Salary Cuts: Ugly, But It Could Be Worse
你可能侥幸逃过了公司最新一轮裁员，但这并不说革命已经成功。随着经济衰退的加剧，越来越多的员工只能接受减薪的命运。仅在2009年4月，就有《达拉斯晨报》(Dallas Morning News)发行商A.H. Belo Corp以及亚特兰大交响乐团宣布减薪15%。在一些企业，减薪只针对管理人士和高级管理层，但还有很多公司正在采取全员减薪或分层减薪的方案。有些公司在推行永久性减薪，有些则承诺未来会恢复全额工资。Alvidas JasinThompson Hine的律师助理杰瑞德•奥克斯和妻子吉丽安。这对即将为人父母的夫妻就面临着收入缩水的问题。一些企业尽量把减薪的阵痛控制在较高的管理层之内。艾奥瓦州弗斯特市的北美房车巨头Winnebago Industries Inc.在2009年3月实施一项分等级减薪措施，首席执行长鲍勃•欧尔森(Bob Olson)减薪20%，别的高管减10%，其他所有员工减薪3%。今年2月，惠普公司(Hewlett-Packard Co.)首席执行长马克•赫德(Mark Hurd)给自己减薪20%，其他员工减薪从2.5%到15%不等，与1月份加州桑尼韦尔的高级微设备公司(Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)所采取的做法差不多。科罗拉多州Broomfield一家山地度假连锁酒店Vail Resorts Inc.有1.5万名雇员，首席执行官罗伯•凯兹(Rob Katz)选择放弃2009年的工资，并把2010年的薪水降低15%；他的员工将根据不同的收入水平减薪2.5%-10%。减薪方案于2009年4月正式实施。全球再就业介绍机构Challenger, Gray & Christmas于2009年1月所做的一项调查发现，在100名受访的人力资源经理中，有27.2%的人表示其所在公司已冻结加薪或减薪。人力资源咨询企业Watson Wyatt Worldwide 2月份对245家美国大企业进行了调查，发现4%的受访企业在未来一年内计划减薪，7%的企业已经实施减薪。尽管近期舆论呼吁限制企业高管的工资和奖金，但在此次危机之前，减薪的做法“非常少见”，Challenger, Gray & Christmas的首席执行官约翰•钱伦淇(John Challenger)说。还有一些企业虽然减薪，但同时推出了激励计划以弥补员工的工资损失。2009年3月，律师事务所Thompson Hine自经济大萧条以来首次推出减薪方案，所里大约有200名非合伙人的律师和助理，年薪一般在十多万美元以上，他们的工资被迫减少1.75万美元。“这是大刀阔斧非同寻常的一步，”该所执行合伙人戴维•胡克(David Hooker)说，“我很紧张，（因为）做出这种选择难免会让人焦虑不安。”好在公司给出另一项政策：业务量超过1,750小时的律师可以再拿回7,500美元，而业务量达到1,900小时的可以补回工资工资。30岁的杰瑞德•奥克斯(Jared Oakes)是该所房地产小组的律师助理，他说，虽然对减薪不高兴，但公布的方案还是让他感到欣慰。“宣布减薪那阵子，经常有大型律师事务所裁员的消息传来，所以我们不禁会想，自己所里会有什么措施呢？” 奥克斯说，“等方案一出来，由未知带来的恐慌也就消失了。”不过，奥克斯担心减薪还有其他理由：他31岁的妻子吉丽安(Jillian)是一名社会工作者，他们很快就要生第一个孩子了。奥克斯说，因为减薪等原因，吉丽安把产假从原计划的四个月缩短到三个月。陷入困境的企业别无选择，只能采取全员减薪行动。2009年3月中，南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿交响乐团付不出工资来，只能全员减薪11.4%；乐团中的音乐家们被迫“享受”不带薪假期，这部分等于又让他们损失了11.4%。这些举措加起来能为乐团节省18万美元的支出。“这对乐团的人来说非常非常痛苦，”乐团理事会主席泰德•莱格希(Ted Legasey)说，“他们损失巨大，因为这些人的薪水本来就不高。”一些企业试图缓和减薪给员工带来的冲击。纽约州阿伯尼的一家化工产品企业Momentive Performance Materials在全球有4,600名雇员；在减薪措施生效期间，任何遭到减薪的员工每季度都能额外享受一周的有薪假期。同样，未参加工会的《纽约时报》(New York Times Co.)员工被迫减薪5%，于2009年4月生效，但能享受到10天假期。Vail Resorts连锁酒店向工作满一年的正式员工提供逐级减少的股票激励补偿。“这不但能缓和减薪的冲击，还能鼓励员工更多地参与到公司的未来发展中来。”首席执行官凯兹说道。专家表示，如果你的公司没有说明减薪方案要持续多久，那你最好认为这是永久性的。职业咨询公司Hewitt Associates北美劳资部门负责人科南•阿伯西(Kenan Abosch)说，职员应该对减薪的长期性做好心理准备。“我估计大多数减薪的职员不会再回到原先的工资水平了。” 阿伯西说，“企业在未来几年都很难承担加薪的预算。”Jen Rogers连艾米利的猫都要勒紧裤腰带了华盛顿左派智库──经济政策研究所(Economic Policy Institute)经济学家海迪•谢尔霍兹(Heidi Shierholz)表示，只有餐饮保险和医疗等服务领域可能例外，一旦需求回暖，员工的薪水应该会反弹。如果你被迫接受减薪，财务规划专家建议你重新制定一个现实的新预算，并严格执行。有些享受肯定得放弃，比如看收费的有线电视和下馆子吃饭等。如果减薪的幅度很大，你也许不得不采取更激进的行动。虽然不合常规，但你可以考虑从401(k)账户和子女大学教育基金中拿出一部分钱来，至少是暂时借用一下。财务规划企业USAA规划师约瑟夫•蒙塔纳罗(Joseph Montanaro)说，如有必要，可以减少每月放在401(k)账户的钱，让个人收入恢复到减薪前的状况。他还建议减少或者暂停给子女大学教育基金放钱，直到收入恢复正常水平。查尔斯顿交响乐团的市场总监艾米利•罗宾斯基(Emily Rybinski)说，由于薪水减少，她和住在南卡罗来纳州约翰岛的丈夫将削减家庭开支。“有些同事在支付房贷和日常帐单方面出现了一定的问题。”28岁的艾米利说。这对夫妻还决定减少放入Roth个人退休账户的资金。她和同事们还开始在Craigslist分类网站和跳蚤市场出售家具和家里的其他一些东西。“连我们的猫都在削减开支──它再也享受不到新玩具和零食了。” 艾米利说道。Dana Mattioli相关阅读裁员后如何鼓舞士气 2009-04-16雅虎准备进行新一轮大规模裁员 2009-04-15律师变身重组专家 2009-04-14沃尔玛在华进行人员重组并减薪 2009-04-16韩国职员接受减薪保饭碗 2009-03-04 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月17日11:05', 'THF.XX'));Thompson Hine总部地点：美国
You may have survived your company's latest round of layoffs, but that doesn't mean you're out of the woods yet.A growing number of employers are resorting to salary cuts as the recession drags on. This month alone, A.H. Belo Corp., publisher of the Dallas Morning News, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra have announced pay reductions of as much as 15%.At some companies, the cuts affect only executive and senior management levels, but many others are adopting an across-the-board approach or tiered salary reductions. Some companies are imposing permanent cuts, and some are promising to return employees to their full pay -- eventually.In some cases, companies are trying to confine the pain to higher levels of management. Recreational-vehicle maker Winnebago Industries Inc. in Forest City, Iowa, implemented a tiered salary cut in March. Chief Executive Bob Olson took a 20% pay cut, and other senior executives took a 10% cut; all other salaried employees' pay was reduced 3%. In February, Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Mark Hurd took a 20% reduction, and other employees