Many companies slashing wages and salaries

[Slimprofits]

I have talked to a few people around the country with jobs in various industries that have received company wide announcements about cuts on the way in the immediate future.

Also, from a local newspaper on 12/17: Agilent cuts workers' pay by 10%

Agilent Technologies will cut employee pay 10 percent worldwide starting Jan. 1 because of the slumping world economy, company officials said Tuesday.

Agilent, Sonoma County's largest tech employer, has about 1,350 workers in Santa Rosa, headquarters for its wireless unit.

It's the first time Agilent has ordered an across-the-board, companywide pay cut since the depths of the dot-com bust. The company slashed salaries by 10 percent between November 2001 and August 2002.


edit (I meant to take "many" out of the title, that was in the first draft )

[Chris]

Re: Many companies slashing wages and salaries

babbitt, in the UK a lot of workers have already taken pay cuts, especially in the industrial towns in Wales and the North. I suppose it's better than unemployment but to get to this stage this quickly is a little worrying.

There was a nice piece in the NYT back in November by David Brooks about the consequences of this recession on the middle classes that you may find interesting. I won't post a new thread for it, just the link.

I suppose most of you will already have experienced this to a milder degree in the last recession but as this is the first one that i've lived through (and been aware of) it really gives me the shivers.

[BiscayneSunrise]

Re: Many companies slashing wages and salaries

I had dinner last night with some friends and one of the people at the table works for one of the more infamous mortgage banks in the country. You know, one of the ones that recently experienced a shotgun marriage in order to survive.

Anyway, the new management team has told middle managers at the company being acquired to expect 40% paycuts in 2009. That is, of course, for those lucky enough to keep their jobs. Lots of grumbling going on but most people have come to understand the reality of their situation.

[Nervous Drake]

Re: Many companies slashing wages and salaries

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[billstew]

Re: Many companies slashing wages and salaries

And what of government employees?

http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/html/dcb.asp

Highly unlikely, as they are supposed to keep the regime in power.

Mind you not only the Federal government, but the state and local governments in the US are at a rate of 95% NEPOTISM -- and in order to keep their jobs they will gladly engage in FAVORITISM in all of its forms.

Most Americans if asked to imagine a government without nepotism and favoritism would not be able to -- it literally is against the will of God. This view of government probably dates back to the Virginia Colony where government and the church were indistinguishable (at least Alistair Cooke's America implies this).

Sadly, the only kind of government Americans can imagine is beyond totally corrupt and not at all Sovereign.

[BiscayneSunrise]

Re: Many companies slashing wages and salaries

And what of government employees?

http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/html/dcb.asp

Government employees are the most insulated from this, given their powerful unions and the governments ability to tax. However, their time will come as their pay and pension schedules are unsustainable.

First to feel the pinch will be employees of smaller and less well financed jurisdictions, cities and rural counties. Next will be state employees. Federal employees may escape the worst of it.

I read a funny quoted from a Chicago fireman in a recent Forbes article. When asked about the unaffordibility of his pension and the potential for re-structuring, he got indignant. Saying, "they made me a promise and I expect them to keep it" A rather childish view given the realties whirling around the economy.

[GRG55]

Re: Many companies slashing wages and salaries

Government employees are the most insulated from this, given their powerful unions and the governments ability to tax. However, their time will come as their pay and pension schedules are unsustainable.

First to feel the pinch will be employees of smaller and less well financed jurisdictions, cities and rural counties. Next will be state employees. Federal employees may escape the worst of it.

I read a funny quoted from a Chicago fireman in a recent Forbes article. When asked about the unaffordibility of his pension and the potential for re-structuring, he got indignant. Saying, "they made me a promise and I expect them to keep it" A rather childish view given the realties whirling around the economy.

I can understand the sentiment that fireman expressed, but you are correct...brutal reality will eventually intrude.

Have a friend whose father retired as a top-of-the-pay-scale long-haul pilot with United. His pension got cut substantially years after he retired once the financial problems and Chapter 11 events began. He ended up having to convert one of his hobbies into a small business, and joined his son in a second. By no means a catastrophe for him [at least not so far], but certainly far different from expectations.

No doubt there will be a lot of "expectations adjustment" as this mess steamrolls over even the most prudent.