Would you take a voluntary pay-cut in this economy?

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

The kicker being, if you didn't take the paycut, the company would go under.

Such is the case with a radio station in LA. Tom Leykis had a 7 figure contract per year....station management asked everyone to take a paycut, Leykis refused. Now they're going to change it into a top 40s hits station from an FM Talk station.

SO.....say your job asked you to take a 30% paycut to "save the company". Would you do it, or tell them to fuck off and give you your severence and chance on the open market.


I'd tell them to get bent.

 

[DaRizzle]

Really, when does this take affect? Leykis is a dumbass....now he gets zero

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

Really, when does this take affect? Leykis is a dumbass....now he gets zero

He has a contract, so he will get paid. He's the type that will sue.



Station goes off the air at 5pm. Tom blew it up

 

[rocketeer]

i'd say it would depend on a lot of things. am i friends with the people i work with? do i like my job? are there other jobs just as good out there for me? how much i'm making and how badly do i need the money?

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

what about your current situation. if they cut 30% of your salary tomorrow would you tell them to fuck off or just take it?

 

[44Thrilla]

Yeah, I would. It's impossible to find a good paying job right now, from what I hear.

 

[PapaG]

Yeah, I would. It's impossible to find a good paying job right now, from what I hear.

I'm two months in to a six-month severance. There's nothing in the Portland area.

 

[maxiep]

In my firm, all the partners have taken voluntary pay cuts. Bonuses we're also hugely shrunk for the partners. The analysts, associates and admin staff had their bonuses trimmed, but were given their annual pay increases.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

Pretty confident I'd get a job pretty quickly, actually got a soft offer the other night at a dinner meeting but turned it down (well, I told him I'd do it as a consultant instead of full time which they were agreeable to). Just got a good contact base. If I was able to get a few months severance, I'd go off to Asia for a month or something and fuck around.

30% pay cut is really drastic, and it would suck bringing home that much less to begin with.


I think at my work they actually tried to do an across the board pay-cut a long time ago, and the result was pretty chaotic..people quit, everything in disarray, pissed off workers, etc. actually IIRC, I believe it went to litigation.

 

[PapaG]

Pretty confident I'd get a job pretty quickly, actually got a soft offer the other night at a dinner meeting but turned it down (well, I told him I'd do it as a consultant instead of full time which they were agreeable to). Just got a good contact base. If I was able to get a few months severance, I'd go off to Asia for a month or something and fuck around.

30% pay cut is really drastic, and it would suck bringing home that much less to begin with.


I think at my work they actually tried to do an across the board pay-cut a long time ago, and the result was pretty chaotic..people quit, everything in disarray, pissed off workers, etc. actually IIRC, I believe it went to litigation.

I haven't really been pounding my contacts since my official last day of work was last Friday. Time to jump back in the game with both feet on Monday. I will say that double-dipping on severance and a decent unemployment check has been kind of nice.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I would negotiate a shorter work week if it came down to it and work at several companies as a consultant if I was asked to do it. Dunno, if they pay me less, I'll work less.

 

[gambitnut]

Sure, I'd be willing to work for 70% of my salary.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I haven't really been pounding my contacts since my official last day of work was last Friday. Time to jump back in the game with both feet on Monday. I will say that double-dipping on severance and a decent unemployment check has been kind of nice.

Yeah. That's not a bad thing...last time I was unemployed it really really really sucked and it was about 6 months and no unemployment.... But it was after college....just have to build a good network while you're currently employed....linkedin is helpful too.

 

[mook]

I'd take the cut. I like my coworkers and my job, and frankly I don't know that the 30% difference really contributes that much to my overall happiness.

My own income has doubled in the past five years, but I haven't noticed that it's made me that much happier in the long run. If it got cut back in half, I doubt it'd make me that much less happy in the long run. It's only money, and in an economy like this I'd rather see my coworkers with some sense of security.

 

[rocketeer]

Yeah. That's not a bad thing...last time I was unemployed it really really really sucked and it was about 6 months and no unemployment.... But it was after college....just have to build a good network while you're currently employed....linkedin is helpful too.

see that's where i am right now pretty much(so i don't feel like my current situation would really apply to the question). been out of college 6 months and just working part time stuff, looking for a real job. it's not exactly the best time to be looking for a job with no experience right now but i'm not really having problems getting by on what i'm doing right now.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

see that's where i am right now pretty much(so i don't feel like my current situation would really apply to the question). been out of college 6 months and just working part time stuff, looking for a real job. it's not exactly the best time to be looking for a job with no experience right now but i'm not really having problems getting by on what i'm doing right now.

