> Why do companies think they can do this They don't think they can, they know they can. So of course they will. And from the employee side it's not a bad dea

> Why do companies think they can do this They don't think they can, they know they can. So of course they will. And from the employee side it's not a bad deal either so many people are happy to take it. Sure I wouldn't love a 20% pay cut, but if I can get a 50% reduction in cost of living by taking a 20% pay cut, that's a large raise effectively.