will forfeit between 2.5% and 15% of pay, following similar moves in January by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif.Rob Katz, the chief executive of Vail Resorts Inc., a mountain resort chain based in Broomfield, Colo., employing 15,000 people, is forgoing his 2009 pay and taking a 15% pay cut in 2010. His employees will give up between 2.5% and 10%, depending on what they earn. The cuts took effect in April.A January survey by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that of 100 human-resource professionals surveyed, 27.2% reported that their companies have imposed a salary freeze or cut. A February survey of 245 large U.S. companies conducted by human-resource consultants Watson Wyatt Worldwide found that 4% of companies plan to reduce salary over the next year, with 7% already implementing pay cuts.Until the current recession, the practice of imposing pay cuts has been 'very rare,' says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, despite recent calls for capping executive salaries and bonuses.Other companies have imposed cuts but also added incentives to recoup lost salary. In March, law firm Thompson Hine instituted a pay cut for the first time since the Great Depression. The firm's roughly 200 associates and nonpartner lawyers, whose salaries typically start in the low $100,000s, were forced to take a $17,500 decrease.'This was an unusual and aggressive step,' says David Hooker, managing partner at the Cleveland-based law firm. 'I was nervous [because] anytime you do something like this, it creates anxiety.' The caveat: Lawyers who bill 1,750 hours can recoup $7,500 of their lost pay, and those who bill 1,900 hours can recoup all of it.Jared Oakes, a 30-year-old associate in the firm's real-estate group, says that though he isn't excited about the pay cut, the measure brought some relief. 'In the weeks leading up to the announcement, there were announcements of large law firms making layoffs, and you feel like, 'When is the shoe going to drop at our firm?'' he says. 'The natural anxiety of the unknown was taken away.'Still, Mr. Oakes has other reasons to be anxious about his salary reduction: He and his wife Jillian, 31, a social worker, are expecting their first child, and he says the pay cut is part of the reason she will limit her maternity leave to three months, rather than the four she had planned.Organizations in dire straits may have no choice but to slash salaries across the board. After being unable to make payroll in mid-March, South Carolina's Charleston Symphony Orchestra cut the wages of all its staff and employees by 11.4%. Musicians in the orchestra also took a 11.4% hit in the form of unpaid time off. Combined, the efforts will save $180,000. 'This is very, very painful for them,' says Ted Legasey, the orchestra's board president. 'It's a huge sacrifice. These people aren't highly paid to begin with.'Some employers are trying to lessen the blow. At Momentive Performance Materials Inc. in Albany, N.Y., a chemicals and specialty materials company with 4,600 global employees, any worker forced to take a pay cut will receive an extra week of paid vacation for each quarter that the reduction remains in place.Similarly, nonunion New York Times Co. employees were forced to take up to a 5% pay cut, effective this month, but were given 10 vacation days in return. Vail Resorts is granting full-time, year-round employees stock-based incentive compensation on a sliding scale. 'It's partially to ease the blow, but it's also giving people some ownership to participate in our future success,' says Mr. Katz, the CEO.If your firm isn't clear on how long the cuts will last, experts say you should consider them permanent. Kenan Abosch, head of workplace consultants Hewitt Associates' North American compensation practice, says employees should brace themselves for the lasting effect of a pay cut. 'I expect the majority of employees not to recover what they lost,' he says. 