Job Cuts

Reasons for Downsizing
Corporate downsizing has been the biggest fallout of the troubled times, the world is witnessing. As we continue our efforts to fight the global downturn, downsizing has become a stark reality.

Criteria for Employee Layoffs
During the process of cost cutting, it becomes necessary for the employer to determine the criteria for layoffs in order to avoid legal hassles and substantial loss to the company. To know about the criteria for employee layoffs, read on...

AT&T Announces Cuts of Over 12,000 Jobs
The most recent blow to the global economy is coming from AT&T, which announced that it will be cutting over 12,000 jobs around the world over the next year.

Citigroup Cutting 53,000 Jobs Worldwide
In the latest indication of global economic distress, Citigroup has announced that it will be cutting 53,000 jobs in the coming months, or 15% of its workforce.

Pharmaceutical Giant Pfizer Announces Job Cuts, Plant Closures
Pfizer said yesterday that the company is being forced to close several manufacturing and research operations and lay off thousands of workers due to increasing competition from rival drug manufacturers, development problems, and rapidly declining sales figures.

Ford Motor Company Announces Plant Closings and Drastic Job Cuts
On Monday Ford Motor Co. announced details of a long-term restructuring plan that will result in plant closings, product changes, and employee layoffs.

Pharmaceutical Giant Merck to Cut Thousands of Jobs
Merck & Co., troubled by legal battles and financial woes, announced Monday that it will cut approximately 11% of its workforce and close several plants as part of a reorganization intended to prevent bankruptcy.

The Shame of Losing a Job
There is a hidden, unexpressed feeling of shame-especially in Western society-that comes with the loss of a job, and this is sad, provoking, and unfair. In the current recession, when thousands of people are losing their jobs, we need to find a way to help them, not to blame them. Unfortunately, unemployment is very often associated with self-criticism and deterioration in mental health.

European Banks Warn of More Job Cuts
ING, Commerzbank and Société Générale predict a darkening economic environment

Murdoch Hints at Job Cuts After News Corp Records $6.4bn Loss
Media group reports 42% fall in operating income for three months to December

US Department Store Macy's Cuts 7,000 Jobs
Chain forced to slash jobs as consumers avoid shops packed with luxury goods

Bank of Ireland Cuts Back Uk Mortgages and Axes 600 Jobs
Bristol & West brand to close after 150 years in further blow to UK housing market

Fear Comes to the Office
Layoffs are paralyzing consumer spending just when we need it most. By Heather Stewart

Bank of America to Cut 35,000 Jobs
Bank of America has announced that it is cutting up to 35,000 jobs as it becomes the latest financial institution to implement sweeping cost savings

Rio Tinto Sheds 14,000 Jobs to Cut $40bn Debt
Company to shelve $5bn (£3.4bn) of projects in face of falling commodity prices and alarming figures from China

Sony to Cut 8,000 Jobs Worldwide
Japanese consumer electronics giant axes 5% of global workforce and closes several factories in attempt to save ?745m a year

Sony Raises Axe Over 8,000 Jobs As Economy Worsens
New figures show Japan's economy plunged even deeper into recession than previously feared

Sony to Cut 8,000 Jobs
Japanese consumer electronics giant axes 4% of global workforce and closes several factories in attempt to save £745m a year

Dole Queues Longer Even Than the 1980s
Ruth Sunderland: Thousands of UK job losses were announced last week and the latest US payroll figures were so awful they exceeded forecasters' worst imaginings. I fear worse is to come

Thousands of American Job Losses Announced After Worst Month for Employment Since 1980
Analysts estimate that between 330,000 and 470,000 workers were made redundant in November

Rolls-Royce, Astrazeneca and Bae Join List of Job-cutting Giants
Thousands more jobs axed by some of Britain's leading companies including about 600 positions in the UK

Huge Losses, Closures and Job Cuts Rip Soul Out of City
Jobs at risk as foreign car manufacturers threaten to overtake US big three

