Chief executive officer of Boss Furniture Omar Azan says busi-nesses may have to consider staggering the working hours of employees in an effort to prevent job losses in the incoming year.

"You don't want to just get rid of people in this crisis. What you might want to do is to ensure that everybody shares a piece of the pie," said Azan, who is also president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association.

He added that the Government could provide cheap credit for the manufacturing industry as a means to keep the sector going.

He proposed that commercial bank reserves held by the Bank of Jamaica, which are not earning interest, could be lent to manufacturers at a low interest rate for purchasing raw material.