Forced From Executive Pay to Hourly Wage

[Liberal_in_LA]

Forced From Executive Pay to Hourly Wage

By MICHAEL LUO
Published: February 28, 2009

TEMPE, Ariz. — Mark Cooper started his work day on a recent morning cleaning the door handles of an office building with a rag, vigorously shaking out a rug at a back entrance and pushing a dust mop down a long hallway.

Nine months ago he lost his job as the security manager for the western United States for a Fortune 500 company, overseeing a budget of $1.2 million and earning about $70,000 a year. Now he is grateful for the $12 an hour he makes in what is known in unemployment circles as a “survival job” at a friend’s janitorial services company. But that does not make the work any easier.

“You’re fighting despair, discouragement, depression every day,” Mr. Cooper said.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/us/01survival.html?_r=2&hp

[Enrique]

1. I guess they assume janitors don't read the NYT

:puke:

[adamuu]

2. hmm. 12 isn't so bad.

It's a tough way to make a living but nothing to be depressed about.

[GoesTo11]

3. And 70 isn't executive pay

But going from that to a $12/hr janitor is about like what happens when someone lives and is a professional in a country that is overthrown by a dictatorship or has a purge, then one loses everything and becomes a refugee in the US and their entire professional past is meaningless. Maybe objectively speaking $12/hr is livable (and there are places where it isn't), subjectively, it's really got to hurt. This guy was in his peak earning years, and now he's going to lose his house, never save another cent for retirement, etc. He had scrambled into the middle class (70 isn't upper middle) and now he's working class. One person's hard day's work is as honorable as another, but it's hard to deny that this kind of working class life in this country is no walk in the park. At work, you are treated worse, you are told what to do, you get exposed to chemicals and injuries, you may not have insurance, etc. We should aim for a country where everyone does better than that in terms of working conditions and money.

[adamuu]

5. I hadn't thought of it that way. Thanks. n/t

[stray cat]

4. Would it engender more sympathy if he was an auto worker and lost his job?

Losing your livlihood after probably training for years, your retirement, your house, your health insurance, - yes I would say he has a right to feel down. If he was a bus driver or auto worker he may have made more money and would probably be given more sympathy from DU - go figure.

[Earth_First]

6. I've been working a "survival job" for decades...

Also living a "survival existance" on a "survival budget" just to "survive".

There's nothing extra. There's no investments. There's no vacations. There's no health insurance.

Forgive me if I fail to muster the sympathy towards this man's "survival" story.

[TahitiNut]

7. He had a "softer landing" than going from $90K/year to $0/year ...

... but I still have compassion for the difficulty he faces. It'd be interesting to know how many people he refused to hire when they were in comparable circumstances and he was the hiring manager/executive.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. He's lucky he had a friend to give him that $12 hour job

[dysfunctional press]

11. and as more and more businesses go under- fewer buildings will need janitorial services...

so nothing's guaranteed.

[Alleycat]

9. You do what you have to do

Being that the last 15 months of my life sounds very similar to some of these stories I think you are probably going to hear more and more of them. I was laid off from a job the day after Thanksgiving of 2007. Initially I was scared and worried being a single mom of two. I am college educated with 10 years sales experience and quite a bit of a marketing background. Not much to apply for in Dec in that most companies have other things going on at that time of year. Started looking full force in Jan of 2008. I must have sent over 100 resume and was not even getting rejection letters. This continues through May of 2008. Trying not to panic but my unemployment was due to expire the second week of June. I was smart with my money and had put some savings away for emergencies but I really didn't think it was going to be so hard to get re-hired. Never had I been unemployed with the exception of after my kids were born but I still worked PT even then. I applied for a few PT jobs to bridge the gap but was told that they did not want to hire someone who was only going to stay until something better came up. I tried to lie and act excited about that $8.00 job but what exactly do you use for employment history. Thankfully an extension of UEC was passed but I had to dig into savings to bridge the gap from the passing of the bill to when I could collect again which was about a month and a half. I had 1 interview in August, 2 phone interviews in Sept and ran out of unemployment again in Oct. Again I dug into the savings which were taking a beating with the market. Anyway I finally was made an offer and accepted and start on March 16th at a salary lower then my last position by approx $20K. But the benefits are great and it will be nice to be back in the work force. I feel fortunate to again say I have a job and am going to make the most of it. I really need to pay down the balance on my credit card that I was using to live and to replenish my saving in case another "emergency" happens again.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. congrats on your new job.

:hi:

[Alleycat]

13. Thanks

[maxsolomon]

10. i'm an executive?

70K is an executive at a fortune 500 company? who knew?

[misanthrope]

14. Try it with a more sarcastic title...

...and look at the sand that gets kicked up.

[lukasahero]

15. And the spin is on

God forbid we actually look at what REAL executive pay is and criticize that. No, let's make sure the lower/middle classes are fighting amongst themselves so no one will notice that robber baron bankrupting the country.

Good grief have we not figured this out by now?

ETA: In case it's not perfectly clear, $70,000 is NOT executive pay. Not by a very long shot.

[Deja Q]

16. 100% agreement.

"$70,000 is NOT executive pay. Not by a very long shot."

[misanthrope]

17. The greatest part of "privilege" is between the ears.**nm

**