Ex-CEOs can't find work in this economy, either
Stop me when this sounds familiar:
Due to the recession, an employment group across North America has suffered a seismic strain, resulting in the firings, lay-offs and job evaporations of countless workers – who now actively, if not desperately, seek a place of occupation.
A common tale of the downturn, right? We could fill a number of jobs into the above blank – auto workers, nurses, journalists – and it would fit the bill. But how about this … now we’re talking about ex-CEOs, former company fat cats who can’t find work to save their life.
Yes, it appears the latest employee group to be without consistent work this side of the Atlantic has become the CEO, who has found an executive job market that’s not particularly forgiving in this economic climate.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “no one knows how many out-of-work CEOs” there are these days, but the prospect of idle executives finding a company to helm in 2010 isn’t so promising.
By recruiter Spencer Stuart’s numbers, only 48 companies in the S&P 500 index changed top executives last year, the lowest total since the watchdog began tracking such data in 2004.
Worse, though, notes Spencer Stuart, only two of the 13 major corporations that changed CEOs in the last quarter tabbed an outsider for the position. Former execs, the business world continues to suggest, need not apply.
Of course, the résumés of many of these ousted CEOs haven’t done much to inspire confidence into would-be employers.
If any former exec’s rap sheet comes with a hint of controversy, that makes it that much harder to find a public company willing to give a second shot. In fact, if your track record suggests any kind of wrongdoing, you’ll have to beg and plead to get back into the business world’s good books.
Take Mike Zafirovski, for example. The former Nortel Networks Corp. boss left the company last August as the tech titan was falling apart following its bankruptcy court filing. The WSJ reports that Zafirovski is dying to get back into the game, and has “prepared a detailed, two-page chart of his career financial-feats” as a means to turn his image of a corporate cancer on its head.
Is this trend bad news for former execs? Yeah, definitely. But let’s not look past the facts here: CEOs, while in an incredibly stressful and demanding position, are compensated well for their work.
And when you consider that even if they screw up and get involved in corporate fraud or white-collar theft they’re bound to be freed from jail prematurely anyway, this isn’t exactly a group the general public will play its sappy violin for quite yet.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: D Rob | Jul 16, 2021 9:31:09 AM
None of those morons are worth the money they ask anyways..... time for them to flip burgers!
Posted by: don | Jul 16, 2021 10:12:00 AM
They were never worth what they were paid to begin with. Why becasue of the risk? What risk? Everyone lost money but them and there is no way to hold them accountalbe. Funny how a frontline worker who takes money(embezzles) from a company can go to jail for $10,000 but dupe the company out of millions and it is not a crime. They kept saying that is what they had to be paid so they wouldnt go elsewhere. All we need to do is agree as a group that no one will pay these ridiculous salaries and then what will they do? Not go to work because they are only being paid 4 million instead of 20...and we talk about childern with a sense of entitlement. This group takes top prize. If that is the case, you should have enough money if you have been paid millions a year. ..stay at home. Maybe do some volenteer work. I have no sympathy for these people. I will save my sympathy for they guy they laid off so they could keep thier multi million dollar bonuses that is having a hard time paying for basic needs.
Posted by: Claude | Jul 16, 2021 11:43:20 AM
These CEO/S make me sick, they made this mess that the tax payer has to clean up, so let them get a real job or stay home out of the way.
Posted by: joey | Jul 16, 2021 11:48:06 AM
No sympathy for this white collar greedy elitist group from me.
Posted by: george carere | Jul 16, 2021 12:19:39 PM
marx said the day would come when the demand for labour would decline and fewer people would be needed in the work place-capitalistt geoge toronto
Posted by: Gary | Jul 16, 2021 1:19:47 PM
AAAAAH. You mean they'll have to dip into their millions if savings or the pay-off money.
Poor things. WTF
Posted by: rusty | Jul 16, 2021 2:11:18 PM
CEO CHIEF EMBEZZALMENT OFFICER enuff said,i hope i see one of these creeps in the soup lines one day,let them eat dirt scumbags
Posted by: mike | Jul 16, 2021 2:17:23 PM
i have work for them i need a carwash person i pay $10.75/hr any takers
Posted by: mark | Jul 16, 2021 2:31:32 PM
those CEO's can buff up their halo's as much as they want - still greedy dirtbags
Posted by: bob | Jul 16, 2021 5:38:01 PM
Why would anyone hire someone who is incompetent?Why was he laid off? Did he bankrupt his last company.Is this a joke?
