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The Layoffs Thread

Have the recent string of layoffs affected you directly?

  • Yes, I have been laid off.

    Votes: 24 15.8%

  • Yes, a friend or family member has been laid off.

    Votes: 38 25.0%

  • No, but there's been a lot of talk around my workplace about possible lay offs.

    Votes: 28 18.4%

  • No, not at all.

    Votes: 62 40.8%
  • Total voters
    152
Unspeaked said:
And if all that wasn't enough, the US Postal Service is considering its first layoffs ever:

US Postal Service - As many as 16,000 (rumored)
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that's not nearly as drastic as the austrian postal service just announcing that they want to cut 9.000 of their postal workers until 2012 if you compare the size .. it sure cause a huge uproar

oh and austrian wienerberger wants to close 27 of their roughly 200 factories
 
takao said:
that's not nearly as drastic as the austrian postal service just announcing that they want to cut 9.000 of their postal workers until 2012 if you compare the size .. it sure cause a huge uproar

oh and austrian wienerberger wants to close 27 of their roughly 200 factories
Click to expand...

Man, between all that and DHL - what's going on with the shipping business??
 
Unspeaked said:
Man, between all that and DHL - what's going on with the shipping business??
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well the irony is that they currently make _profits_ ... seriously who guess around saying "we made profits this year ... oh and BTW we are going to fire nearly 40% of our workers over the next 3 years"

and austrian telecom also wants to fire a few hundreds or so (while making profits)
 
Ooh, I didn't realize Herman Miller was planning cuts. That might explain how some of the jobs they posted online got removed a day after they got posted. :eek:

Day before Thanksgiving is the last day in my current contract, and so far no luck in finding something else. The double whammy is that as a contractor you don't really get counted in these company layoffs, and in most states you do not qualify for unemployment benefits. Ooops. :p

Now, a big issue with any down economy is savings. Most people don't save, and when their income is hit, they are not prepared. I for one heeded the "you should save six months worth of expenses just in case" and worked very hard to save. I am not quite at that level, and some recent unplanned expenses mean I will be hitting the savings account sooner than later.
 
iShater said:
Now, a big issue with any down economy is savings. Most people don't save, and when their income is hit, they are not prepared. I for one heeded the "you should save six months worth of expenses just in case" and worked very hard to save. I am not quite at that level, and some recent unplanned expenses mean I will be hitting the savings account sooner than later.
Click to expand...

I think having any savings at all puts you ahead of a lot of other Americans.

And if worst comes to worst, you can always sell one of the three computers in your sig...

:p
 
Unspeaked said:
I think having any savings at all puts you ahead of a lot of other Americans.
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But this is also always a dilemma of recessions... as I understand it, Japan's difficulty in exiting their last major recession was caused in significant part by people saving too aggressively -- money was going into the bank, and so economic stimuli did not bring about consumer spending, which in turn could not bring about improved performance of retail or in the service sector, which in turn held the manufacturing industry back, etc.

On the other hand, American savings are too low...
 
Unspeaked said:
I think having any savings at all puts you ahead of a lot of other Americans.

And if worst comes to worst, you can always sell one of the three computers in your sig...

:p
Click to expand...

Plan X! :eek:

mkrishnan said:
But this is also always a dilemma of recessions... as I understand it, Japan's difficulty in exiting their last major recession was caused in significant part by people saving too aggressively -- money was going into the bank, and so economic stimuli did not bring about consumer spending, which in turn could not bring about improved performance of retail or in the service sector, which in turn held the manufacturing industry back, etc.

On the other hand, American savings are too low...
Click to expand...
People should save BEFORE poop hits the fan. Tightening up the purse during the bad times is what you are talking about, and I am sure you are hearing about it.

I did my part, I bought a $2k laptop 2 weeks ago to keep the economy going. :D
 
Unspeaked said:
I think that's a good way to look at it, and makes a lot of sense when looking at a single corporation or even a single industry, but I think it's the scale of the recent layoffs - across hundreds of players in dozens of industries - that makes it different.

Temp agencies are flooded. People with master's degrees are taking jobs as receptionists. I don't recall anytime in the past when the job market was this grim (at least in the US).
Click to expand...

Well when people get masters in Woman Studies in the Congo, I believe it might be difficult to get a job.
 
iShater said:
People should save BEFORE poop hits the fan.
Click to expand...
I agree but quite often it is the poorest who can't afford to save as their wages only just cover necessary outgoings. Then they are amongst the hardest hit in a downturn. Thankfully there's the safety net of benefits nowadays.
 
I worry that one day I'll end up on this thead:

dmr727 - 1

We'll see. Aviation is a terrible place to be right now.
 
Unspeaked, could you put all the items into your original post? Would make it easier when it's all in one place.
 
timmyb said:
I agree but quite often it is the poorest who can't afford to save as their wages only just cover necessary outgoings. Then they are amongst the hardest hit in a downturn. Thankfully there's the safety net of benefits nowadays.
Click to expand...

True. Just about everyone I know lives paycheck to paycheck with less than $5,000 in savings. Plus incredible debt.
 
And this afternoon:

Kenworth Truck - 430

United Launch Alliance - 350

TheStreet.com - undisclosed (Entire San Francisco office shut down.)

Kenworth - 421

Paccar - 430

Gillette Stadium/New England Patriots - undisclosed

Jewelry TV - 30

Kinro - 143

Chicago, IL - undisclosed (rumored, "Huge amounts.")

And again, these have been added to the first post in this thread.

One thing to consider when looking at that post, I only began keeping track of these on Tuesday, which was a US holiday, no less. So, that's less than 1 business week's worth of layoffs, and I'm sure there are dozens I missed.
 
Can't say this one make me sad.


The bad economy is hitting the Christian Right. Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family announced yesterday that it would be laying off an unspecified number of its 1200 employees. The group, founded by Rev. James Dobson, already canned 46 employees back in October as part of an, ahem, restructuring. Even evangelicals resort to corporate-speak when pink-slip time comes.

The group focuses on a number of areas, like abstinence, the sanctity of marriage, fighting the corrosive effects of Hollywood, and good parenting. Dobson himself is a pretty big fan of spanking children (he says it's biblically sanctioned).
Click to expand...
 
You can add Cypress Semiconductor to that list. I don't know exact numbers, but I believe it is something like 40 at it's Bloomington plant. I don't know what other locals are also on the cut.

The lay offs were technically in Sept. but we were paid through Nov. 3.
 
If huffington post is correct then Citigroup will announce 23ooo to 40ooo lay offs (world wide) on monday. the lay offs will happen within 5 month.

My guess is that half of the lay offs will be in the US.

Although I see that citigroup is very inefficient and banking in general in the US is overstaffed and overpaid I feel sorry for the employees who lose their job just around the Xmas holidays. And the ones who keep their jobs will have a tough time and no feeling of job security for quite some time.:(
 
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