'We don't expect salary-increase budgets to come back . . . for several years.'Heidi Shierholz, a economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, says the exception may be in service-based firms in areas such as hospitality, insurance and health, where she expects salaries to bounce back once demand picks up.If you are forced to take a salary cut, financial planners advise creating a realistic new budget and sticking to it. Consider obvious cutbacks, such as cable TV and restaurants. If your pay reduction is severe, you might have to take more drastic action. Although it's usually taboo, you might want to take a scalpel to your retirement and college-savings contributions to free up some cash, at least temporarily. Joseph Montanaro, a financial planner with financial-services company USAA, says if necessary, reduce your 401(k) account contributions to the level at which you receive the full employer match. He also advises reducing or stopping contributions to a child's college fund until your salary returns to its normal level.Emily Rybinski, director of marketing for the Charleston Symphony, says she and her husband, who live in Johns Island, S.C., will scale back on spending as a result of the pay cut. 'There is some level of uncertainty [among colleagues] about mortgage payments and bills,' the 28-year-old says. The couple also decided to trim their contributions to their Roth individual retirement accounts. She and her colleagues have also begun selling furniture and other items on Craigslist or in yard sales.'Even our cat took a budget hit -- no more toys and treats for him,' Ms. Rybinski says.Dana Mattioli
You may have survived your company's latest round of layoffs, but that doesn't mean you're out of the woods yet.A growing number of employers are resorting to salary cuts as the recession drags on. This month alone, A.H. Belo Corp., publisher of the Dallas Morning News, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra have announced pay reductions of as much as 15%.At some companies, the cuts affect only executive and senior management levels, but many others are adopting an across-the-board approach or tiered salary reductions. Some companies are imposing permanent cuts, and some are promising to return employees to their full pay -- eventually.In some cases, companies are trying to confine the pain to higher levels of management. Recreational-vehicle maker Winnebago Industries Inc. in Forest City, Iowa, implemented a tiered salary cut in March. Chief Executive Bob Olson took a 20% pay cut, and other senior executives took a 10% cut; all other salaried employees' pay was reduced 3%. In February, Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Mark Hurd took a 20% reduction, and other employees will forfeit between 2.5% and 15% of pay, following similar moves in January by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif.Rob Katz, the chief executive of Vail Resorts Inc., a mountain resort chain based in Broomfield, Colo., employing 15,000 people, is forgoing his 2009 pay and taking a 15% pay cut in 2010. His employees will give up between 2.5% and 10%, depending on what they earn. The cuts took effect in April.A January survey by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that of 100 human-resource professionals surveyed, 27.2% reported that their companies have imposed a salary freeze or cut. A February survey of 245 large U.S. companies conducted by human-resource consultants Watson Wyatt Worldwide found that 4% of companies plan to reduce salary over the next year, with 7% already implementing pay cuts.Until the current recession, the practice of imposing pay cuts has been 'very rare,' says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, despite recent calls for capping executive salaries and bonuses.Other companies have imposed cuts but also added incentives to recoup lost salary. In March, law firm Thompson Hine instituted a pay cut for the first time since the Great Depression. The firm's roughly 200 associates and nonpartner lawyers, whose salaries typically start in the low $100,000s, were forced to take a $17,500 decrease.'This was an unusual and aggressive step,' says David Hooker, managing partner at the Cleveland-based law firm. 