Layoffs have swept across the media and tech sectors in recent months as companies reel from the effects of over-hiring amidst the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and slash their workforces as last-ditch cost-cutting efforts.
Major tech companies like Apple, Zoom, Mircosoft, and Intel have announced significant job cuts in recent months, and media companies ranging from Vox to NPR have followed suit. International Business Times has also had to lay off a bulk of its employees in 2023.
As workers face the blunt end of the employment stick in these decisions, the CEOs of major companies are making more money than ever before, as much as 254 times more than the average U.S. worker in 2022, according to CNBC.
Certain CEOs made the decision to take pay cuts — some significant — during this tumultuous time, offering solidarity with their workers. These CEOs come from a wider range of industries, signaling that the effects of the fluctuating U.S. economy have crept further into the workforce than many believe.
Apple’s Tim Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook recommended a pay cut to the company’s board in January, slashing his target pay package to $49 million, 40% lower than his target pay in 2022 and around half of Cook’s $99.4 million total compensation from last year.
“The compensation committee balanced shareholder feedback, Apple’s exceptional performance, and a recommendation from Mr. Cook to adjust his compensation in light of the feedback received,” the company said in its annual proxy statement in January.
Cook’s base salary of $3 million will stay the same, while the majority of his compensation, as much as 75% like it was in 2022, is tied up in company shares which are heavily dependent on share price performance.
Cook has led Apple since 2011 and is estimated to have a personal wealth of $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Zoom’s Eric Yuan
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan cut his base salary by 98% this year, as his company was forced to slash 15% of its workforce or around 1,300 employees.
“As the CEO and founder of Zoom, I am accountable for these mistakes and the actions we take today – and I want to show accountability not just in words but in my own actions,” Yuan wrote in a blog post announcing the decisions.
Yuan, along with much of the Zoom executive board, will also forego his bonus. The rest of the executive board will take a 20% base salary cut.
Zoom came to define the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing users to stay in touch with workers, family members, and friends. During its height, Yuan admitted that Zoom stretched itself too thin and over-hired, leading the company to downsize and executives to slash their pay.
Intel’s Pat Gelsinger
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger will have his base salary cut by 25% — or by about $312,000. The company recorded severely disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and also slashed benefits valued in the tens of millions for lower-level employees.
“As we continue to navigate macro-economic headwinds and work to reduce costs across the company, we’ve made several adjustments to our 2023 employee compensation and rewards programs. These changes are designed to impact our executive population more significantly and will help support the investments and overall workforce needed to accelerate our transformation and achieve our long-term strategy,” the company told CNBC.
Like many of his peers, the majority of Gelsinger’s yearly compensation comes in the form of stock awards and options. He earned nearly $179 million in total compensation in 2021, despite Intel’s share price falling over 50% since Feb. 2021, which marked his first month as CEO.
Goldman Sachs‘ David Solomon
Goldman Sachs CEO David Soloman took a 29% pay cut to his massive $35 million 2021 salary, raking in $25 million for his work in 2022. Solomon took the cut as the powerful bank suffered concerning losses in 2022, as its full-year earnings fell by 48% to $11.3 billion and it laid off nearly 4,000 workers in two rounds of cuts.
Chief executives of other leading banks, such as CEOs Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and James Gorman of Morgan Stanley, who earn similar compensation packages to Soloman, also took pay cuts. As the Federal Reserve continues to patter around the prospect of future interest rate increases, banks have been led to slashing workforces to battle unstable markets.
