Paying To Keep Your Job

More workers are taking cuts in bonuses and even salaries--to avoid being laid off

Assembly-line workers at Ford and Chrysler no longer chat about whether they'll spend their $5,000-to-$10,000 year-end profit-sharing windfalls on a family vacation or a motorboat. This year there's little profit to share. Many also stand to lose $10,000 to $20,000 in reduced annual overtime pay. And their white-collar bosses aren't doing much better. Ford's 6,000 executives won't be getting any bonuses. The people who sell the cars and make most of their money from commissions are suffering much the same fate. Joe Torchia peddles Chevies at a dealership in Racine, Wis., where business was down 27% in September from the year...

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