'I was nervous [because] anytime you do something like this, it creates anxiety.' The caveat: Lawyers who bill 1,750 hours can recoup $7,500 of their lost pay, and those who bill 1,900 hours can recoup all of it.Jared Oakes, a 30-year-old associate in the firm's real-estate group, says that though he isn't excited about the pay cut, the measure brought some relief. 'In the weeks leading up to the announcement, there were announcements of large law firms making layoffs, and you feel like, 'When is the shoe going to drop at our firm?'' he says. 'The natural anxiety of the unknown was taken away.'Still, Mr. Oakes has other reasons to be anxious about his salary reduction: He and his wife Jillian, 31, a social worker, are expecting their first child, and he says the pay cut is part of the reason she will limit her maternity leave to three months, rather than the four she had planned.Organizations in dire straits may have no choice but to slash salaries across the board. After being unable to make payroll in mid-March, South Carolina's Charleston Symphony Orchestra cut the wages of all its staff and employees by 11.4%. Musicians in the orchestra also took a 11.4% hit in the form of unpaid time off. Combined, the efforts will save $180,000. 'This is very, very painful for them,' says Ted Legasey, the orchestra's board president. 'It's a huge sacrifice. These people aren't highly paid to begin with.'Some employers are trying to lessen the blow. At Momentive Performance Materials Inc. in Albany, N.Y., a chemicals and specialty materials company with 4,600 global employees, any worker forced to take a pay cut will receive an extra week of paid vacation for each quarter that the reduction remains in place.Similarly, nonunion New York Times Co. employees were forced to take up to a 5% pay cut, effective this month, but were given 10 vacation days in return. Vail Resorts is granting full-time, year-round employees stock-based incentive compensation on a sliding scale. 'It's partially to ease the blow, but it's also giving people some ownership to participate in our future success,' says Mr. Katz, the CEO.If your firm isn't clear on how long the cuts will last, experts say you should consider them permanent. Kenan Abosch, head of workplace consultants Hewitt Associates' North American compensation practice, says employees should brace themselves for the lasting effect of a pay cut. 'I expect the majority of employees not to recover what they lost,' he says. 'We don't expect salary-increase budgets to come back . . . for several years.'Heidi Shierholz, a economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, says the exception may be in service-based firms in areas such as hospitality, insurance and health, where she expects salaries to bounce back once demand picks up.If you are forced to take a salary cut, financial planners advise creating a realistic new budget and sticking to it. Consider obvious cutbacks, such as cable TV and restaurants. If your pay reduction is severe, you might have to take more drastic action. Although it's usually taboo, you might want to take a scalpel to your retirement and college-savings contributions to free up some cash, at least temporarily. Joseph Montanaro, a financial planner with financial-services company USAA, says if necessary, reduce your 401(k) account contributions to the level at which you receive the full employer match. He also advises reducing or stopping contributions to a child's college fund until your salary returns to its normal level.Emily Rybinski, director of marketing for the Charleston Symphony, says she and her husband, who live in Johns Island, S.C., will scale back on spending as a result of the pay cut. 'There is some level of uncertainty [among colleagues] about mortgage payments and bills,' the 28-year-old says. The couple also decided to trim their contributions to their Roth individual retirement accounts. She and her colleagues have also begun selling furniture and other items on Craigslist or in yard sales.'Even our cat took a budget hit -- no more toys and treats for him,' Ms. Rybinski says.Dana Mattioli