Unemployed Taking Pay Cuts Just to Get New Jobs

I just read a really disturbing article, and although it makes sense, and I had heard the rumblings about this potentially happen months ago, I nonetheless feel really bad for people who are stuck in this situation. What situation is that? A lot of people who were previously making six figure incomes at their previous jobs are taking large paycuts at new companies, just so they can be gainfully employed, and are also having the make drastic lifestyle changes to adjust to their new income.

As if the unemployment benefits aren’t bad enough, which are just a fraction of one’s salary, especially if they are not offered a severance package when they’re laid off which usually pays full salary for weeks or months, depending usually on one’s tenure, and they have to rely solely on measly unemployment benefits.

There are stories abounding about people who are highly qualified and have a lot of experience, having been with large companies or small ones in higher positions that are well paid, being turned down for jobs of the same caliber when they go for them because the competition is so fierce for these higher level and higher paid jobs right now. Heck, it’s so bad that many CEO’s may soon find themselves scrambling to find comparable jobs to ones they once had as well, which is even harder because the pool of jobs is very narrow for these types of high ranking positions.

These are definitely times when it pays to have a large savings account for emergencies, as many people who have lost high paid jobs are finding. Even people who did have savings are finding that they are running out due to longer periods of finding a new job. Many people are also taking fifty percent or more paycuts just so they can be employed again with benefits, and some aren’t getting jobs until their unemployment benefits or severance packages are running out, which means they are more willing to take large paycuts just to be working again.

This the unfortunate part of working for corporate America, if I may put a little bit of personal commentary in here. Once you get to a certain pay and experience level, you are usually also more prone to getting laid off when times become rough for a company, because the highest level positions are where they are going to save the most money on salaries paid. This is also why it pays to have that large emergency savings account and always spend below one’s means just in case there is a fire!