It's a significant pay cut, but depending on his field of work, this is exactly the time of year that hours get cut. Our employees go from 50-60 hours a week to 40 through the winter, and sometimes there's not even enough work for a full 40. Maybe it was a surprise, but with the job being blue collar I doubt it. Also, he got cut back to a normal workweek. DH, who had a blue collar job, and I plan our budget on the lowest amount of money we plan to bring in when he worked in that situation, and then made hay while the sun shined and stocked up those savings accounts while he pulled OT all summer and fall.