55% of Surveyed Companies Plan to Extend Options Further Downward

A recent survey of 3,000 North American companies by the American Compensation Association found that 63% offered stock options to at least some employees in 1998. 55% of the companies indicated that their option plans would be extended further downward in the organization in 1999. The survey was noted in an August 30, 1998, article in the New York Times that reviewed a number of studies showing that variable compensation was becoming the norm in American business.