Madam, – It is sad to read that 45 per cent of SMEs have cut wages, but how one interprets that says a lot about one’s outlook (Breaking News, July 29th). Isme chief executive Mark Fielding seems to be a glass-half-empty kind of man.
What I note, being more half-full inclined, is that despite the recession, where wage cuts are an inevitable and cyclical consequence, some 49 per cent of SMEs have not had to cut wages – quite an achievement. To paraphrase him, these figures confirm that many SMEs have demonstrated many options other than reducing wages.
So it seems that the SME sector is split in two, one half doing fine considering the situation, the other half doing worse, along with the 100 per cent of public sector workers who have taken about an 8 per cent pay cut this year.
As to the larger economy, we are told by reputable sources that while wage freezes have become the norm, wage cuts have been generally rare so far.
If only many private sector employees had not recently initiated upward pressure, looking for and receiving pay increases, then we might be getting somewhere to restore competitiveness, according to the formula Mr Fielding’s organisation prescribes.
Unfortunately, we may expect little more than the usual suspects across the political spectrum calling for someone else to pay, while seeking to enhance their relative lot, hiding despicably behind those less fortunate when necessary to project the moral high ground. In so many respects, it’s business as usual.We really need to get beyond this kind of childishness. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Could someone, somewhere, answer the question: why is our Government saving our gangsters – oops, banksters – and not our people? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – A letter devoid of self- interest is like a breath of fresh air in today’s climate, and Ray Doherty’s letter (July 29th) certainly falls into this category. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to be heeded by a type of government that has unashamedly facilitated self-interest, greed, and the inevitable economic collapse.
Instead, it will continue in its erroneous direction and borrow billions to bolster a manifestly failed governance.
When you give to those who do not need it, you invariably leave others short. This should be obvious even to the short-sighted. A government that is now broke cannot see it, yet it blindly wants to hold on to power to dig us into a bigger hole.
Time to see through them. – Yours, etc,