Thousands of California state workers stayed home Friday in the final scheduled day of statewide furloughs which began 16 months ago. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger implemented the furlough days in February of 2009 in an effort to cut costs in the face of $40 billion budget deficit. Since that time California workers have taken 46 unpaid days off, amounting to a pay cut of approximately 14 percent.

The furloughs have proved unpopular in California, where they’ve caused service interruptions in state departments such as the DMV. Schwarzenegger is seeking alternative ways to save money for the next fiscal year.  Schwarzenegger has asked the state employees union to go along with pay cuts and an increase to the amount that employees must pay into the pension program.

Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger, emphasized that further furloughs and layoffs are possible if the California Assembly can’t come to an agreement on the 2010-2011 budget: “The longer we go without a budget, the more likely it is that the governor will be forced to look at furloughs and layoffs to achieve savings.”