"john smith" wrote in message
...
"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:
In major businesses (like AT&T, IBM, etc.), the cost of an employee is
roughly
three times his or her salary. Costs include office space, pension,
health
care, and a portion of the salaries of the people that make out
paychecks and
W-2s. It all adds up.

Pension???
What company pays future pension payments for current employees?

Every company that has a pension plan.

If they offer a 401k and make matching contributions, those are pension
payments.

If they have a defined benefit plan, it has to be funded to cover future
liabilities of the plan. Do a search on "ERISA"

Today's WSJ had a really good article on the subject. A short read explains
why these plans are falling out of favor.