Salary Cuts, WolfBlock

Nationwide Salary Cut Watch: Wolf Block Knocks 10% Off Of Associate Salaries

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Here’s a little something to break up the layoff news.

On Tuesday, we reported that U.K. firms might look to cut associate salaries (instead of just freezing them) in order to avoid layoffs. In response to our reader poll, 65% of you said that you preferred a salary cut to firm layoffs.

We hope that Wolf Block associates favor cutting salaries more strongly than the ATL readership at large. Because they are all about to take a pay cut.

Multiple tipsters report that Wolf Block chairman Mark L. Alderman informed associates this morning that all associates would be taking a 10% pay cut, effective with the next pay check.

A firm spokesperson confirmed the news a short while ago:

We can confirm that associates will have a 10% reduction in base compensation prospectively. However, we have significantly increased the bonus pool for associates to make their overall compensation more performance-based.

Wolf Block people that we spoke with emphasize that there has been a “significant increase” in the bonus pool. We don’t have those numbers yet..

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Of course, unlike our poll, Wolf Block is doing this in addition to firing employees. The firm already laid off 15 associates and staff back in December.

Still, one at least hopes the move helps the firm avoid further layoffs.

Will other firms follow Wolf Block’s lead? Or will Wolf stand alone?

Update (1:42): We can now also report layoffs at Wolf Block that happened earlier this week. Our sources report that 15 staffers and 6 associates were let go on Tuesday.

Another tipster is reporting extra details from the pay cut meeting this morning.

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The chairman said that the firm is monitoring status of revenues on a monthly basis.

The implication this tipster got was that more cuts could be coming if things do not improve.

Earlier: International Pay Freeze Watch: Freshfields and the ‘Magic Glacial’ Salary Freeze

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