Motorola Announces Cost Morale Reduction Actions
by John Paczkowski
Posted on December 17, 2008 at 9:00 AM PT
Well this should do wonders for Motorola employee morale….
The handset maker this morning said it will cut compensation and benefits packages for its employees in order to “better align with industry norms”–industry norms in Motorola’s case being the ongoing collapse of its post-Razr phone business. To that end, the company will permanently freeze its U.S. pension plans and temporarily suspend all matching contributions to 401(k) plans. It won’t be offering salary increases this year, either. And, in a sympathetic nod to Motorola’s (MOT) long-suffering employees, co-CEOs Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha will take 25 percent salary reductions. Brown will forego any 2008 cash bonus. Jha will forfeit a portion of his guaranteed 2008 bonus equivalent to that and take the remainder in restricted stock.
“The sustained downturn in the global economy requires that we take these difficult but necessary steps,” said Brown and Jha. “While serving our customers remains a top priority, we are equally focused on our cost structure, and we will continue to implement appropriate measures to conserve cash and reduce expenses.”
Happy holidays, Schaumberg.