If I ever had to go back into an Appleone, I think I'd shoot myself before I got there. God, those retarded MS Word tests they had.

 

[BalancedMan]

It's relative. If you make 30k, then a 30% cut would be pretty significant...more so than if you're near the six-figures range. I'm a recent college grad and still unemployed. It sucks, a lot of companies at a recent career fair were like "we're actually not going to hire anyone right now".

But I had an interview today and things went well, although it might require me to move somewhere I don't want to like Montana or Arkansas. Ewgh.

But 30% of 0? I can live with that pay cut.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

It's relative. If you make 30k, then a 30% cut would be pretty significant...more so than if you're near the six-figures range. I'm a recent college grad and still unemployed. It sucks, a lot of companies at a recent career fair were like "we're actually not going to hire anyone right now".

But I had an interview today and things went well, although it might require me to move somewhere I don't want to like Montana or Arkansas. Ewgh.

But 30% of 0? I can live with that pay cut.

30% is 30%. If you're making 100k a year and suddenly you lose $30k a year, that stings pretty bad. 100k isn't much nowadays anyways and losing that much isn't worth keeping your current job. The thing is, if you're at a higher salary to begin with, you're likely more valuable to an organization and you have more leverage since your skills, talent and experience is harder to find than a replaceable worker making 30k a year.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I worked at a big corporation type setting where it was a grind and I felt like a cog in the wheel. i would not have taken a pay cut in taht job.

Currently I work for a very small comapany where we all are treated and feel like family. It is a battle each quarter to make the company profitable but i feel like I am a big part of the company's success or failure. I would take a pay cut to keep this going and make it through the rough times. I'm pretty sure so would everyone else in the office.

 

[BalancedMan]

30% is 30%. If you're making 100k a year and suddenly you lose $30k a year, that stings pretty bad. 100k isn't much nowadays anyways and losing that much isn't worth keeping your current job. The thing is, if you're at a higher salary to begin with, you're likely more valuable to an organization and you have more leverage since your skills, talent and experience is harder to find than a replaceable worker making 30k a year.

Sure, I mean the more you make the more you stand to lose if you had a flat pay rate decrease. But making 70k still allows you to live pretty similar as you did when you made 100k...just you invest less money or don't buy a new car this year. You'll probably still be able to make your living expenses.

But generally a pay cut that large is pretty drastic. I heard some CEO recently state they are going to take a 5% pay cut (maybe it was Mark Parker @ Nike), which sounds realistic and reasonable for most employees to stomach, although not happily.

I wonder how people who make money off of commission are doing right now.

FWIW, I intend to be making that $100,000+ before I'm 30. Just gotta make it happen.

 

[Dumpy]

well, statistically, my salary is higher than nearly everyone else's here, and if I had to take a 30% pay cut I'd be unable to pay my bills. Simply because you make a "lot" of money by conventional standards does not make you rich.

 

[Dumpy]

Sure, I mean the more you make the more you stand to lose if you had a flat pay rate decrease. But making 70k still allows you to live pretty similar as you did when you made 100k...just you invest less money or don't buy a new car this year. You'll probably still be able to make your living expenses.

I would guess that you don't have children.

 

[SheedSoNasty]

Word on the street is that Kulongoski wants teachers to work for free for a few days. I'm not sure if we'll have a choice or how that would go down. I'd probably have to with the risk of just flat out losing my job since I'm still probationary. As for a paycut, I'd take a very small one considering that teachers don't make much to begin with.

 

[mook]

Simply because you make a "lot" of money by conventional standards does not make you rich.

Actually, it does. At least if you manage it properly.

The problem is that lifestyle always seems to expand to income. Nearly everybody who is employed thinks that if they could double their current income they'd be happy, but if/when they eventually do, the spending has expanded at the same pace. So they aren't "rich."

However, lifestyle can also contract to income. If the economy goes further down the crapper and we all lose 30% of our income due to spiraling inflation, it'd be tough for a while but most of us would get by. We'd drive more Hondas and fewer Mercedes. Maybe take public transportation. We'd buy less Xboxes and ditch the Netflix subscription and maybe the land line. We'd tell our kids to wait a few years for college, driving down enrollment and forcing universities to finally do something to contain costs. We'd move to cheaper houses, renting more.

For the working poor it'd absolutely suck, but for much of the middle and upper class it'd just be something we'd deal with, and probably come out the better on the other side.

 

[maxiep]

Actually, it does. At least if you manage it properly.

The problem is that lifestyle always seems to expand to income. Nearly everybody who is employed thinks that if they could double their current income they'd be happy, but if/when they eventually do, the spending has expanded at the same pace. So they aren't "rich."

