Why don't business executives take responsibility for their businesses failing?

Instead of cutting their own pay, they punish their employees for the failings of their own business decisions. How wise is it to layoff the lower paid employees who actually produce the products your company makes? It seems incredibly counter-productive to me. The executives could work for free until their companies get back on their feet. It's not as if they haven't already made plenty of money. What is the point of running a company that can't produce anything because they've laid off most of the employees that actually make their products? I look at the number of companies receiving bailouts, laying off employees or forcing them to take pay cuts, while still giving themselves pointless perks like retention bonuses.

5 months ago - 2 answers