Smoke Clears to Reveal the Monster of Rising Unemployment
Will Hutton: We are moving from mysteries of Libor to more tangible concerns - our jobs, our spending power, our well-being

White House Shifts Focus to Declining Employment Market
Following approval of bail-out, attention turns to job losses and threatened homeowners

BlackBerry Maker in Profits Shock
Below-par results spark concern economic downturn could cause cutbacks in technology sector

Turning a Layoff into Success
Baby boomers are probably disadvantaged by being older. While our society, in both the U.S. and Canada, is largely beyond the point of discrimination by race, gender, nationality or religious preference, for example, I do believe there is an age-based discrimination that has continued among some companies. I deplore this situation and consider it to be something that we will get beyond.

Airlines: Alitalia on Verge of Collapse After Investors End Talks With Unions
Cabin crews facing job losses stage protest at airport check-in

Montgomery Paper Group to Cut Dutch Jobs
European newspaper group, Mecom, is to cut up to 465 jobs as editors express 'grave concern'

United Airlines Lays Up a Fifth of Its Fleet As Jet Fuel Costs Soar
US airline announces that it is retiring 100 of its 455 planes leading to increased job losses

American Airlines to Cut Planes and Jobs
Rocketing price of oil prompts airline to make swingeing cuts to its aircraft fleet, workforce and timetable

Sarkozy Hit By Further Strikes
Tens of thousands of striking teachers and state workers take to streets in France protesting at job cuts

UBS to Axe 5,500 Jobs
Europe's biggest casualty of the credit crunch loses £5.6bn in the first quarter and warns financial markets will remain difficult

Ireland's Immigrants Return Home As Slump Sharpens Fear of Racism
As job losses and credit crunch starts to bite, migrant workers are feeling the strain, reports Henry McDonald

Citigroup Cuts 9,000 Jobs After $5bn Loss
America's largest bank announces a dramatic $5.1bn (£2.55bn) first quarter loss and plans to slash 9,000 posts

Merrill Lynch to Cut 4,000 Jobs
The US investment bank at the center of the sub-prime mortgage crisis is to cut one in 10 of its workforce

Le Monde's Presses to Fall Silent Again
France's newspaper of record will not be printed for a second time this week after staff voted to strike over job cuts. By Gwladys Fouche

Le Monde Strike Stops Presses
Le Monde was not published for only the second time in its 64-year history after staff went on strike over job cuts. By Gwladys Fouché

Le Monde Staff to Stop Presses Rolling
Journalists at France's newspaper of record will go on strike on Monday to protest against savage job cutting plans. By Gwladys Fouché

Bundesbank Looks Frail at 50
The Deutsche Bundesbank turned 50 this week but job cuts and branch closures have left it looking vulnerable

US Job Cuts Add to Cost of Loans Fiasco
The sub-prime mortgage crisis claimed more victims yesterday as an Arizona-based lender with 300 branches filed for bankruptcy, leaving almost 6,000 staff out of pocket and jobless.

US Interest Rates Cut Less Likely After Jobs Increase By 180,000
A cut in US interest rates before the summer looked less likely yesterday after a sharp increase in the number of jobs created last month.

Airbus to Cut 1,600 British Jobs in European Shakeup
10,000 job losses across continent - Plants to close in France and Germany

Low Wage Competition Isn't to Blame for Western Job Losses and Inequality
US and British business culture is creating our widening pay gap, not the impact of sub-contractor economies like China. By Will Hutton

Job Cuts at Kentucky Explorer plant
Obviously, Ford is facing a decline in SUV sales. To recover, the automaker will be slowing Explorer's production and cut jobs at Kentucky Explorer plant.

Airbus Chief Warns on Job Losses
Louis Gallois, the new chief executive of Airbus, warned today there would be 'painful' job cuts in the months ahead. By David Gow in Brussels.

