Job Cuts annoucements

[James48843]

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

 

[James48843]

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

 

[Show-me]

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

 

[teknobucks]

we are entering a major depression.....this is gonna get very very nasty
SPX sub 650 certain...hope we do not see mid 400's
http://layoffdaily.com/

sell the rally ....short the heck outta any obama rally folks

 

[ripper]

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%.

 

[tsptalk]

"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

 

[rawiron1]

GM, Home Depot, ING and Caterpillar lay off 70K!

Caterpillar, Sprint, Pfizer Slash Jobs as Sales Fall

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=agO93.5BTWj8

Jason

 

[Prozium]

Texas Instruments announced 3,400 or 12% of their job force was getting cut this quarter.

 

[Prozium]

GM, Home Depot, ING and Caterpillar lay off 70K!

Caterpillar, Sprint, Pfizer Slash Jobs as Sales Fall

Jason

Can add IBM 2800 to that list.

 

[wv-girl]

Can add IBM 2800 to that list.

And yet the market finished a little higher today? Anyone know why?

 

[FUTURESTRADER]

And yet the market finished a little higher today? Anyone know why?

layoffs are cost-cuts, good for short term stock performance.

 

[James48843]

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.

 

[James48843]

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

 

[James48843]

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