I was watching a TV show recently - I think it was on Axis TV - where they were talking about what they do in Germany.  As I understand,  in Germany the government has a policy to encourage businesses to keep employees on the payroll.  As work slows down, the government steps in and helps to pick up the tab for labor costs.  At least that is what I understood.  The comparison was made that in the USA, businesses have an incentive to lay people off; in Germany, they have an incentive to keep employees on the payroll.   Not sure I understand it all, but it sounds like an intriguing idea. 

If someone reading this is familiar with the system in Germany, maybe you can explain for all of us how Germany's system works.