However, lifestyle can also contract to income. If the economy goes further down the crapper and we all lose 30% of our income due to spiraling inflation, it'd be tough for a while but most of us would get by. We'd drive more Hondas and fewer Mercedes. Maybe take public transportation. We'd buy less Xboxes and ditch the Netflix subscription and maybe the land line. We'd tell our kids to wait a few years for college, driving down enrollment and forcing universities to finally do something to contain costs. We'd move to cheaper houses, renting more.

For the working poor it'd absolutely suck, but for much of the middle and upper class it'd just be something we'd deal with, and probably come out the better on the other side.

That being said, you live in Idaho. Your cost of living is dramatically different than someone who lives in NY, LA or San Francisco.

 

[barfo]

That being said, you live in Idaho. Your cost of living is dramatically different than someone who lives in NY, LA or San Francisco.

But, should he need to look for a job, so are his employment possibilities.

To the original question, it would depend on what the company's plans for the future were. I could certainly live on 30% less; I currently save around that much. If it happens this Monday, my choice would most likely be to retire. But, again, it depends on the specifics.

Edit: I guess my math was a little imprecise. I saved 41% of my gross salary last year. So if I took a 30% salary cut, I'd still be able to save something at my current standard of living. But, I'm obviously an exception, most people don't have as large a gap between earnings and spending as I do. Being a cheap bastard does have its advantages.

barfo

 

[Dumpy]

Actually, it does. At least if you manage it properly.

The problem is that lifestyle always seems to expand to income. Nearly everybody who is employed thinks that if they could double their current income they'd be happy, but if/when they eventually do, the spending has expanded at the same pace. So they aren't "rich."

However, lifestyle can also contract to income. If the economy goes further down the crapper and we all lose 30% of our income due to spiraling inflation, it'd be tough for a while but most of us would get by. We'd drive more Hondas and fewer Mercedes. Maybe take public transportation. We'd buy less Xboxes and ditch the Netflix subscription and maybe the land line. We'd tell our kids to wait a few years for college, driving down enrollment and forcing universities to finally do something to contain costs. We'd move to cheaper houses, renting more.

For the working poor it'd absolutely suck, but for much of the middle and upper class it'd just be something we'd deal with, and probably come out the better on the other side.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to managing your finances. Really, $100,000 is not very much money--especially if you have a family. If I was making "only" $100,000, I don't know how I'd get by--and I'm not trying to be snobbish. I watch every expense, cut coupons, and spend almost nothing on entertainment. I don't drive a Mercedes. However, I do make enough for my wife to leave her job to pursue a phd, and for my kids to go to private school (which is almost a necessity in Florida). Those are the choices you make. If you have a family, the cost of food and monthly utilities can be very high, and there isn't much you can do about it.

 

[barfo]

There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to managing your finances. Really, $100,000 is not very much money--especially if you have a family. If I was making "only" $100,000, I don't know how I'd get by--and I'm not trying to be snobbish. I watch every expense, cut coupons, and spend almost nothing on entertainment. I don't drive a Mercedes. However, I do make enough for my wife to leave her job to pursue a phd, and for my kids to go to private school (which is almost a necessity in Florida). Those are the choices you make. If you have a family, the cost of food and monthly utilities can be very high, and there isn't much you can do about it.

There is something you can do about it. I'm not sure what that something is, but since the majority of families in this country make less than $100K, it is obviously possible to get by in that circumstance.

In fact the median household income is only around $50k.

barfo

 

[Dumpy]

There is something you can do about it. I'm not sure what that something is, but since the majority of families in this country make less than $100K, it is obviously possible to get by in that circumstance.

In fact the median household income is only around $50k.

barfo

my point is just that I've made choices to spend my money the way I do, and I don't have a lavish lifestyle by any means. I couldn't take a paycut without significantly affecting my family. I couldn't even reduce my contributions to my 401k plan until next January! There's really nothing magical about making a six-figure salary--really!

 

[julius]

There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to managing your finances. Really, $100,000 is not very much money--especially if you have a family. If I was making "only" $100,000, I don't know how I'd get by--and I'm not trying to be snobbish. I watch every expense, cut coupons, and spend almost nothing on entertainment. I don't drive a Mercedes. However, I do make enough for my wife to leave her job to pursue a phd, and for my kids to go to private school (which is almost a necessity in Florida). Those are the choices you make. If you have a family, the cost of food and monthly utilities can be very high, and there isn't much you can do about it.

"Not to sound snobby, but I don't wipe my ass with less than $100,000"

I'd take a voluntary cut in pay, if it meant I didn't taken an involuntary loss of my job.