The president of Hill Enterprises, Terri Hill, projects the firm’s aggregate demand requirements over the next 8 months as follows:

Jan. 1,400 May 2,200 Feb. 1,600 June 2,200 Mar. 1,800 July 1,800 Apr. 1,800 Aug. 1,800 Her operations manager is considering a new plan, which begins in January with 200 units on hand. Stockout cost of lost sales is $100 per unit. Inventory holding cost is $20 per unit per month. Ignore any idle-time costs. The plan is called plan A.
Plan A: Vary the workforce level to execute a strategy that produces the quantity demanded in the prior month. The December demand and rate of production are both 1,600 units per month. The cost of hiring additional workers is $5,000 per 100 units. The cost of laying off workers is $7,500 per 100 units. Evaluate this plan.
Note: Both hiring and layoff costs are incurred in the month of the change. For example, going from 1,600 in January to 1,400 in February incurs a cost of layoff for 200 units in February.