Bonus? I don’t think so!
We all know the economy has tanked. Well, this year it parked at my company and is filling up half the parking lot. My bf and one other employee were layed off back in March. We lost money in the spring, made a little in the summer (but not enough to rebound), and have continued to lose money since. We did a second set of layoffs, in reality getting rid of 2 employees that were problematic, but not replacing their positions either, so I guess that still counts.
Financially, my company is about $85K in the hole I expect it will increase to $100K-$110K by the end of the year. Between January and April 15 we are traditionally slow, so I doubt things will improve in the near future. All of us, including myself, are running at or past capacity for workload, so it’s not like layoffs or furloughs will help. There’s very little room for give.
We are not having any holiday party, and bonuses? Yeah, right. They’re off vacationing with my cost of living raise, and thinking of visiting my performance raise in Shangri-la.
I’m not a business major, but even I can see that things aren’t looking that bright. What to do? What will happen? I have often said that my position is secure, it would take a lot for me to become let go, and that is absolutely still the case. However, how can a company continue to operate like this? I know that they have been agressively paying off previous debt, and had expected to be out of it by next year. However, this is debt of another kind.
I’m wondering if they are going to cut salaries soon. If I were them, I would. Either way, I’m feeling ok. I can handle a pay cut, I’d just pay *my* debt off less aggressively until things return to normal. I’m still on track, not cinching the belt, and living within my means. I just wish I had pursued a more corporate track so I could have that cushy high five-figure to six-figure salary with 5 percent or higher 401K employer match and amazing benefits so many other people seem to have in the blogsphere. Oh well, I guess I can be glad I don’t have $250K in student loans from a law degree. Instead I have an art degree and am only in $29K of debt (at this point in time). La. Here’s to the the economy getting better.
DebtMaven 