Layoff people, restore executive pay

[Potemkin]

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...cutive_pa.html

Spansion restores executives to full pay

By Kirk Ladendorf | Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 11:10 AM

While Spansion Inc. was cutting 35 percent of its workforce, or 3,000 jobs on Monday, the company’s board was restoring full pay to its top executives.

The company had imposed a 10 percent pay cut last Oct. 6 for top executives. But in a securities filing, it said it was returning the executives to full pay as part of an “employee retention program.”

Laid-off Spansion workers told the American-Statesman Monday that they received no severance pay. Spansion employed about 1,200 workers in Austin before Monday’s cuts.

Workers said they were told the company will pay part of their health insurance costs for the next several months.

The company said the downsizing would cost it $25 million, but would save it $225 million in reduced operating costs over the next year.

Workers noted that former CEO Bertrand Cambou was paid a full year’s base salary (just over $751,000) plus a four-month consulting fee when he resigned suddenly at the end of January.

Spansion is seeking a buyer as it fights a worldwide glut and falling prices for flash memory chips.

[Potemkin]

[BirdGuano]

They have reduced operating expenses by $225 million, thus have "performed" in the eyes of the board, so they get their goodies back.

Of course that's ignoring the fact they tanked the company in the first place.