The Layoffs Thread

[Unspeaked]

So this was originally intended to be a thread tracking layoffs at major employers, both in the US and abroad.

When I started it in November, it was actually possible to check out press releases and news sites and keep a running total. Unfortunately (for this thread and the economy) things really picked up at the end of December and I was overwhelmed.

So... this has now turned into a general layoffs discussion. You can post here if you've been let go, if you know someone who has, if you're worried you will be or - of course - if you want to post links to related news items (I still try and post layoffs of 5,000+ employees since those are a bit more signifcant and easier to keep track of - but still happen more often than anyone would have believed last year).

----------

Consolidated list of reported layoffs since November 11, 2008, from oldest to newest:

GM - 1,900

DHL - 9,500

Nortel - 1,300

Altria - 400

Volvo - 1,000

Glaxo - 600

Whirlpool - 570

Nokia - 1,820

Horizon Air - 70

Sun Microsystems - 200

BitTorrent - 18

Time, Inc - 600

The Boston Globe - 42

Scholastic - 110

Ameristar Casinos - 270

Semitool - 100

ATC Panels - 130

The Seattle Times - 200

Zappos.com - 80

Rubbermaid - 35

Nissan - 1,700

CondeNast - undisclosed

Marietta - 130

Virgin Media - 2,200

InSight - 240

Ceco - 35

Steelcase - 300

Motorola - 2,600

Morgan Stanley - 4,400

Amylin Pharmaceuticals - 340

Luck Stone - 150

Sirius XM - undisclosed

Mishmar Security - 700

VMWare - 500 (rumored)

St. Vincent Hospital - 74

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland Newspaper) - 50

Herman Miller - 400

Electrolux - 99

Southwire - 80

Lund Boats - 140

CI Financial - 60

Metacafe - 11

US Postal Service - As many as 16,000 (rumored)

Bowne - 1,000

British Telecom - 10,000

University of Texas Medical Branch - 3,800

SAF-Holland - 700

Cessna Aircraft - 665

ADT - 380

Atlantis Resort - 800

Pizza Hut - undisclosed

CanWest - 560

City of Yonkers, NY - 300

Las Vegas Sands - 11,000

Trane - 270

QVC - 910

Wayne-Dalton - 250

RBS - 3,000

JCB - 400

dmr727 - 1 (rumored)

Sun - 6,000

Siemens - 434

Columbus, OH - 130

Citigroup - 10,000

Lund - 140

Riverside Furniture - 250

Eesti Põlevkivi - 300

Orrick - 75

Midway Chicago - 20-30

US Steel - 677

Ranger Boats - 130

Morongo Casino - 95

Amphenol Corp - 202

MeadWestvaco - 56

Air Finland - 100

Royal Bank of Scotland - 3,000

Compass - 150

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.")

Citigroup - 53,000

Simmons - 560

Yahoo - undisclosed (rumored)

HSBC - 450

Putnam Investments - 47

NASCAR - undisclosed (rumored)

Kinro Inc. - 143

Beaumont Hospital - 500

Focus on the Family - 149

Volvo - 350

Oral Roberts University - 100

Freeport McMoRan Mining - 600

California State Automobile Association - 104

Chrysler Financial Canada - 145

Wyeth - 118

Boise Inc. - 300

Mervyns - 280

Universal Veneer - 48

Hanford - 65

Macomb County, MI - 250

Solutia - 300

SAP - undisclosed (rumored)

Museum of the Rockies - 5

LeapFrog - 70

Wolseley Plc. - 2,300

United States Gypsum - 113

Finch Paper - 44

ABX Air Inc. - 158

Stillwater Mining - 370

Pilgrim's Pride - 335

Vulcan Materials - 38

BlackRock - undisclosed

Magnussen Home - 22

Pepsi Bottling - 1,000

Miami, FL Public Schools - 100's (rumored)

Miller Electric Mfg. Co. - 95

CTVglobemedia Inc. - undisclosed

RY Timber Co - 100

JLG Industries, Inc. - 30

Washington Mutual - 3,000

Miniature Precision Components Inc. - 94

Hyrdo-Air Components Inc. - 30

Lawson Software - 200

Life Time Fitness - 100

Great Dane Trailers - 100

Emerson Electric - 49

Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. - 1,000

La-Z-Boy - 850

Hall of Fame Racing - undisclosed

KLA-Tencor Corp - 900

Kohler Co. - 73

Washington National Cathedral - 41

Virgin Mobile - 45

Palgrave Brown - 207

Electronic Arts - undisclosed

Pomoho.com - 30

Snorkely - 185

TiVo - undisclosed

Boeing - 800

Bell Aliant - 300

El Dorado, CA - 90

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. - 200

International Paper - 1,050

Hanes Brands, Inc. - 155

JP Morgan - 3,000

Steve & Barry - 5,000

Days of Our Lives - 2

Associated Press - 400

Pennsylvania Turnpike - 20

Trinity Structural Towers - 131

Dematic Corp. - 30

Akamai - 110

Aerisyn - 54

Buckeye - 39

Telefonica - 500

Mesa, AZ - 346

LodgeNet Interactive Corp. - 30

Intevac - 66

PSA Peugeot Citroen - 3,500

The First - 13

Isuzu Motors - 1,400

Ingersoll-Rand - 110

Rolls Royce - 2,000

 

[edesignuk]

You can probably easily double that with all the finance worlds redundancies.