LA Times Editor Clashes With Bosses Over Job Cuts
The editor of the Los Angeles Times has clashed publicly with the newspaper's owners over planned budget cuts. By Stephen Brook.

AOL Plans 5,000 Job Cuts As It Stops Charging for Services
The American internet service provider AOL plans to shed 5,000 employees as it goes through a radical restructuring intended to reinvent the business in the face of falling subscribers.

Tittle's top ten: Signs your company is about to downsize
Dave Tittle reviews how to recognize when your company’s going under.

General Motors in Crisis Talks to Cut 35,000 Jobs
General Motors is trying to stave off the possibility of collapse by thrashing out a last-minute job reduction plan with its former subsidiary and now major parts supplier, Delphi, and the powerful United Auto Workers union.

Merck to Cut 7,000 Jobs After Loss of Vioxx
Merck, the American drug company damaged by last year's withdrawal of the painkiller Vioxx, said yesterday that it planned to cut 7,000 jobs, and close five factories and three research facilities.

'Tough Medicine' As General Motors Reveals Plans to Cut 30,000 Jobs
· Group seeking $7bn in cost cuts by end of 2006 · Union says carmaker can't shrink itself to prosperity.

Job Cuts Prompt Walkout By Libération Employees
The 330 staff of France's emblematic but ailing leftwing daily Libération walked out yesterday in protest at a plan to axe 52 jobs.

VW May Axe 30,000 Jobs
Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, could axe up to 30,000 jobs or almost a third of its German workforce in a drive to cut costs and boost profits launched yesterday by Wolfgang Bernhard, the new head of its loss-making VW brand.

New Hp Boss Plans 14,500 Job Cuts
10% of workforce will go to create 'nimbler, quicker' firm.

Job Loss Figures Deliver a Blow to Bush
George Bush yesterday became the first US president since Herbert Hoover in the Depression to preside over a loss of jobs when the last set of employment figures published before next month's election showed only a modest improvement in September. On the day that President Bush was...

Mexican Firm Buys Rmc for £2.3bn
RMC, the world's biggest supplier of ready-mixed concrete, has agreed a £2.3bn takeover deal from Cemex of Mexico, raising fears of job cuts and quarry closures. The transaction took the City by surprise and boosted shares in the British firm 42% to 850p, only 5p lower than the cash...

Santander May Cut 4,500 Abbey Jobs
Emilio Botin, head of Banco Santander Central Hispano, is today expected to tell union officials that the Spanish bank's £8bn takeover of Abbey National might cause up to 4,500 job losses over three years. Mr Botin, however, is expected to try to reassure unions that this is an...

World Faces Population Explosion in Poor Countries
Rich nations will downsize, but Britain will grow faster than any European country.

World Faces Population Explosion in Poor Nations
Rich nations will downsize, but Britain will grow faster than any European country.

Shell Plans 20% Job Cuts in Nigeria
Shell is threatening to cut 1,000 jobs in Nigeria, one of the countries at the centre of the company's "lost" reserves scandal. The planned 20% cut in the Nigerian workforce was revealed as the oil major struggles to reach a peace formula with the government there over allegations it has...

Aventis Scorns 48bn Euro Bid From Drugs Rival
Unions fear 25,000 job losses as takeover battle starts.

Top French Scientists in Threat to Quit
More than 5,300 leading French scientists have threatened to resign unless the government increases the country's research budget, unblocks frozen funds and reverses big cuts in jobs available to postgraduates. "Despite its official line that research is a national priority, the...

Arnie Faces Battle Over Job Cuts
Schwarzenegger to slash public services and raise college fees. If he can persuade the cinema-going public to buy tickets to Red Sonja, a much-mocked action film he made in 1985, then he can sell anything. Today Arnold Schwarzenegger faces an even harder test: selling his first budget.

