Executive pensions grew even though the share prices at the firms dropped an average of 37 percent in 2008, while many companies froze employee pensions and suspended contributions to retirement plans, noted the newspaper.

In 1980, 35.9 million private-sector workers (46 percent of all private-sector workers) were covered by a pension plan. (source).

For non-executives, you are considered “lucky” if your company offers a match. According to this article, about 69% of all employers offer a 401k match.

The NYT cites that about 8 percent of companies have eliminated the 401k match during the downturn. The same article talks about what to do if your company has eliminated the 401k match.