 

[notjustjay]

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, because I really do sympathize with everyone who loses his/her job -- I've been there, and I know how depressing and upsetting it is.

But, I've also been on the management side of some organizations and I've seen the effects of bloat. This is an unfortunate wake-up call to some companies that they need to find more efficient ways of running things.

I live in a city that was once a dozen individual townships and cities that were amalgamated into one. They cited the benefits of one single city administration instead of a dozen; it would be leaner, meaner, faster, and cheaper. But when it came down to it, nobody had the guts to "trim the fat", and now in addition to everyone we had before, we have thousands MORE workers and the same problem. Nobody wants to step up and say we need to reduce the overhead.

I hope that the people who are laid off quickly find better jobs, and the companies doing the layoffs quickly discover how to run themselves efficiently so they can tough it out in this economic climate.

 

[Unspeaked]

...

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).

 

[teflon]

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).

It was worse during the Great Depression.

 

[localoid]

It was worse during the Great Depression.

Yes, much worse. About 25% unemployment and no 'safety net' programs in place such as unemployment payments, food stamps, welfare payments or medical cards.

Just outside the town I live in you can still find silverware in the old beehive coke ovens, left there by families that lived in them during the Great Depression because they had no place else to live.

 

[Unspeaked]

It was worse during the Great Depression.

Of course.

Thankfully, I'm not 80 years old so - as I said - I don't RECALL anytime in the past when the job market's been this grim...

 

[teflon]

Of course.

Thankfully, I'm not 80 years old so - as I said - I don't RECALL anytime in the past when the job market's been this grim...

Sorry, I interpreted it as you never known such grim job market in history in the general sense, not personally.
However, I feel that it's a good thing that the economy is down. It can't keep on climbing up, often at the expense of the environment. If the average earning is lower, than many people would choose to take public transit rather than keeping their own car. People would choose to take their bottles to recycling to get back their deposit. People would stop wasting so much resources, by not buying things that they don't need. A large part of the economy was built on people buying things with the money that they don't actually have, whether it be computers, cars or houses. It's time that people learn some self restraint and finance (and for credit/mortgage companies to reign in their greed and stupidity). I don't mean to harsh, and it's horrible that thousands of families will be troubled by it, but I think it's for the best in the end.

 

[Unspeaked]

Sorry, I interpreted it as you never known such grim job market in history in the general sense, not personally.

No problem, I can see how my original statement was unclear...

However, I feel that it's a good thing that the economy is down. It can't keep on climbing up, often at the expense of the environment. If the average earning is lower, than many people would choose to take public transit rather than keeping their own car. People would choose to take their bottles to recycling to get back their deposit. People would stop wasting so much resources, by not buying things that they don't need. A large part of the economy was built on people buying things with the money that they don't actually have, whether it be computers, cars or houses. It's time that people learn some self restraint and finance (and for credit/mortgage companies to reign in their greed and stupidity). I don't mean to harsh, and it's horrible that thousands of families will be troubled by it, but I think it's for the best in the end.

Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say I consider this a good thing, but I do agree that there's some lessons to be learned and - assuming things turn around in a fair amount of time - it will be great of those lessons stay with folks going forward.

But seeing thousands of people losing their jobs each day over a prolonged period of time is rough...

 

[JNB]

If one can't recall a worse job market, then they're either under 20 or haven't been paying attention until just lately. In recent years, it has been much worse: in 1975, the US hit 9% unemployment. 1980, 7.7%. 1982, 10.8%. 1992, 7.8%. The current number will likely rise some more, but still not anything near a crisis. Remember that during the Depression unemployment was double-digit for ten years, peaking at 24.75% in 1933--and that was just the US. Remember, too, that anything under 4-6% is considered an natural rate of unemployment. We're at all of 6.5% now.

Many of the jobs lost were either overly high-paying for the actual worth (financial sector), union-protected--and bloated (manufacturing sector), or insanely redundant (consumer retail). In other words, jobs that are always lost in a downturn, every time.

For those that are overly concerned, relax. It will turn back, sooner or later, it always does. It's not the end of the world. It may be a year, or five, or more, but if one keeps their head about them and does a little forward thinking, they'll do just fine. I have every time, and it's not like I have any special advantage or insight. I just don't freak out every time one of these shows up, is all.

