US CEOs who laid off the most workers got the most pay

[Hannah Bell]

Chief executive officers responsible for the 50 biggest mass layoffs of 2009 pulled in $12 million for the year on average, 42 percent higher than other CEOs at major companies, and hundreds of times more than the average US worker.

The 50 CEOs, who took home a combined $598 million, cut the jobs of 531,363 workers in 2009, according to a new report by the Institute for Policy Studies. The 50 mass layoffs accounted for three quarters of cuts at the 500 biggest US companies.

The report, “Executive Excess 2010: CEO Pay and the Great Recession,” released September 1, found that of the 50 firms, 36 of them (72 percent) announced layoffs even as earnings were up. In fact, the top 50 “layoff leaders” averaged a profit increase of 44 percent in 2009. The data reflects the continual drive of the corporate elite to squeeze higher profits out of a smaller, lower-paid, more burdened workforce.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/exec-s03.shtml

[Hannah Bell]

1. k

[Anakin Skywalker]

2. That's Just Sick! And Yet Those Dumb Teabaggers

think this cutthroat free market is the greatest thing in the world! Oh, and they want you to think that too, or else you are a evil socialist commie!

[blindpig]

3. Of course.

Investors uber alles.

k&r

[Mimosa]

4. We'll not be hearing this from the mainstream media

The corporations are their advertisers.

[Cal33]

5. How come the Neocons continue to fool the public by the

tens of millions into voting for them? Are so many of us that ignorant?

[HughBeaumont]

6. So many of THEM are that ignorant.

It's all about Two Minutes Hate for them. We're the only ones that seem to get what this "war" is about - it's a class war, and we're losing.

[Hannah Bell]

7. k

[Bozita]

8. FauxNews viewers will never hear a word about this!

[TheMuse]

9. The problem with Corporate America today

Is that their thinking is all short term. Executive pay is tied to the share price. So they will do anything to ensure that they meet market expectations, and ensure an EPS that will net them the highest pay. No regard to how that may affect the company 5 years from now, just make sure the stock holders get theirs now!

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Hannah Bell.

[Starry Messenger]

11. k & r

Of course they did.

[Initech]

12. So the only way to survive in this economy is to be the firer, not get fired.

:sarcasm: