Slashdot Mirror
"Industry Standard" Paycuts in IT?
noGarnishMe! asks: "I was just reading about a Chicago-based company that has told all its employees earning over $60K/year that they will have to accept a 50% percent paycut for the month of May. This cut might be necessary in these times but keep in mind that the bozos in senior management just finished buying up several failing companies and paying some large bonuses to themselves. The memo announcing the cut is here. This cut, coming in such large chunk and in May, seems like a draconian shot to boost the 2d quarter financials. True, the annual paycut of 3.8% is modest but it ignores that fact that many folks won't be able to pay their May bills with only half their salary. I know that many of us have been through rough times these past 18 months and so I ask, what has been the approach at your company?" There are graceful and non-graceful ways for a company to handle a lack of cash flow. In the scramble for survival, especially in an economic downturn, many companies are caught off-guard and have to show their shareholders that they are doing something to get the company back on the road to profitability (which seems to be the issue, here). In many of these cases, the group most affected by such changes are the employees. It would be interesting to note how many of you have gone through this before and what you had to do to survive the shortfall.
Thank you, mister financial planner. ;-)
It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that you're right, that tucking cash away for emergencies is the only way to go. But at the same time remember who we're talking about: high-tech professionals, almost all of whom are young and single. If you're married, you probably haven't been for long, and you probably don't have kids yet.
(Just the typical Slashdot demographic, ignoring the non-wage-earning segment. Also, I'm just guessing. No flames.)
People like me^H^H^H that typically found themselves over the past five years or so with more money than they were capable of managing. Consequently, most of us drive nicer cars than we need to, and live in bigger homes than we need to, and have too many DVDs. The half million bucks, gross, I^H^H they've earned over the past few years is gone, gone, gone.
That doesn't mean we^H^H^H they're idiots. Just that they're still figuring this whole "money" thing out. In a situation like that, it's harder than you'd think to save for a rainy day.