Posted by: Sampaguita | Jul 16, 2021 7:03:03 PM
Most of the comments I read are cruel and rude. Yes, I do not agree and condone the crime that the CEO's have committed BUT when anyone speak or act unkindly to them; you are puttig yourself on the same level as they are. They were selfish, greedy and egoistic. We cannot allow ourselves to be just like them; or else we will lose our own self-respect and honor, which are very important characteristics of a human being in this world. It is a rarity nowadays; this time of materialism and consumerism, that drive some people to lose their self-worth.
Posted by: marie | Jul 16, 2021 7:55:52 PM
let them eat cake
Posted by: randy | Jul 18, 2021 12:33:24 AM
a bunch of whiny CEO's looking for sympathy and work, what an oxymoron
Posted by: dean | Jul 18, 2021 12:35:28 AM
If I had a job that paid 10 million a year or more I could save enough to retire after woking one year. Hard to feel sorry for the execs.
Posted by: D Rob | Jul 18, 2021 12:42:52 AM
In my opinion, for what it is worth, no CEO should be paid more than 10 times more than what the lowest paid employee is paid. No CEO should recieve a bonus unless every employee receives a bonus of the same percentage in relation to their wage. No CEO should recieve any kind of perk or benefit unless it is also offered to every employee. Despite what the elite believe, no one person is of more value than any person they may pass on the street. This is the core problem with America and other countries that have the same values. The rich keep getting richer while the average worker struggles to make ends meet. When is it ever enough money? When the rich have it all? Time for the average American to stand up and say ENOUGH!!!! Share the wealth!!!!
Posted by: dfw | Jul 18, 2021 3:45:55 AM
Who cares about CEO's. And I agree 100% with D Rob The only thing I would is is to make what he said the law.
Posted by: Johnny Brooks | Jul 18, 2021 4:08:27 AM
Jason Buckland says the CEO's have incredibly stressful and demanding positions. Jason , there are millions of working stiffs out there trying to raise young families, not knowing if they can feed and clothe there kids from one day to the next. You say these millionaires are leading stressful lives, shows how completely out of touch you are with reality. These pigs are over compensated on how well they can substainiate the share price and prop up the bottom line. They accomplish this by how successful they are at screwing good and decent Canadians out of there hard earned cash.
F.......em' ..........feed them Jackfish.
Posted by: Dave | Jul 18, 2021 12:47:01 PM
Most CEO’s don’t even come up through the working ranks any more, they are the product of the ‘haves’ in the world. There parents were able to provide them the education and most likely the contacts so when they graduated from their schooling they were given a high level position that they used only as a stepping stone for their next jump by taking the credit for the achievements of the workers (BTW, University is the only form of schooling that a person can complete a 4 year course in 5 or more years and still be considered better then someone who could only afford a similar collage course and completes it on time). They missed out on knowing what it’s like to start at the bottom and working their way up.
They in turn, hire from their elite group of friends (some who have been asked to step down from past jobs for not being able to live up to their hype) thus stunting the movement of lower employees trying to move up the working ladder.
Take Mike Z and Nortel. His bad choices ended up hiring people who hire their own people creating more levels of management who intern wasted resources and money doing 180 turns. They keeping the same senior ‘yes man’ management who keep making bad decisions and laying off anyone who disagreed with them. Then to keep the shareholders happy they lay off to reduce cost, to the point they have no one inventing just maintaining, nothing to sell, no one to buy. So I too agree wit D rob posting and wish a law would be passed.
Posted by: Guy | Jul 18, 2021 2:07:40 PM
Another issue are the Board members of most of these large corporations. It is they who decide how much salary and overall compensation the top managers or CEO will be entitled to. Many of these BM came from similar corporations where they too were compensated at a very high level. Of course, they want to continue this trend in hope they might be chosen again as a CEO at another firm.
In my opinion, a CEO from should be paid approx. 10 times the avg salary and their bonus should be based on how much the share price has increased and how much profit the company makes. The only exception would be for our Government businesses like Hospitals / LCBO / Canada Post. The salaries should not exceed the Prime Ministers. Some say you would not get the cream of the crop if salaries are not high enough. Well I disagree. There are excellent individuals out there that are very intelligent and very capable of making the right decisions for a salary of $250-$300K. Nothing wrong with a hard days work for a very good salary.