Ask Marilyn: When Corporations Lay Off Employees

Krish Nat of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, writes:

Marilyn: When the finances of large corporations take a downturn, why do they prefer to lay off people instead of cutting salaries across a segment of the organization?

Marilyn responds:

Large companies commonly build up more employees than they need, and employees are very expensive, so when money gets tight, the payroll is the first place to trim. And let?s consider that segment. Would you rather have 1000 disheartened and maybe angry employees or 990 happy-they-weren't-laid-off employees?