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Would you take a pay cut to save a coworker's job?
Would you take a pay cut to save a coworker's job?
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Results so far:
| Yes | 59% | 410 votes | Total: 696 votes | |
| No | 41% | 286 votes |
Yes
by Ronald Louis Peterson
Created on: July 02, 2009 Last Updated: August 23, 2009
Please Cut My Pay, Not My Coworkers' Job
Once I understood how taking a pay cut to save a coworker's job would benefit me in the long run, it was an easy decision to make. Now, I want to help others come to the same conclusion because our collective future depends on it. An overstatement, you may be saying? Not really. Just think about it.
The practical, tangible, everyday, worldly perspective
If there is any doubt that we live in a connected world where the health of one business, one industry, one country's economy and the economies of all nations, like the parts of a body are all linked, then our current global economic crisis has not taught us enough. Yes, most of the time businesses and governments do succeed and fail on their own, but wouldn't you agree that these are not normal times?
How else can we explain why businesses across the board have suddenly stopped performing well at the same time? There is no other explanation. How else can we account for staffing surpluses at hospitals now when just a few months ago they had shortages? We have just as many sick people, but fewer people who can afford medical care because they lost their jobs. The same scenario is being played out in virtually every other industry and even in many governments. Like a falling line of dominoes, workforces have gone down. Addressing this problem now is critical.
Thankfully, employers have finally begun to realize that if they and others continue to cut jobs, there will be fewer and fewer consumers who are able to purchase their products and services. And, this of course would lead to more layoffs. As a result, employers have adopted two primary strategies for saving jobs: asking their employees to take voluntary pay cuts [1] and/or to work fewer hours. Both are proving effective because for the first time this year the nation's unemployment rate went down in July. And, it is not surprising that also in July the average work week of non-farm workers dropped to an all-time low of just 33 hours. [2]
Imagine all the jobs that could be saved if everyone took a cut in pay or worked fewer hours until the economy is healthy again. Wouldn't we all benefit? Wouldn't it help end the downward spiral that we have experienced? Wouldn't it keep more homeowners in their homes and maintain property values for everybody else? Wouldn't more consumers have money to buy cars and other American products and services? Wouldn't more Americans be paying income taxes rather than collecting unemployment checks? Wouldn't it be the right thing to do?
The moral, ethical, long-term, spiritual perspective
Since workers often spend more time on the job then they do with their families, workplace relationships are special. As a result, friendships and loyalties often develop among coworkers and employers. In the process, a job can often define a worker as a person, ego and all, if one lets it. Unfortunately, many people do let it even though we are all much more than any job. So, losing a job can be devastating financially and spiritually.
Just as businesses are linked globally and their fates depend on each other in various ways, we are all linked in the workplace with each other. In the end, it is up to each of us to create a work environment which honors, values and respects each worker. And if we want to be part of such a place, each of us must envision it, nurture it, and develop it with our deeds. The only thing that would prevent me from taking a pay cut to save a coworker's job would be a salary that prevented me from meeting my financial obligations.
So by preserving our coworkers jobs now, we would be strong spiritually and could prevent an even worse global economic crisis. Who knows how bad it could get? After all, weren't our two world wars sparked by multinational economic catastrophes? Do we really want to go there? Do we want to risk Armageddon? You know, now that I think about it, I'd probably take a pay cut to save a coworker's job even if it meant I wouldn't be able to meet my financial obligations. I'd rather take that risk.
[1] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124450717216996329.html
[2] http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-avg-work-week-decreases-2009-7
Learn more about this author, Ronald Louis Peterson.
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No
by Naomi Nakashima
Created on: August 05, 2010 Last Updated: March 18, 2011
Would I take a pay cut to save a coworker's job?
A question such as this is one that would need to be reconsidered on a case by case basis. Certain questions would need to be answered such as how are my own finances at the time? How many people other than myself are relying on those finances? Is that coworker even happy at this job? Would it hurt the company to lose this person? Do I care enough about the company to actually care if they do get hurt by losing this person? Overall, am I happy with the decision making process of the company?
A lot of other questions would need to be answered. But in general, given a blanket question such as whether I would sacrifice my job and income for the sake of someone else - I would have to say no.
I know the altruistic, trendy thing to do would be to answer this question with a resounding yes and be hailed a hero. But the truth is, I'm much more selfish than that. I'm not so selfish that I'm cold-hearted; but I am selfish enough to say "my bills come before your bills." And the type of pay cut that would be required for this scenario is in the tens of thousands of dollars a year to be a viable savings to the company.
$10,000 a year... If I cut my annual salary now by $10,000 a year, I'd be below poverty level. If most people cut their salary by $10,000 a year, they would be financially hurting. Is it really worth being a step above poverty just so someone can hail me as a hero? No thank you. I'd rather pay my rent and be called selfish. Especially not when I've worked as hard as I have just to get the measly salary I do have.
Another reason I would say no is what a wretched feeling to give to that coworker! I can just imagine finding out that one of my coworkers lost $10,000 a year to save my job - I would feel just horrible. I would feel lower than scum that my coworker - who had to work just as hard if not harder - could no longer do the things he or she had been saving up and planning for because he or she felt the need to save my job.
Besides which, I would feel like a complete failure if the only reason I still had a job wasn't because I was good at it - but rather because someone else was willing to be paid less money. I would hate that feeling - and I wouldn't want to be the cause of someone else having that feeling.
Of course, there are exceptions to this. In some cases, I might even be willing to leave that job if it would save a coworker. But all in all, the surrounding circumstances would have to be profound to make me want to sacrifice my source of income and my standard of living for the sake of a coworker's job.
Learn more about this author, Naomi Nakashima.
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