According to a survey in the Economist, 13 percent of Americans have taken a pay cut this recession. American workers are making sacrifices to keep their jobs and compromising during the job hunt. The Wall Street Journal has been tracking eleven laid-off MBAs as they search for work again. Within that sample, many had found work but five took pay cuts of as much as 80% while at least three took cuts exceeded 35%.
Penelope Trunk, a career blogger and consultant, claims that recession or not, you simply cannot change careers without taking a pay cut. To those who manage to keep their salaries while switching, Trunk replies:
I think people who make career changes without pay cuts actually do both careers at the same time in some capacity, for a while. In that case, the cost—the pay cut—is really your time: all the other things you did not do while you did both careers.
Do you think that it’s impossible to work in another capacity without sacrificing pay? Do you agree that working a job you love is more valuable than all of the salary you might lose? Share your thoughts below.
