Just saw this on the news:

Hewlett-Packard Co. is cutting some EDS workers’ pay again, this time by up to 30 percent or more … This is the third pay cut for EDS workers this year, on top of roughly 25,000 layoffs announced last September … Some making roughly $75,000 said they would see their salaries slashed to about $55,000, about 27 percent.

Once again a company is squeezing blood from a stone, and figures they can get away with it, as people are hurting all over. I’m seeing this over and over again, and wondering when people are just going to snap. You can’t keep expecting people to work at 100% when their pay keeps going down. You pay me 80% of my worth? I’ll give you 80% of my effort.

I’ll tell you one thing: Now is the perfect time to start a business. Yes, it sounds insane, but look at the amazing pool of talent out there. A bunch of people completely fed up with the companies they are working for, who are getting their pay cut, and want to get the heck out. If I was a company with big cash reserves (Microsoft, for example), I would be snapping up people left and right. We’re going to be getting out of this recession soon, and you’ll need all the good people you can get to take advantage of it. It’s a perfect storm.