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%.
隨著經濟衰退的加劇，越來越多的員工只能接受減薪的命運。僅在2009年4月，就有《達拉斯晨報》(Dallas Morning News)發行商A.H. Belo Corp以及亞特蘭大交響樂團宣佈減薪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.
在一些企業，減薪只針對管理人士和高階管理層，但還有很多公司正在採取全員減薪或分層減薪的方案。有些公司在推行永久性減薪，有些則承諾未來會恢復全額工資。
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.
一些企業儘量把減薪的陣痛控制在較高的管理層之內。艾奧瓦州弗斯特市的北美房車巨頭Winnebago Industries Inc.在2009年3月實施一項分等級減薪措施，首席執行長鮑勃•歐爾森(Bob Olson)減薪20%，別的高管減10%，其他所有員工減薪3%。今年2月，惠普公司(Hewlett-Packard Co.)首席執行長馬克•赫德(Mark Hurd)給自己減薪20%，其他員工減薪從2.5%到15%不等，與1月份加州桑尼韋爾的高階微裝置公司(Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)所採取的做法差不多。
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.
科羅拉多州Broomfield一家山地度假連鎖酒店Vail Resorts Inc.有1.5萬名僱員，執行長羅伯•凱茲(Rob Katz)選擇放棄2009年的工資，並把2010年的薪水降低15%；他的員工將根據不同的收入水平減薪2.5%-10%。減薪方案於2009年4月正式實施。
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.
全球再就業介紹機構Challenger, Gray & Christmas於2009年1月所做的一項調查發現，在100名受訪的人力資源經理中，有27.2%的人表示其所在公司已凍結加薪或減薪。人力資源諮詢企業Watson Wyatt Worldwide 2月份對245家美國大企業進行了調查，發現4%的受訪企業在未來一年內計劃減薪，7%的企業已經實施減薪。
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.
儘管近期輿論呼籲限制企業高管的工資和獎金，但在此次危機之前，減薪的做法“非常少見”，Challenger, Gray & Christmas的執行長約翰•錢倫淇(John Challenger)說。
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.
還有一些企業雖然減薪，但同時推出了激勵計劃以彌補員工的工資損失。2009年3月，律師事務所Thompson Hine自經濟大蕭條以來首次推出減薪方案，所裡大約有200名非合夥人的律師和助理，年薪一般在十多萬美元以上，他們的工資被迫減少1.75萬美元。
’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.
“這是大刀闊斧、非同尋常的一步，”該所執行合夥人戴維•胡克(David Hooker)說，“我很緊張，（因為）做出這種選擇難免會讓人焦慮不安。”好在公司給出另一項政策：業務量超過1,750小時的律師可以再拿回 7,500美元，而業務量達到1,900小時的可以補回工資工資。
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.’
30歲的傑瑞德•奧克斯(Jared Oakes)是該所房地產小組的律師助理，他說，雖然對減薪不高興，但公佈的方案還是讓他感到欣慰。“宣佈減薪那陣子，經常有大型律師事務所裁員的訊息傳來，所以我們不禁會想，自己所裡會有什麼措施呢？” 奧克斯說，“等方案一出來，由未知帶來的恐慌也就消失了。”