Pity the Enron employees? Don't. Most of them knew the co. was scamming.

[elehhhhna]

I headhunted in Houston before, during, and immediately after the Enron debacle. I know that many, many people outside of Houston whose co's were bought by Enron were out of the loop, but here in Houston, the fakery was an open secret.

Even the mailroomguys were overpaid (45K vs. 25K anywhere else in town) and many, many people--from Execs to clerical employees-- told me in hushed tones that they knew they were overpaid, that there were scams going on, that the co's numbers were fishy, that Broadband was a chimera, etc. The sales comp plan alone assured the company's future destruction.

When Skilling "quit" EVERYBODY knew the $hit was about to hit the fan--his ego couldn't take staying at the helm while the co. crashed.

Lots of these "victims" knew they were involved in something very, very messy.

[RB TexLa]

1. hard to cry for some of them

I remember some of the employees telling thier stories when the company crashed. Some said they had $300 - $400K in Enron stock. The ones that were close to retirment and had that situation I have no sympathy for, it would be bad enough to have that much in one sector but to have it all in one company stock? Crazy. Crazy for them to be that invested in stocks of any company to begin with that near needing the money.

[madinmaryland]

4. Many company retirement plans will require the employees

to invest in the company's stock. The employee either does that or has no retirement.

[sandnsea]

16. Uhm, excuse me

If somebody breaks in my house and I don't have all my money locked up in a safe, is that my fault too?? Only perfect people get sympathy when they're victims of crime, is that it?

[babylonsister]

2. But weren't they 'strongly encouraged' to invest solely in

Enron stock? And I do recall the day the Enron building downtown closed-people were in shock and tears.
Also, I remember retirees being interviewed in Houston. Everyone lost bundles, some lost it all.

I have sympathy, especially when I drove around and saw all the 'For Sale' signs on homes around here.

I hope after today these people can find a measure of peace, because they'll never get their life savings back.

[RB TexLa]

5. I was "strongly encouraged" to invest in a timeshare the other day

:nopity:

[babylonsister]

6. See response#4; that was Enron employees' option. nt

[RB TexLa]

9. It was their option to choose from any of the 20+ choices offered by

the 401k plan at Enron. Many of them invested heavily in the company stock because Enron matched purchases in company stock, but the employees did have a choice of what to put their money in.

[1932]

14. They were locked out of selling from their 401ks during the crash

and the execs were not.

[RB TexLa]

15. restrictions on stocks bought with matching funds most always

have these types of restrictions on them. The crime isn't in that, it's in what was and wasn't reported in statements. But even with that, no matter what it's your responsibility to keep your investments diversified.

[1932]

17. That's not what happened. They changed plan managers

and had a one-month lockout for most employees for "administrative" reasons. They said they had planned it for months, so there was nothing nefarious about it.

But I suspect they planned to fall apart during that month so that execs wouldn't have to compete with employees while they were unloading their shares.

Another suspicious thing about the crash was that state-run pensions in Ohio, CT, and FL PURCHASED Enron shares while they were crashing.

What do those three states have in common? The Bush family has more political connections in those states than any states other than TX.

[Guaranteed]

3. A lot of them were DOING it. But- a lot of them WEREN'T, too.

So....there ya go.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. The real problem in a company like Enron

Is the Corporate Culture.

The corporate culture at Enron was corrupted and unlawful. It was okay to screw people and it was encouraged.

A fish rots from the head down, but the rot at Enron had obviously reached all levels.

[Guaranteed]

8. Yup. It's just corporations.

The idea itself is flawed. The group-dynamics and lack of accountability just bring the whole thing down.

[johnfunk]

10. Not necessarily true. The TOP players knew it was all a scam...

... but the lower-level managers and rank-and-file were being played like a Fender Stratocaster.

[ny_liberal]

11. So, everyone at your company knows about all the deals CEO/CFO make?

Wow.

At most companies employees have no idea what kind of deals/joint ventures their executives enter into.

[puerco-bellies]

13. They set up phony energy trading floors

Secretary's, mail-room people, admin assistants, sales force members, and middle management personnel would man the "trading floor" while Kenny-Boy and other Exec's would bring clients and VIP visitors through the room. When those rooms were not "hot" they would be left empty till the next tour.

To say that these people did not know what was up is a farce. If you have ever worked in an office setting, you know that something like that happening in a building would spread through the grapevine like a So-Cal brushfire. I'm not saying all knew, I am saying MANY of them knew something was fishy.

[Sgent]

12. All of the matching money

that Enron put into the 401k's was in the form of Enron stock -- so 6% of your salary / yr was in Enron stock -- and it was restricted so it couldn't be sold.

In addition, as an employee you could buy Enron stock at 85% of the market value, and it was restricted while you were employed there.

A lot of people lost a LOT of money because of the above two facts.