THE TECH WORKPLACE Workers To Bosses: Stock Options Poor Pay Option.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: Donna Howell

A piece of the company pie brought many a tech worker wealth in the good old 1990s. But how about these days, after the market drop?

"I want money -- you can't recruit me with options," said Angela Hartley of San Diego. Her company's stock fell and left her owing more tax than her exercised options are worth. Because of it, her taste in job deals has changed, and she's not alone.

Employees now eye leafy, green money as perhaps a healthier diet than stock options. So firms that pushed options are starting to tinker with their pay recipes. Stock options will stay in the mix, but won't necessarily be the main course.

Has cash really gotten more attractive? "Absolutely," said David Hofrichter, compensation practice director at the Unifi Network, a consultancy in Atlanta. New economy firms are looking at "rebalancing the total compensation package" to favor the green stuff, because workers want it.

"The reality is, they still want to get options, but probably want to get more cash if they can," said Corey Rosen, director of the National Center for Employee Ownership in Oakland, Calif.

"I don't think cash is taking over," said Sandra Sussman, director at the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, or NASPP, in Concord, Calif. But "companies are trying a little bit harder to strike a balance" between what's good for them and what's good for their workers.