2.) The c-suite are compensated at market rate the same as anyone else. If the CTO at Patreon is making 400k/yr you can't just cut his salary to 200k, he will leave and take a job somewhere else.
And believe me, most people in well-managed company would accept it to keep the company alive. And y CTO with 400k wont "just find a new job with same payment" next day, thats an illusion. Especially nowdays in these times.
If I would be asked: "reduce your salary by 50% or get fired", for sure I would stay if there is a perspective that the situation may recover in the future. If the company has no perspective future, then you would leave anyway (either implicitly or explicitly by them)
And if you could support your family on that 50% for an undefined period of time.
Depends on how much those 6 people make.
Have you seem C-level compensation in comparison to worker's salaries?
Yes, there are outlier companies, but not C-Suite isn’t just taking a massive check home, it’s a compensation of a inflated salary and comp package, which it most companies never would cover the amount of people let go. That’s often the case at every company.
It makes much more than a dent to the ~20 people not laid off, and a likely morale boost to everyone remaining.
Edit: who are the sociopaths who downvote this? You don't think that someone not being laid off isn't going to have a much better outcome than had the been laid off? At least make an argument to the contrary...
there are some people on this venture capital company forum that are venture capitalists. layoffs to boost profits is just another monday
There's a large contingent of HN users that are all too happy to brown nose their corporate overlords.
Also, this is still a ycombinator forum, it wouldn't be surprising if some people around are the ones that lay people off. You know, the sociopaths themselves.