The collapse of Enron has left thousands of people redundant.

For many employees, loss of work is only the beginning. Thousands lost their personal investments and pensions as Enron's stock plunged.

Many employees had personal pension funds made up of Enron shares - a common situation in corporate America, where occupational schemes based on final salary payments are increasingly rare, and money purchase schemes, known as 401(K) plans, are the norm.

They were encouraged to do so by the company, which also forbade them from selling their stocks when the company share price came down.

In contrast, many Enron executives were able to cash in their share options when the company’s fate became clear.