Reply #69: Recession Roulette: CEO Fires Herself to Save Jobs

[Demeter]

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/05/16/Recession-Roulette-CEO-Fires-Herself-to-Save-Jobs.aspx?utm_source=The+Fiscal+Times+Latest+News&utm_campaign=175541ad9e-Latest_News_from_the_Fiscal_Times_05_11_17&utm_medium=email


As soon as they arrived at work on that May morning in 2010, she called all employees, including her husband — who had left his job in construction and joined ABC — into her office. They lined up in chairs on the other side of her desk. She took them through the numbers. She was somber, and her staff began sinking into their seats. “I gave them my best Donald Trump,” she explained. “I said, ‘I have to let someone go, and that someone is going to be … me.’”
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So far, her sacrifice seems to be paying off. Accurate Background Check hasn’t had to fire anyone since Gonzalez’s resignation. The company continues to sublet space, and it qualified for the Fed’s ARC program, which provided an interest-free loan of $35,000...

After she fired herself, Gonzalez took a job with a branch of Devereux Kids, a national nonprofit that assists children with emotional, developmental and cognitive disabilities. She says she makes 60 percent less than she paid herself at ABC, which was a shock to her family (her husband still works in ABC’s accounting department.) When that work is complete and ABC returns to profitability, she plans to return full-time. She expects that to happen within the year.

Certainly, not many CEOs are in a position to do what she did, but Gonzalez has a message for corporate leaders who profit while employees suffer during hard times. “It’s sad when you hear about CEOs letting people go, shutting down departments and giving themselves bonuses and raises,” she says. “That should be illegal.”