Genuine question: Would big companies also lay off people during recession? I mean companies like APPL/GOOG/FB. What happen to their employee at that time though? Did they get a pay cut?
Wages are generally pretty sticky. So bonuses might be eliminated and pay increases deferred but it's relatively unusual for base pay to be cut. (And, of course, stock based compensation may suffer in a downturn.) AFAIK, neither Google nor Facebook have yet had significant layoffs. Apple certainly has in the past.