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"Across-the-board pay cut."

So, in this scenario you've got the suits making 2x-4x what the people who build the product are making, yet everyone is expected to take the same percentage cut in salary. (Nevermind the fact that the lower-ranking employees are probably just getting by!)

Remember how just a few weeks ago, everyone was complaining that CEO pay is drastically out of touch with performance? This is how it starts.

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I'm not sure that "across-the-board" means the same percentage for everyone. It could just mean everyone's pay gets cut.

But I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that in a company where the CEO is overpaid, he's not going to take a real big pay cut voluntarily.

Yeah, I thought about that, too. But even if the cut is graded, it doesn't seem right to cut the pay of people who are just getting by and living on their salary, when the executives are earning a comfortable premium over living expenses, plus equity.

Cut the pay of a $300k CEO, and maybe he waits a bit to buy his next $1,000 Eames chair. Cut the pay of the $60k graphic designer, and she takes roommates and eats ramen (in the bay area; obviously, the numbers change in Podunk, IA).

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