Laid-Off US Workers Are Taking Huge Pay Cuts At Their New Jobs

http://www.businessinsider.com/laid-off-us-workers-take-pay-cuts-at-new-jobs-2012-8

One-third are taking cuts of at least 20%.

Only 56 percent of Americans laid off from January 2009 through December 2011 had found jobs by the start of this year, the Labor Department said Friday. More than half of them took jobs with lower pay. One-third took pay cuts of 20 percent or more.

The figures would be even lower if people who could find only part-time jobs were included in the total.

They are people like Andrew McMenemy, who used to make $80,000 a year as a computer systems administrator at a software firm. He was among the 80 percent of the firm laid off in March 2010.

Now, he makes $9.15 an hour, providing tech support for Apple. The job offers no benefits. He works from home in East Stroudsburg, Pa., where he lives with his father.

"I'm going to be 53; I have to live at home with my father," McMenemy said. "I made more when I worked in high school."