What pay cuts?

Nobrow

We've just been hit with the pay cuts.

12.5% for anyone on E35k+ !

Is it just me or is that outrageous?

Industry is Public Relations/IT.

Id like to here what %s people are being hit with in other industries.

ixoy

None so far for me - our company cut numbers instead. Have yours tried that or is it just wages?

Only widely known example is the public/civil service but their cuts weren't as large as that even at the top (100k+) levels.

Nobrow

No but they are threatening staff cut backs, and Im sure they will follow through with it by deleteing 2-3 of us junior types soon.

Im just trying to figure out how pissed I should be. 12.5% seems like a huge cut to me (I havent heard of anything comparable yet ... unless you run a bank), and 35k is in my opinion a pretty modest to low wage, and thus a pretty uncool cut-off point. Am I a snob?

ixoy wrote: »

None so far for me - our company cut numbers instead. Have yours tried that or is it just wages?

Only widely known example is the public/civil service but their cuts weren't as large as that even at the top (100k+) levels.

gurramok

Nobrow wrote: »

Im just trying to figure out how pissed I should be. 12.5% seems like a huge cut to me (I havent heard of anything comparable yet ... unless you run a bank), and 35k is in my opinion a pretty modest to low wage, and thus a pretty uncool cut-off point. Am I a snob?

35k wage is not anywhere near a 'low wage', alot can live comfortably on 35k hence it can be considered 'modest'.

MrMatisse

5 %. work in accountancy.

Nobrow

Nobrow wrote: »

We've just been hit with the pay cuts.

12.5% for anyone on E35k+ !

Is it just me or is that outrageous?

Industry is Public Relations/IT.

Id like to here what %s people are being hit with in other industries.

A lot of people are getting 100% pay cuts.

If it softens the blow, deflation is apparently 4.7%. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090611/bs_afp/irelandeconomyinflationdeflationrecession

Nobrow

Deleted User wrote: »

A lot of people are getting 100% pay cuts.

Indeed. And because of this/the state of the country I have no issue taking a pay cut if necessary. Its just the size of this one that Im still agog at. Am yet to hear of anything comparable.

leninbenjamin

Nobrow wrote: »

Indeed. And because of this/the state of the country I have no issue taking a pay cut if necessary. Its just the size of this one that Im still agog at. Am yet to hear of anything comparable.

plenty of people gone from full time to part time, that's pretty heavy not matter how you look at it.

12.5%, deflation at 5% for the past 18 months or so (probably more as the CPI often underestimates). In terms of purchasing power, you haven't lost much more than 5% really.

And you're still earning 30k + in a time of recession.

And you're still upset.

Nobrow

gurramok wrote: »

35k wage is not anywhere near a 'low wage', alot can live comfortably on 35k hence it can be considered 'modest'.

Well I suppose its all relative to qualifications etc. None of my friends/peers are on anything so low, and according to cso and payscale Im below average/median for my industry (and I work an unusually long day without a single benefit I might add ... not even coffee!). Poor me

Of course it cant be considered low compared to a cleaners take for example. But I maintain that it is modest. One wont be living the high life in Dublin while grossing 35k.

But my point was that I think its a very low cut-off to start taking such a very high reduction.

ixoy

A lot of that deflation though is mortgages, no (and variable ones at that)? It doesn't affect renters in the some way, especially those in leases.

As to the original pay cut - does that mean someone on 35K is now worse off than someone on 33k?

Nobrow

leninbenjamin wrote: »

plenty of people gone from full time to part time, that's pretty heavy not matter how you look at it.

Thats quite a different thing though isnt it. Working half a day for half the pay, as opposed to working a full day for for 87.5% of it ... Id be quite happy to move to 3 or 4 day weeks, but the company would have no interest as cutting my pay is more profitable for them.

Nobrow

ixoy wrote: »

As to the original pay cut - does that mean someone on 35K is now worse off than someone on 33k?

Yep! :eek:

leninbenjamin

Nobrow wrote: »

Thats quite a different thing though isnt it. Working half a day for half the pay, as opposed to working a full day for for 87.5% of it ... Id be quite happy to move to 3 or 4 day weeks, but the company would have no interest as cutting my pay is more profitable for them.

not if the only alternative is the dole tbh.

poor you getting slightly less money for a full days work. There are plenty of people highly educated working just as hard getting much, much less than that for their troubles.

count your blessings you're not self employed, working on commission, or in a few more extreme cases i know of, working for little more then promises of pay.

gavney

Might end up annoying ppl here by giving the other side of the story.

Sorry to hear about anyone losing jobs/ pay cuts.

I run a small business, it's retail (men's + women's clothing, household stuff).

I had a total of 24 staff last year, and the business had been growing well in the last 3 years (had 15 staff in 2005 as an indication).

I had 2 people who weren't official managers but earned more than the rest of the staff. Business started to dip around August, and I decided that having sub-management was a bad idea and created more problems than it solved. So, I asked if they would take a pay cut as business was bad. They both refused, so I left it for a while. Then when the recession really kicked in and I asked them again in January, they refused so I had to let them go.

I liked both these guys on a personal level, and it was difficult. I'm still in contact with them and one of them has found a new job, the other is unemployed.

Have cut 3 other jobs- but these were people that I was very unhappy with anyway. And have imposed a 5% wage cut on everyone else.

Do people think I'm being fair in this?

Btw- after all the staff cuts, pay cuts and cutting other overheads, we've managed to only have a 2.4% reduction in overall profit for the first half of this year compared with last.

Don't know why I'm saying this- but just thought it'd be interesting to give a different perspective. I hope no-one thinks I'm trying to make a "pro-management" argument or anything

creeper1

Thankfully I have managed to buck the trend with a small pay increase and increase in benefits. I work as a teacher not in Ireland but in Asia. My wages are very low by Irish standards though. They are about 20,000 euros, however I do have lower costs here.

dan_d

Engineers throughout several consultancies and contractors...
1 took a 5% cut in Feb, another 5% this month and 10% due in Jan 2010. On a salary of 38k. He will be on less money than he started on as a graduate.
Another took a cut of 15% on 46k.
Another took a cut of 7% on up to 40k.(sliding scale).
The last one took a cut of 5% on 40k.
Most of them also have to take 1-2 days off a month.
It sucks.But I suppose civil engineering is a pretty bad example.