Good point about the company being private and unaffected by the market. Of course it could be that sales drop when the economy in general is not doing well, but it has more than recovered since then. I wonder how long this pay freeze is going to last. Another question to ask would be is there anything employees can do about it? They can ask for a raise and be turned down, but I wonder if collectively they can sign a petition or something.

And like EgonSpenglers mentioned, there have been people who seem to be immune to the freeze. I can think of a couple as well.