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Perhaps he was looking back at previous financials. In 1981 the company suffered a 40 percent decline in revenue, from $450 million in sales to $220 million in 1982 and all the company’s traditional markets declined as well (Encyclopedia). The lynchpin for employee satisfaction was the Lincoln Electric “no-layoff” policy. In the wake of the financial losses the policy it came drastically close to being abolished but a company reorganization scheme worked in their favor. Realizing the need for a pivotal shift in operations and economic revitalization, Lincoln electric made some bold maneuvers to sustain the business and hold steady their profitability as much as possible. Employees were reassigned; production workers did plant maintenance and took clerical assignments, and some went on the road as salesmen to keep the business going. The CEO and President’s salaries were cut along with the rest of the workforce. Willis moved quickly with a decisive blow to conservatism in the company. He approved expanding both the product offering lines and geographical expansions simultaneously. “A total of 19 acquisitions from 1986 to 1991 helped boost annual sales by 87.3 percent, from $445.31 million to $833.89 million. The first of these was close to home; in 1986 Lincoln acquired Cleveland's Airco Electrode plant from BOC Group. A second transfer of property from the United Kingdom's BOC to Lincoln Electric, a Montreal electrode plant, occurred that same year. In 1987 Lincoln purchased an Australian electrode plant from France's Air Liquide. A 1988 joint venture with Norweld Holding A.A., a Norwegian company with $100 million in annual sales, quadrupled Lincoln's business in Northern Europe to $135 million annually. That same year saw the acquisition of two welding factories in Mexico and two more in Brazil” (Encl).