And Sometimes, You Can Get a Trifecta!

The "trifecta", or "three-fer" being furloughs, then pay cuts, then being laid off.

Pay cuts are appearing most frequently among state and local governments, which are under extraordinary budget pressures and have often already tried furloughs, i.e., docking pay in exchange for time off. Warning that they will have to lay off people otherwise, many governors and mayors are pressing public employee unions to accept a reduction in salary of a few percentage points, without getting days off in exchange.

Of course, there are the bottom-feeders in business:

Some businesses are also cutting workers’ pay, often to help stay afloat or to eliminate their losses, although a few have seized on the slack labor market and workers’ weak bargaining power to cut pay and thereby increase their profits and competitiveness.

One would hope that those greedy fuckers, who are openly enriching themselves by cutting their workers' pay, will reap the reward they so richly deserve. (I'm looking at you, Mott's Apple Juice & the Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group!)