Job Cuts annoucements

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Unemployment Rates for States --Monthly Rankings
Seasonally Adjusted -as of Dec. 2008
 Rank State % Unemployment Rate

1 WYOMING 3.4
2 NORTH DAKOTA 3.5
3 SOUTH DAKOTA 3.9
4 NEBRASKA 4.0
5 UTAH 4.3
6 IOWA 4.6
7 NEW HAMPSHIRE 4.6
8 NEW MEXICO 4.9
9 OKLAHOMA 4.9
10 WEST VIRGINIA 4.9
11 KANSAS 5.2
12 MONTANA 5.4
13 VIRGINIA 5.4
14 HAWAII 5.5
15 MARYLAND 5.8
16 LOUISIANA 5.9
17 TEXAS 6.0
18 COLORADO 6.1
19 ARKANSAS 6.2
20 DELAWARE 6.2
21 WISCONSIN 6.2
22 IDAHO 6.4
23 VERMONT 6.4
24 ALABAMA 6.7
25 PENNSYLVANIA 6.7
26 ARIZONA 6.9
27 MASSACHUSETTS 6.9
28 MINNESOTA 6.9
29 MAINE 7.0
30 NEW YORK 7.0
31 CONNECTICUT 7.1
32 NEW JERSEY 7.1
33 WASHINGTON 7.1
34 MISSOURI 7.3
35 ALASKA 7.5
36 ILLINOIS 7.6
37 KENTUCKY 7.8
37 OHIO 7.8
39 TENNESSEE 7.9
40 MISSISSIPPI 8.0
41 FLORIDA 8.1
42 GEORGIA 8.1
43 INDIANA 8.2
44 NORTH CAROLINA 8.7 4
5 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 8.8
46 OREGON 9.0
47 NEVADA 9.1
48 CALIFORNIA 9.3
49 SOUTH CAROLINA 9.5
50 RHODE ISLAND 10.0
51 MICHIGAN 10.6
 
One day- and 77,000 job cuts announced. Ouch.



Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Caterpillar Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., Home Depot Inc. and ING Groep NV led companies today announcing at least 77,000 job cuts as sales withered and construction slowed amid a global economic recession.
In the U.S., the firings brought the number of job eliminations this month to more than 150,000, according to Chicago-based executive search firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.
The firings came as American jobless claims hit a 26-year high, reaching 589,000 in the week ended Jan. 17, as shrinking demand for products and services forced companies to lower costs.
“These are not just numbers on a page,” U.S. President Barack Obama said at the White House, referring to recent job cut announcements. “We cannot afford delays” in getting an $825 billion economic recovery program through Congress.
Today’s biggest layoffs were at Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar. The world’s largest maker of construction equipment said it’s cutting 20,000 jobs after fourth-quarter profit fell by almost a third.
Pfizer Inc., the New York-based drugmaker that’s acquiring competitor Wyeth for $68 billion, said it will close five factories and eliminate 19,000 jobs, or 15 percent, of the combined company’s workforce.
Sprint Nextel, the U.S. wireless carrier, will eliminate 8,000 jobs, or 14 percent of its workforce, in order to reduce expenses by $1.2 billion a year.
Home Depot
Home Depot, the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, said it will cut 7,000 jobs, or 2 percent of its workforce, and exit its Expo home-décor business. Texas Instruments Inc., the second-largest U.S. chipmaker, said it planned to eliminate 1,800 jobs and shed 1,600 more workers through voluntary retirements.
“Certainly since 2001, with the dot-com collapse, we haven’t seen these kinds of large cuts,” Challenger Gray spokesman James Pedderson said in an interview. “In terms of the number of companies and the number of cuts, this morning is certainly unusual.”
The biggest month for U.S. job cuts since Challenger Gray has been compiling data was January 2002, when 248,475 positions were eliminated. Today’s figures included layoffs outside the U.S.
Before today, at least 15 companies announced they planned to eliminate 93,000 positions so far in January, Challenger Gray said. Topping that list was Circuit City Stores Inc., the bankrupt consumer-electronics retailer that’s shutting down its U.S. stores and firing more than 30,000 people.
General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker, said today it will eliminate shifts at Michigan and Ohio plants, shedding 2,000 jobs as sales drop.
European Jobs
In Europe, ING, the biggest Dutch financial-services company, said it will reduce its workforce by 5.4 percent, eliminating 7,000 jobs, after its second consecutive quarterly loss.
Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe’s largest maker of consumer electronics, said it will cut 6,000 positions after its first quarterly loss in almost six years.
Corus, the unit of India’s Tata Steel Ltd. that’s Europe’s second-biggest steelmaker, said it will reduce its workforce by 8 percent, or 3,500 jobs, as demand from builders and automakers declines.
Barnes Group Inc., the aerospace manufacturer, said today it had reduced its workforce by an additional 800 positions to 5,700 as of Dec. 31, citing “severe declines in the transportation” market and the effects of the Boeing Co. strike.
Lincoln National Corp., the life-insurer, said it’s cutting 5 percent of its staff, or 540 jobs, after posting five straight declines in quarterly profit.
Eliminating Workers
Brooks Automation Inc., a maker of robots and pumps used to produce microchips, said it’s eliminating 350 more jobs after reducing its workforce by 10 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it will cut 75 percent of its workforce after realigning its product offerings.
Caterpillar fell 8.4 percent and Pfizer dropped 10 percent at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Home Depot rose 4.7 percent and Sprint gained 1.2 percent. Texas Instruments gained 4.9 percent following the announcement after the close of regular trading.
Last week, International Business Machines Corp. cut at least 1,400 sales jobs, according to a copy of a separation agreement obtained by Bloomberg.
 
