Yes

5 of 13

by Patrick Sills

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Let's suppose for a moment that you were given the following ultimatum: You could save the job of a coworker, but at the expense of taking a pay cut. Would you do it? This is a tough question to answer. Obviously, such a choice would involuntarily place you center stage in a conflict between a good conscience and the unsettling knowledge that if you answered yes, your own financial livelihood would likely suffer. And to what degree are we referring? Would the reduction in pay prove to be significant? Indeed, what if you are already hanging by a figurative thread by living from paycheck to paycheck? Would you be willing to lower your personal standard of living for the good of another?

In the current state of an uncertain economy at best, one needs to look at the big picture. If such action would ensure that the company in question would thrive for many years to come, then a "yes" answer becomes prudent. On the other hand, if this sacrifice were only to serve as a mere postponement of an employer's imminent and inevitable collapse by a few weeks or months, we must then look at the individual circumstances of the coworker. Are we deciding the fate of someone who needs to feed a family; someone who is responsible for keeping a roof over his or her children's heads, or are we talking about some 16-year-old kid who still lives with his/her parents that took the job to finance a need to keep up with the latest fashions at Old Navy or be the first on the block to have the newest Wii game?

It is reasonable to believe that in the overwhelming majority of cases where such a decision is forced upon an individual, the former of these hypothetical scenarios will be to blame. Everywhere we look; businesses are either filing for bankruptcy protection or folding completely. It would therefore be of mutual benefit to all concerned to agree to take home that smaller paycheck. One thing to consider by accepting a cut in wages is that your tax liability would be reduced as well. In some cases, the worker who willingly consents to a reduction in income could actually come out ahead when April 15th rolls around. This of course would depend on just how much of a pay cut is proposed, but nevertheless it's something to consider.

Finally, the most thought-provoking argument in favor of accepting a cut involves saving the economy. This nation got itself into this current mess for many reasons, but companies who generously paid their employees ridiculously high wages either of their own accord or by means of labor unions certainly contributed to leading us down the road to economic recession. Thus, in order not to progress to a disastrous, full-fledged depression as we experienced some 80 years ago, we need to start anew. The very survival of companies and business we depend on to exist is at stake.

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