Calculate in Absolute Value

• 1). Write down your previous salary. For example if your previous salary was $50,000 per year than write down the figure of $50,000.
  
  
• 2). Write down your reduced salary. For example, if your reduced salary is $40,000 per year then you would write down that number.
  
  
• 3). Subtract your reduced salary from your previous salary. For example, if your previous salary was $50,000 and your reduced salary is $40,000 then you would have a salary reduction of $10,000 in absolute value.
  
  

Calculate as a Percentage

• 1). Write down your original salary just as you would in calculating the absolute value of the reduction.
  
  
• 2). Write down the absolute value of the reduction, for example if the absolute value of the reduction was $10,000 -- as with the above example -- then you would write down this figure.
  
  
• 3). Divide the amount of the reduction by the amount of your original salary. For example, if the amount of the original salary was $50,000 and the reduction was $10,000 then you would divide $10,000 by $50,000. This will give you a decimal figure; in the case of this example, the figure is 0.2. Multiply this figure by 100 to get the percentage of the decrease. In this case the result would be 20, meaning that the salary reduction was 20 percent.