"Another big round of layoffs is expected at Starbucks, possibly 1,000 people — a third of its headquarters employees — and some district managers and field employees, according to an e-mail sent to a stock brokerage's customers Friday"...

More...More layoffs expected at Starbucks
 
I work part-time for Gannett, which cut about 10% of its jobs last year.
Recently, Gannett informed ALL of its employees that they would be required to take a mandatory one-week furlough (without pay) prior to April 1.
Not a layoff, but a method which should effectively reduce all employees' annual salaries by about 2%.
 
Nearly 40K job cuts announced as weakness persists

The domino effect: Job losses at Circuit City, WellPoint, Hertz come on heels of other cuts


NEW YORK (AP) -- This is the point in the recession where one round of job cuts leads to another.


Employers announced a total of nearly 40,000 job cuts Friday, a
lmost all of them related to problems in other parts of the economy.

Circuit City Stores Inc. said it is liquidating, closing all its U.S. stores and cutting 30,000 jobs after being hobbled, in part, by declining consumer spending. Rental car company Hertz Global Holdings Inc. is eliminating 4,000 jobs worldwide as families and business travelers forgo trips. Insurer WellPoint Inc. is cutting about 1,500 jobs, with rising unemployment leading to fewer people with health insurance.

For the moment, every economic action seems to precipitate a negative reaction. Consumers made nervous by job cuts, tumbling home prices and swooning stocks aren't spending. That's hurt retailers and manufacturers, who have closed stores, cutting their employees' jobs or hours, which has made workers more nervous, so they spend less. And the spiral continues.

Even falling gas prices will have hurt some workers. Petroleum company ConocoPhillips said Friday it will cut about 1,300 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force.

"There does seem to be a painful cycle emerging," said Dana Saporta, U.S. economist at investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort in New York. "Halting this cycle will require very aggressive fiscal and monetary policy."

Touring a factory in Ohio on Friday, President-elect Barack Obama promoted an $825 billion stimulus plan unveiled by House Democrats a day earlier.

"It's not too late to change course -- but only if we take dramatic action as soon as possible," Obama said. "The first job of my administration is to put people back to work and get our economy moving again."

With unemployment at a 16-year high of 7.2 percent in December and about 11 million Americans out of work, many economists expect worse news to come. Some say the unemployment rate could be headed for 10 percent -- or higher -- by year's end.

Some companies laying off workers also are cutting pay and stopping contributions to retirement accounts. Those steps typically decrease spending and investing by their remaining employees.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced its third round of layoffs in a year Friday and will slash pay for top managers by 15 percent, other salaried workers by 10 percent and hourly workers' salaries by 5 percent.

