EDITOR'S NOTE: Updated to include the re-opening of ADESA Assurance on Monday.

Among other measures to “help protect the business and its liquidity” amid the negative impact of COVID-19 on its operations, KAR Global said in its earnings release Thursday it furloughed roughly 11,000 employees last month.

This news comes on the same day it was revealed that its primary competitor, Cox Automotive, will furlough over 12,500 employees internationally later this month, roughly 10,000 of which are in the U.S. — and about 87% of the U.S. furloughs are Manheim employees, Cox said in a statement provided to Auto Remarketing.

More details on that and other expense-reducing measures Cox is taking are available here.

These moves reflect what is happening in both the auto industry and the economy at large.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday morning that another 3,169,000 workers made their initial claim for unemployment benefits during the week ending May 2, lifting the seven-week total above 33 million

Additional steps from KAR

KAR has taken several other measures to reduce compensation expense, including the company’s chief executive officer (Jim Hallett), chief financial officer (Eric Loughmiller) and president (Peter Kelly) voluntarily foregoing their base salaries from April 5 through at least June 27.

The rest of KAR’s executive officers have voluntarily agreed to reduce salaries by 50% for same time frame.

KAR has also temporarily reduced base salaries in “many levels of the organization”, and its board of directors has voluntarily forgone its cash compensation for the second quarter.

KAR has also prohibited any business travel, delayed or canceled capital projects at its physical auctions and temporarily suspended its quarterly dividend.

It has also worked to defer rent payments with “certain landlords.” Additionally, KAR notes that, “Non-essential services provided by third parties at the company's locations have generally been suspended.”

KAR also temporarily suspended the ADESA Assurance program, but opened it back up on Monday.

The AFC business unit has trimmed “the unused portion of certain floorplan lines with its customers.”