I want to tell you a little story about a great man. A great CEO.

[retrowire]

Recently, I've been laid off from my job of 2 years.

It was a job where I felt valued and felt that I had purpose. I was with the company from it's beginnings. I felt like a part of the family.

But just before Christmas last year, less than a month ago... We were told by our CEO that we had undershot our revenue goals. By about 10 million dollars.

Clearly, this was bad. That's a big number. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise that employees needed to be laid off.

But, as forgiving as I was... And as thankful as I was to my former employer for ever having me get the job, I couldn't help but remember how another great man handled the same kind of predicament...

Satoru Iwata, former President and CEO of Nintendo.

Satoru Iwata passed away of cancer last year. And it was a heartbreaking event for anyone who had known him. And believe me, gamers of all ages, knew Iwata.

So why did I remember Iwata in this time of my life? Because in an America, where lay off's are frequent, and golden parachutes are abound, I can remember what Iwata did in 2014 when Nintendo took a 30 percent drop in profits because the Nintendo 3DS wasn't doing as well as projected.

He cut his entire salary in HALF. He directed his board members to cut their salaries by 20 to 30 percent as well.

WHY? He personally apologized to his investors and he said that it is through his direction that this had happened. He didn't want anyone to lose their jobs because of his mistake.

So he cut his salary in half. And he did that when the Nintendo 3DS wasn't doing so well. Know what happened when the Nintendo Wii U started to suffer? He cut his salary in half, AGAIN.

Satoru Iwata, to me has always been a visionary hero. And in light of recent events in my life, he's come to mean much more than that. He was an exemplary CEO. And I wish more American CEO's could take the kind of responsibility and accountability as he did.

Bless you Iwata, and may you rest in eternal peace. I thank you again for everything.

SOURCE: http://nintendoeverything.com/satoru-iwata-will-take-a-50-pay-cut/

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/nintendos-ceo-takes-50-percent-pay-cut/

[LiberalArkie]

1. There are some good ones out there, but they are few and fair between.

When the company I worked for was first spun off, the CEO increased the 401k matching and did a lot of other stuff that was nice. But as they brought in more executives from other companies, they started cutting back on everything we were given. They started pushing more and more people out. The board last year even fired the CEO and replaced him with a more money grubber.

I don't think we can expect much from any of the companies until the economy really crashes and the money people have to suffer what the employees have.