In retail, Saks Inc. said Thursday it is slashing 1,100 jobs. The luxury retailer also eliminated merit raises in 2009, suspended matching contributions to its 401(k) plan for at least one year and suspended benefit accruals for workers who remain in the company's pension plan.

more...........

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-40K-job-cuts-announced-apf-14088518.html/print
 
Hertz to cut more than 4,000 jobs



DETROIT (Reuters) – Hertz Global Holdings Inc said on Friday that it would cut more than 4,000 jobs in a worldwide restructuring through the first quarter due to falling demand, and the car rental company's shares fell nearly 9 percent.
Hertz expects annualized savings of $150 million to $170 million in 2009 from the job cuts, it said. It expects to take a fourth-quarter charge of $20 million to $25 million for the cuts.
The cuts are in the car and equipment rental businesses as well as in corporate and support areas in all regions focused on positions that do not have direct contact with customers, Hertz said in a statement.
Hertz will have cut its workforce by 32 percent since August 2006 with the latest round of reductions, it said.
Hertz said it could not predict when its markets would improve. The declines pressured the volume of rentals, the pricing on rentals and the residual values of vehicles in its fleets during the fourth quarter.
The company estimated fourth-quarter net cash flow at about $1.75 billion and said it had ended 2008 with liquidity of about $4.9 billion.
Shares of Hertz were down 47 cents, or 8.7 percent, at $4.92 in midday New York Stock Exchange trade.
(Reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090116/us_nm/us_hertz_2
 
AMD to cut 1,100 jobs (Reuters)


  • Posted on Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:50PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc will eliminate 1,100 jobs, cut salaries and take a new $622 million charge for its acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI, bringing total writeoffs for the deal to $3.17 billion.
AMD, which trails Intel Corp in the computer chip market, said the salary decreases range from 20 percent for its two top executive to 5 percent for lower level employees in North America and voluntary pay cuts in other regions.
The company, which has been criticized for overpaying for its $5.4 billion 2006 purchase of ATI Technologies Inc, warned in December it would have to take an additional charge after taking a $800 million impairment charge in its June quarter and more than $1.5 billion in writeoffs taken in 2007.
But Charter Equity Research analyst John Dryden said the extent of the writedown was not a shock because it reflected the recent decline in AMD's share price rather than the performance of its graphics chips business.
"In fact graphics, which is 20 percent of the business, is outperforming microprocessors," said Dryden. "It's taken share from Nvidia Corp in the last couple of quarters. I expect that to extend into the first half of 2009 despite the weak economy."
As part of its cost cuts, it said Chairman Hector Ruiz and Chief Executive Dirk Meyer will temporarily take 20 percent salary cuts, while U.S. and Canadian executives at the level of vice president and higher will take 15 percent cuts.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090116/tc_nm/us_amd_1
 
Circuit City to close 567 remaining US stores

Circuit City, unable to work out sale of company, will close 567 remaining US stores


  • Michael Felberbaum and Vinnee Tong, AP Business Writers
  • Friday January 16, 2009, 6:05 pm EST

Circuit City became the largest retailer to fall victim to the expanding financial crisis Friday, announcing it will shut down its remaining 567 U.S. stores at the cost of 34,000 more jobs after failing to sell the business.

The closure of the nation's second-biggest consumer electronics retailer spells more trouble for the nations malls, and is the latest casualty of an unprecedented pullback in consumer spending that has claimed KB Toys, Mervyns LLC and Linens 'N Things.
"Very, very sad," said Alan L. Wurtzel, son of company founder Samuel S. Wurtzel and himself a former chief executive of Circuit City. "I feel particularly badly for the people who are employed or until recently were employed."

Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City had been seeking a buyer or a deal to refinance its debt, but the hobbled credit market and consumer worries proved insurmountable. Negotiations for an acquisition extended past midnight Thursday before finally falling through, Circuit City lawyer Gregg Galardi said.
Two potential buyers -- Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who controls a chain of electronics stores in Latin America, and the Golden Gate Capital private equity firm -- considered a shrunken form of the business, retaining as many 350 stores or as few as 180. But Circuit City couldn't secure the necessary financing or support from vendors.

"This is the only possible path for our company," acting Chief Executive James A. Marcum said in a statement. "We are extremely disappointed by this outcome."

