Essentially, the company is in a period of cost-cutting, and the way they are doing it is very different from how things used to be. When I was first hired around 2008, the company was also going through tough times. In the economy at the time, nobody really knew what was happening. To hedge against things possibly getting worse, the company held off on giving bonuses for one review period. They had a meeting and explained the situation to the employees, and as a show of solidarity, the executive team all took a 25% pay cut. We respected this. Once things were more stable, not only did they bring back bonuses but they made the next one bigger than normal to make up for not giving one during the previous cycle.
The way the cuts are happening this time is very different. Basically, I would describe it as being penny wise and pound foolish. There is now an approval process to get an AA battery for a pager, a new laptop now requires VP approval, and sodas are being removed from conference rooms. They are cutting in ineffective, but visible ways, which is the worst way to go. Additionally, health benefits are set to decrease as of the first of the year. They will still be good, but not great as they once were.