Sony to Axe 20,000 Jobs Worldwide
Sony today said it would axe 20,000 jobs, including 7,000 in Japan, to stem a slide in profits. The job cuts - about 13% of its global workforce of 154,500 - will be spread over three years and cost the company 335bn yen (£1.8bn). Sony, battling against Asian rivals, hopes to reach an...

Hoover Shifts Production to China
Hoover, the Italian-owned domestic appliance maker, said yesterday it is to cease manufacturing of vacuum cleaners at its Cambuslang plant in Glasgow with the loss of more than 260 jobs. The Amicus engineering union denounced the move to switch the bulk of produc tion to China, where...

Tobacco firm cuts jobs to save $1bn
RJ Reynolds, the maker of Camel cigarettes, is to cut 40% of its workforce, about 2,600 jobs, to restore the struggling company to growth.

German Job Losses at Post-1990 High
Germany shed more jobs in the second quarter of the year than at any time since unification as the economy slipped into recession, according to official figures yesterday. In the three months to the end of June employment fell 646,000 to just over 38 million, the biggest decline since...

Germany suffers worst quarterly job loss since 1990
Germany suffered its worst quarterly job loss since being reunified in 1990, official figures showed today. In the three months to the end of June, total employment shrank by 646,000 to 38.07 million, the federal statistics office reported.

Power cuts and lost jobs stir anti-US anger
An odd, green metal sculpture, apparently symbolising peace, now adorns the plinth from which US marines pulled Saddam Hussein's statue three months ago. Below it, someone has daubed a misspelt message to the Americans: "All donne, go home."

US job losses hit nine-year high
The US unemployment rate in June unexpectedly climbed to a nine-year high as the world's largest economy shed 30,000 jobs last month, official figures showed today.

US jobless rate hits nine-year high
The US jobless rate hit its highest level for nine years in May, official figures showed today. However, Wall Street took heart from the fact that the job losses were smaller than had been anticipated.

Shell Plans to Cut 4,300 Oil Exploration Jobs
Shell is planning to shed up to 4,300 global oil-exploration jobs over the next four years in a move to cut costs by up to $800m a year and boost profits that slumped 23% last year.

War fears plunge airlines into crisis
The cloud of an imminent Gulf war cast a lengthening shadow over the world's airlines yesterday as Iberia and Japan's JAL warned of weak bookings while American carriers held out the prospect of up to 70,000 job cuts.

Industry is dying a slow, lonely death
What's left of the British steel industry was on the edge of the precipice last night. Corus, the company that owns the former British Steel, said further big job losses and plant closures were inevitable to stem losses running at £400m.

Backstage opera staff may join job cuts strikers
Wigmakers, stage technicians, costumiers and cleaners could join striking chorus singers at the beleaguered English National Opera company after management confirmed plans yesterday to cut jobs to plug a swelling deficit.

Credit Suisse cuts 1,250 jobs
Credit Suisse Group yesterday rang up record losses, cut another 1,250 jobs, slashed its dividend and warned it may have to trim its payroll further unless prospects improve.

Rolls-Royce to shed 1,100 jobs
Rolls-Royce, the aircraft engine maker, is to cut 1,100 jobs over three years from 2004 as part of a plan to invest in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at three UK plants.

Major Job Cuts in Store for Buzz
Low-cost Irish airline Ryanair today said that as many as a fifth of the workforce at newly acquired Buzz would lose their jobs, as it reported record profits for the third quarter of last year. Ryanair's passenger numbers increased 46% to 3.9 million, boosted by an 8% cut in fares and a...

Jobs gloom increases likelihood of US rate cut
The chances of another US rate cut rose sharply yesterday after government figures showed firms laying off workers at the fastest pace for nearly a year.

Cable & Wireless to axe 65% of staff
Cable & Wireless is understood to be preparing to axe about 65% of its European staff - approximately 800 people - in a desperate attempt to cut losses.

