Sharp_Coyote said:
I love my company, who put in a salary freeze due to sales/revenue being down the last 16 months, hit some older staff with paycuts (the only alternatives given are early retirement with no buyout, or permanent layoff), and any new hires being offered minimum wage only.

See, they have the solution to tough financial times: add two layers of middle and upper management! Nothing like the addition of multiple six-figure salaries to micro-manage a company to prosperity ...

It is bad that happened to you, I hope your situation gets better since even for my standards this year is bad