost of firing the permanent employees is simply too much.

For instance, 1,000 units out of the 4,000 units in the second quarter cannot be covered by the 30 workers they have. They will need to hire 10 additional workers and training them would cost $30,000. That is the same cost they would incur if they subcontracted (30 * 1,000 units = $30,000).

What happens in quarter 4 however, when they have to let go of 10 employees because production dropped by 1,000 units? They will have to pay $50,000. If they were subcontracting, they would not have to pay a dime. It is therefore better to subcontract.