Sullivan & Cromwell Deflates The Rate

Last week, the 55 Water Street job announced S&C "across-the-board" pay cut on temps to $33 per hour, down from the previously rock bottom $35.

Not wanting to lose the iconic status of being the lowest payer in the industry, this is about a 10% pay cut.

While you can say it's only two lousy dollars, that depends on what your starting point is. That is, it's not like we were making $50 before.

The cut was done in the usual way, through the hit-men, the agencies, which made the calls to the poor temps. But we're like children who get beaten all the time and always expect something new or flinch when a hand is raised.

There is no doubt that this is the kind of call the agencies love to make to their temps, and think it's a way they can show their "value-added service". Their alleged reasons were the bad economy, the downward trend of pay, yadda, yadda yadda.

Thanks to the David Perla's and Bloomberg's of this world's constantly creating a new lower and lower standard, the agencies could not allow themselves to be outdone in this unpleasant reminder of how the rug is always being pulled out from under you in the temp world.

Beaten down like a bum, you are left chirping for a few stale crumbs of bread. Forget about our student loans. There's no hope of ever paying them back.