The Post of the Day is from Lynda K!
Grafic by Dan
Note from Dan: Lynda K posted this one yesterday. It calls into question the goodness of corporations, and the issue of whether they actually are “job creators,” or “job destroyers,” or something in between. I didn’t want it to get buried on the Occupy Roanoke thread.
There are those of you who speak about corporations providing goods and jobs and how if they disappear, there will be no jobs or goods.
If you look at the “Kings” of layoffs this year, you might see that those corporations that you hold in such high esteem, seem to value CEO pay over worker stability.
- Sears Holding Corporation announced the layoffs of about 700 workers. Sears Holdings Corp.’s interim CEO W. Bruce Johnson, received compensation worth $5.3 million in 2010, more than triple the prior year.
- Gannett Co. announced another 700 employees will lose their jobs. Gannett disclosed that it paid Chairman-CEO Craig Dubow $9.4 million last year — double his 2009 pay. COO Gracia Martore got $8.2 million — more than double her $4.0 million in 2009.
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in July it could cut roughly 1,000 jobs. Goldman Sachs almost doubled the pay package of its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, to $18.6m.
- Boston Scientific Inc. announced plans to trim an additional 1,200 to 1,400 employees through the end of 2013. This is at the same time the company is expanding its China workforce. They paid CEO Ray Elliott a total compensation package worth $4.7 million last year — down 86 percent from the $33.4 million package which welcomed him in 2009. (That’s more like it!)
- Lockheed Martin Corporation announced in June that it was shedding about 1,500 workers. Robert J. Stevens, CEO, received 2010 compensation worth $19.1 million, 7 percent less than in 2009
- Delta Air Lines Inc. announced that about 2,000 workers have accepted voluntary buyouts. Delta paid its top executive, Richard Anderson, $8 million in total compensation in 2010, down slightly from the previous year.
- Research in Motion Ltd. “headcount reduction” will amount to about 2,000. Michael Lazaridis, CEO, was compensated with a package worth $5.1 million.
- Cisco Systems Inc. has recently announced it would lay off 6,500 employees, but that number could climb to as high as 10,000. Poor CEO John Chambers, even saw his total pay package drop this year to 32 percent to $12.9 million. What a shame.
- Merck & Co. most recently cut 12,000 to 13,000 jobs. Former Merck (MRK) CEO Dick Clark’s compensation rose 55 percent to $25 million in 2010 … on top of this, he is expected to receive pension payments of $33.3 million and deferred compensation of $15.8 million when he retires this year.
- Borders Group is now bankrupt and more than 10,000 workers have lost their jobs.
- HSBC Holdings plc is aiming to reduce its headcount by around 5,000. The total reported job cuts was actually put at 30,000 over the next 3 years. HSBC wants its investors to pony up $22 million for its CEO, Stuart Gulliver.
Does this seem fair to anyone here?
December 7, 2011 - 3:00 PM
Nice job Lynda K and Dan. This outrageously irresponsible behavior by the big corporations needs to be plastered so all can see and then, maybe the public will realize just how bad we are ALL getting the shaft.
Most likely the “usefuls idiots” will just go on about their business as usual, until it’s their turn to be tapped on the shoulder and booted from their occupation. While the CEO gets magnificently rewarded for doing the dirty work. Shame, Shame, Shame on all CEO’s on this list and hundreds more. They should be the first ones out the door.
Lynda conveniently omits Fannie Mae which has lost more than $150 billion since 2009, yet has awarded over $225 million in executive bonuses during that time while announcing hundreds of layoffs. Kinda dwarfs the private sector numbers.
Oh sh*t. Lynda’s rant just got trashed.
Right on Lynda K! This is a very enlightening read too:
“…I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is the feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion a virtuous cycle that allows companies to survive and thrive and business owners to hire. An ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than I ever have been or ever will be.”
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-07/raise-taxes-on-rich-to-reward-true-job-creators-nick-hanauer.html
Suzie, the only thing your post confirms is that ALL business, private and government sponsored, have their priorities wrong. No one here is saying that government has no blame in the game, but it’s unfair to lay blame just on the government while denying that the private sector is having a definite impact on the jobs situation. The economy is in shambles for many reasons. It took the private sector and government to get us into this mess, and it will require both institutions to get us out. You’re hate spewing rhetoric does nothing but irritate other posters, while putting your ignorance on display.
A. Beasley,
You can’t really fault private banks for doing what the government encourages. This entire mess stemmed from the PC plan to give mortgages to unqualified borrowers. Private companies weren’t doing this before the government made it profitable.
I take great pride in telling the truth on this blog. It so happens folks here don’t like the truth.
A Beasley, as long as right wing lies will work, that is what they will use. Accepting their own irresponsible actions, policies and legislation is not something they have the integrity to do. Not in DC and not on this blog.
Sane, rational people like you realize that it took us a long time and a lot of bad decisions to get here and that the “blame” covers both parties and the special interests they represent so willingly.
If you missed it, read this 60 Minutes episode:
“Bob Ney: Oh, I don’t believe Jack Abramoff owned me. But were we involved in the culture of corruption together? Absolutely.
Former Republican Congressman Bob Ney was ambitious and looked at Abramoff as a way to build alliances with the White House and the majority leader.
Ney: I wanted to be speaker of the House and Jack Abramoff was the beautiful light of day for me to get to the person who I had had some conflicts with, Tom Delay.
Abramoff began inviting Ney on golf trips including one to Scotland and to his restaurant Signatures, where Ney was given food and drinks on the house, a violation of the congressional gift limit laws. Ney says he was hardly the only one crossing the line.
Ney: But I will still tell you, at that point in time, in order to get a drink at Signatures you had to shove White House staffers of George Bush the heck away from the bar. And it was packed with people. And there were members. Now that doesn’t mean everybody did everything for Jack. But if you wanna talk about strict interpretation of violation of the– of– of the laws of drink and food, Katey bar the door, she was wide open, two shotguns blarin’.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57319075/jack-abramoff-the-lobbyists-playbook/?tag=currentVideoInfo;videoMetaInfo