Orange to Cut 1,000 Jobs
Mobile phone operator Orange today announced plans to cut at least 1,000 jobs over the next year, while parent company France Telecom said it would cut its monumental debt with the help of a loan from the French government. Most job losses at Orange are likely to be restricted to mainland...

Morgan Stanley axes 2,000
Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, raised fears of further job cuts in the City yesterday as it began the process of shedding 2,000 roles from its 60,000-strong global workforce.

Analysts go in Merrill 'cull'
The pace of job cuts in the City has accelerated, with further lay-offs at investment banks Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers.

Cable & Wireless confirms 3,500 job cuts
Telecoms company Cable & Wireless today announced it is to cut around 3,500 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring of its troubled Global division.

Lucent's losses grow as 10,000 jobs are cut
Lucent Technologies, the telecoms equipment maker, warned of a wider-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter yesterday and announced a further 10,000 job losses.

US telecoms firm cuts 10,000 jobs
The crisis at telecommunications equipment maker Lucent deepened today as the American company axed 10,000 more jobs.

Black & Decker cuts jobs in Czech move
Power tool manufacturer Black & Decker plans to axe nearly 1,000 jobs and transfer work to the Czech Republic, it was announced today.

Colt and Mobilcom Cut 2,600 European Jobs
Another round of job cuts swept the European telecoms industry yesterday as Colt cut 800 jobs and ailing German mobile phone company Mobilcom made almost half its workforce redundant. Colt Telecom also reduced the value of its communications network, which spans 13 countries, by more than...

WorldCom to cut 2,000 jobs
WorldCom jobs in the UK were under threat today as the bankrupt US telecommunications giant announced plans to axe 25% of its overseas staff.

Job cut fears if Soper wins election
Senior England and Wales Cricket Board employees face job cuts if the Surrey chairman Mike Soper, rather than the ECB deputy chairman David Morgan, succeeds Lord MacLaurin as chairman of the board in a close-run election, the result of which will be announced at midday today.

Billions lost as travellers stay at home and cut their spending
Key sectors suffer job losses, higher premiums and uncertain future.

American Airlines Cuts 7,000 Jobs
American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, is planning to shed 7,000 jobs and slash the number of flights it operates as the effects of September 11 continue to reverberate.

Reuters cuts 650 top jobs
Investors' confidence shaken as news agency's shares sink to nine-year low.

Credit Suisse Cuts Another 500 Jobs
Credit Suisse Group, the Swiss banking giant, today said that it would cut an additional 500 jobs as it pares back its private client banking operations in Switzerland.

Ericsson to Cut 20,000 Jobs
Swedish mobile phone and infrastructure company Ericsson yesterday shocked investors when it warned it will not make a profit this year and announced plans to cut a quarter of its workforce.

US Jobs Growth Points to Recovery
US employers added 58,000 employees to their payrolls in March, in further evidence of a modest rebound in the world's largest economy. The first gain in eight months, the numbers compared with a revised loss in February of 2,000 payroll jobs, instead of an estimated gain of 66,000. The...

7,000 Us Andersen Staff Face the Axe
As many as 7,000 employees could lose their jobs if Arthur Andersen's US operations are taken over by a rival accountant, Deloitte & Touche, it emerged today. Andersen has agreed tentatively to transfer much of its US tax practice to Deloitte in a desperate bid to salvage what it can of...

1,800 Jobs to Go at Emi
EMI, the world's third biggest music company, today announced it was cutting 1,800 jobs and halving its dividend in a bid to revive its flagging fortunes. The job cuts include 192 positions to be lost through the closure of a CD manufacturing plant in Swindon, Wiltshire. Details of that...

Goldman Sharpens Axe
Goldman Sachs is about to embark on a radical overhaul of its business which will require a drastic 10% cut in its highly paid investment banking workforce worldwide. The scale of the job cuts at Goldman is likely to compound fears about a new wave of costcutting across the City and Wall...