Your Employer Screws You

**DeusInnomen** · 02-27-09, 12:40 PM

Yeah, so I've been at this company for just about two years now. I got promoted up to Senior Developer with training responsibilities last year... and only got a 3% raise. (The normal raise for that kind of transition is 15%-20%.) The last two July's, we got 3% cost of living increases.

Well, we just found out everybody's taking a 10% cut in pay, and they're eliminating the 401k match entirely. So, now I'm in a higher position of responsibility than I started at but at a LOWER salary than I was hired at. And there's still threats of layoffs.

Oh, and they did this in the middle of our house purchase and the mortgage isn't finalized yet, and a paycut this bad may scare off our mortgage company and make the entire house purchase fall through.

Fucking awesome.

**SapiensErus** · 02-27-09, 12:46 PM

That sucks Deus, sorry to hear it.

It is getting bad all over. I went back to restaraunt work due to the inability to find any new IT contracts. But about 2 months after I got hired we all got our pay cut as well. Not as bad of course... little bit less to lose in my case

Times are tough... I am afraid they will be tougher before they get better.

Good luck with everything,

**WileECyte** · 02-27-09, 01:21 PM

I hear ya Deus... I got hosed in the last 'recession' back when the .com bubble burst in 2001... I was unemployed for 14 months.

**DeusInnomen** · 02-27-09, 01:56 PM

Yeah, I'm admittedly happy that this was simply a pay cut and not yet another round of layoffs, our department is already hurting badly. And, I have to consider the fact that even if I were to switch companies and get my pay up to where it should be for a Senior Software Engineer position, as bad as the economy is it could very well happen that I'd get laid off from the new company within months as a cost-cutting measure.

If I stay here, I have some assurances that they intend on bringing salaries back up in time when revenue picks back up. I had a meeting with the VP regarding this, and I now am familiar with the pending contracts. He's an ex-Marine, I expect nothing less than bluntness from him, and he said he's confident we'll be okay by the end of the year. I know the contracts he's talking about, and I know what our consulting division is capable of, so I believe him.

Even if our salaries are restored to their pre-paycut level, though, my pay is in the bottom 10% bracket for my title/position/responsibilities as far as this area goes. That's a lot to think about right now.

Anyways, I'm just venting, thanks for the kind thoughts, guys. This has been a rough year so far, and my concerns lie with providing for my wife and eventually our kids in the near future. (Nothing due yet, but we're planning within a year or two.)

**CivilWars** · 02-27-09, 02:04 PM

CoL is much cheaper in Tejas than in Chi-city, or even the burbs.

**Turtlesexx** · 02-27-09, 02:52 PM

Good luck Dues. Hope it works out for you!

**Keiron** · 02-27-09, 03:38 PM

That sucks to hear man. Hope everything turns out okay in the end.

As for college and stuff, this might actually be a decent time to try to get people into college. Times are tough sure, but the govt. knows that and you should be able to get some decent aid for your kids when the time comes. For now my loans are fine and I'm getting more now in terms of financial assistance than I was previously.

My Macro Economics professor has been telling us that it is best if we can stay in college for as long as possible because we are just at the start of our problems are we are about due for an actual depression since we had been in an expansion for so long and it's just part of the cycle, but it'll get worse still before it gets better for at least another 2-3 years he is guessing.

I'll probably graduate before that though so I don't know what I'll do if I end up graduating and the economy is still in the shitter. Although I hear San Antonio isn't doing as bad right now as other places so hopefully I'll be alright as well. I'll stick with my shitty $6.55 (min wage here) for now as something is better than nothing and at least I can still go to school.