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens gave final approval to the liquidation plan Friday afternoon. Some employees were notified that they would lose their jobs and certain stores would begin close-out sales as early as Saturday.

"Since my childhood, that's been where you go to buy electronics -- Circuit City," said 37-year-old Sonya Webb, who was standing outside a store in Chattanooga, Tenn., watching as an employee set a 46-inch Sony television in her car.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Circuit-City-to-liquidate-apf-14084147.html/print
 
Boeing to slash 4,500 jobs

Puget Sound area to bear brunt of cuts

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/395538_boeingcuts10.html?source=mypi

The global economic meltdown hit hard in the Puget Sound area Friday, as The Boeing Co. joined the growing list of American companies cutting thousands of jobs.
The Chicago-based company, whose commercial airplane headquarters is still in Seattle, announced that it will eliminate 4,500 jobs from that commercial work force in 2009, with 60-day layoff notices going out next month.
...
 
Logitech to cut 15 percent of global work force


Logitech International has withdrawn its fiscal 2009 sales targets and is planning a restructuring that includes cutting approximately 15 percent of its work force.
Reports have put the job cuts at more than 500.
Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI), which has its headquarters in Fremont and Switzerland, did not provide new guidance but plans to update investors along with its third-quarter results on Jan. 20.
The maker of computer mice and other peripherals said that with a deteriorating retail environment during December, it had seen weakness across all geographies and channels.
Logitech plans to announce the restructuring charges with the third-quarter results.
Which of the prospective governor candidates would be best for Silicon Valley?



San Francisco Business Times

http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/01/05/daily20.html?ana=yfcpc
 
Cigna to cut about 1,100 jobs, 4 pct of work force


By TOM MURPHY
The Associated Press
Monday, January 5, 2009; 6:20 PM

INDIANAPOLIS -- Managed care provider Cigna Corp. said Monday the slumping economy has forced it to cut roughly 1,100 jobs, as it deals with employer customers who also are making cuts and reducing the number of people covered by insurance.

The Philadelphia-based insurer will cut about 1,000 U.S. positions and 100 outside the United States. The layoffs amount to about 4 percent of its work force, which totals roughly 28,000 people.

"All of our customers, they're reducing their work forces, and they need to reduce costs," Cigna spokesman Chris Curran said. "In order for us to be as efficient and as competitive as possible, we've got to manage costs."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010502089.html
 
AP
Alcoa to cut 13 pct of global work force
Tuesday January 6, 5:39 pm ET
By Daniel Lovering, AP Manufacturing Writer Alcoa to cut 13,500 employees worldwide, reduce spending and production to cope with slowdown

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Alcoa Inc., the world's third-largest aluminum maker, said Tuesday it will cut 13,500 jobs, or 13 percent of its work force, and slash spending and output to cope with the global economic slowdown.
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The Pittsburgh-based company also said 1,700 contractors will be cut as part of a broad-based plan to reduce costs that includes the planned sale of four business units and a global salary and hiring freeze.

As a result of its actions, Alcoa expects total fourth-quarter charges of between $900 million and $950 million. The company plans to report quarterly results Jan. 12. Alcoa also said the moves are expected to save the company about $450 million annually, before taxes.

"These are extraordinary times, requiring speed and decisiveness to address the current economic downturn," Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa's president and chief executive, said in a statement.

The news comes after Alcoa announced production reductions last fall. On Tuesday, it said it will further limit smelting by more than 135,000 metric tons per year, lowering total aluminum output by more than 750,000 metric tons, or 18 percent, annually.

Production of alumina, a material used to make aluminum, will be reduced to 1.5 million metric tons per year in response to market conditions, the company said.

The production cuts are expected to be completed by the end of March.
Alcoa also said it will seek to lower costs for energy and raw materials such as coke, caustic soda and aluminum fluoride.

As part of the plan, Alcoa said it would divest its electrical and electonic systems, global foil, cast auto wheels and European transportation products businesses.

Shares of Alcoa fell nearly 4 percent in after-hours trade after rising 26 cents, or 2.2 percent, to close at $12.12 on Tuesday.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090106/alcoa_job_cuts.html
 
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