Volt Asks Temps To 'Vote" For Microsoft Pay Cut

theodp writes "In an email sent Friday evening to its Microsoft temp workers, Volt Workforce Solutions asked the techies to 'vote' to agree to a 10% pay cut. From the email: 'We want to support you in continuing your assignment at Microsoft and respectfully ask that you respond by going to the upper left hand corner of this email under the "Vote" response option and select, "Accept'" by close of business Tuesday, March 3, 2009. By accepting you agree to the [-10%] pay adjustment in your pay rate.' Microsoft managed to keep the Feb. 20 email detailing plans to slash rates from leaking while it pitched its Elevate America initiative at the 2009 Winter Meeting of the National Governors Association, touting Microsoft skills as just the ticket to economic recovery."

Comments

Re:So, that would mean

[will_die]

not 10% but 15%. Microsoft is cutting how much is paid for current contracted hires by 10% but future contract hires will be hired at a 15% decrease in amount paid to the contracting company.
Companies are being forced into it by Microsoft saying sign the paperwork for this change in contract or we will not hire from you when your current contracts are up. Contracting companies can then push the decrease by telling the employee to sign the agreement or you are fired. Most employees are probably hired under the standard right to work so they can be fired for any reason, however most companies have an employee handbook which prevent firing for any reason, so could be a legal fight.

Re:So, that would mean

[similar_name]

GM doesn't pay much more than Toyota. In 2005 GM paid on average $31.35/hr vs Toyota paying $27/hr.

The big cost difference comes from GM paying people who aren't working (Job banks and retirees[460,000 vs 1,600]) as well as taking more man-hours (34.2 hrs vs 27.9) to build a vehicle than Toyota. Some Toyota plants actually pay more than some GM plants.

Re:My kind of democracy

[Cally]

HP / EDS pulled the same stunt. Oh, except that the CEO's taking a 20% cut in his basic (but pulled a $40,000,000 bonus last year), and there's no vote involved.

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/19/hp_pay_cuts/

This is a farce

[n00btastic]

A large portion of their contractors are really contracted through temp companies. For example, I install computers in the Microsoft offices through one company while testing Xbox 360 hardware/functionality through another. I never received one of these letters, it was answered for me. I would also like to note I have barely had work for the last couple months, and it is terrible. Microsoft is a corporation which uses its contractors as fodder in order that it doesn't get the media that is normally involved with laying off employees.

Not just Volt

[Anonymous Coward]

All "a-" (contract employes) were told to take a 10% pay cut. Those of us at Aquent weren't even asked to "vote".

We're trying to get the word out on this site: http://www.msratecuts.org/

There's no headcount for permanent hires now, and I don't think any Blue Badges are getting raises, but that's different than taking a 10% pay *cut*. However, at least on my team, they're still hiring contractors.

On the Aces (Flight Sim) team, they fired the whole team and then asked about 3/4 to come back as contractors, forgoing their severance.

IMHO: This is an excellent catalyst for unionizing.

From listening to NPR

[way2trivial]

I've heard that benefits for employees are also vastly in big 3 workers favor.
I found one 'for example'
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/pers-n13.shtml

[i] Like Friedman, he writes indignantly of decades (now ended) during which Big Three workers received "gold-plated medical benefits that virtually no one else had," under which United Auto Workers members had "no deductibles, copays or other facts of life in these United States."[/i] opinions of the validity of the argument aside, such benefits add a lot to the bottom line....

Re:So, that would mean

[sr180]

I also have a friend who's an ASC certified master mechanic who says he sees A LOT of Toyotas in the shop vs. GM vehicles for more than trivial matters.

Its a pity, because you get the American Built Toyotas. In Australia, we get the Japanese built Toyotas, and they are consistently the most reliable car by far. The Toyota's top all of the reliability surveys and have very low failure and problem rates.