 

[Unspeaked]

If one can't recall a worse job market, then they're either under 20 or haven't been paying attention until just lately. In recent years, it has been much worse: in 1975, the US hit 9% unemployment. 1980, 7.7%. 1982, 10.8%. 1992, 7.8%. The current number will likely rise some more, but still not anything near a crisis. Remember that during the Depression unemployment was double-digit for ten years, peaking at 24.75% in 1933--and that was just the US. Remember, too, that anything under 4-6% is considered an natural rate of unemployment. We're at all of 6.5% now.

Well, even using your own figures, it looks like you'd have to be around 35 to remember a worse job market.

That would make you round 18 or 19 during most recent unemployment dip you mention (1992), just old enough to be entering the workforce.

For those that went to college, you'd have to be close to 40 (because anyone in college in 1992 didn't really feel what was going on economically).

Oddly enough, there was a NPR Podcast about this very topic - the hosts were all in their late 30s and were commenting on how this was the first recession they were truly aware of, since any that had occurred in their lifetimes prior to this one were at points in there lives where they went unnoticed.

 

[Unspeaked]

A list of layoffs made public just since I started this thread less than five hours ago:


The Seattle Times - 200

Zappos.com - 80

Rubbermaid - 35

Nissan - 1,700

CondeNast - Undisclosed

Marietta - 130

Virgin Media - 2,200 (I know there's another thread on this one...)

InSight - 240

Ceco - 35

Steelcase - 300

 

[mkrishnan]

That would make you round 18 or 19 during most recent unemployment dip you mention (1992), just old enough to be entering the workforce.

This is definitely getting to be nit-picking... so if you were 14 when the bubble burst, you have no memory of it?

That aside, the time I remember personally was 2001-2002, right after 9/11... the unemployment picture was worse then also, wasn't it? The layoffs were astounding in that 10 month or so period.

But in any event, the layoffs are unfortunate, and they're devastating to the people they affect, but what does differentiate this from most of those situations in the 1980s-2000's is the magnitude of the underlying economic crisis. In a more overall economic sense, this has the potential to be much, much worse than anything save possibly the Great Depression, and the vote is out on whether it could be even worse than that. But thankfully it isn't there yet, and it might yet not get there...

 

[Unspeaked]

This is definitely getting to be nit-picking... so if you were 14 when the bubble burst, you have no memory of it?

It's true that you remember it, but the point I was making (and that NPR made far more eloquently than I ever could have) is... take as an example a 13 or 14 year old today. Yes, they know things are bad and people are losing homes and their jobs. But they don't really grasp what it's like to try and find a job if you don't have one, or what it's like to be worried about being given a pink slip, or to see your 401k fall into a black hole.

If you ask these kids in 10 or 20 years what things were like in 2008 (assuming they turn around!) they'll remember Jack Black movies and Nintendo Wiis and maybe Obama winning an election, but not necessarily the economy...

That aside, the time I remember personally was 2001-2002, right after 9/11... the unemployment picture was worse then also, wasn't it? The layoffs were astounding in that 10 month or so period.

Actually, I'm pretty sure things were worse employment wise now than post-9/11.

I know it seemed bad at the time, but the unemployment rate is higher now, foreclosures are much higher, and the markets nearly as low (DOW, S&P, NASDAQ).

 

[mkrishnan]

Actually, I'm pretty sure things were worse employment wise now than post-9/11.

Yeah, the rates are higher now (but only as of about four days ago...) I meant more, I guess, in a rate of change sense. The acceleration of jobless claims at that time seems more extreme than it is now. But I can't find data to back that up. And... it was pretty bad overall. I mean it was worse than the current crisis a week ago.

 

[Foxglove9]

My job is certainly in jeopardy in the next 2 months, I've already been told.

Took me 6 months to find work back when the economy was supposed to be going pretty well. I can only imagine how hard it is going to be this time around.

 

[notjustjay]

That aside, the time I remember personally was 2001-2002, right after 9/11... the unemployment picture was worse then also, wasn't it? The layoffs were astounding in that 10 month or so period.

That's about the time I got my crash course in world economics as well. I'd graduated in 2000 with an engineering degree, jumping right into a tech job with a telecom company, right at the height of the dot-com bubble. We were receiving salary increases every few months just to keep competitive. I'd been bumped up by $20,000 in a period of a year and a half.

Then the dot-com bubble burst, the layoffs began. Then 9/11, and it just got worse. Nortel for example announced wave after wave after wave of cuts. My dad worked for Nortel at the time, and we were very concerned for his job. "Don't worry dad," I remember saying, "I'm making good money, I could support the family for a while if you lost your job."

Then one Tuesday morning in October 2001 I walked into work only to find myself back out in the parking lot 20 minutes later.

I remember it as a very depressing and bleak few years, but I took the opportunity to go back to school, got a Master's Degree, and found another job shortly after that when times were better.

Here's hoping I can ride it out better this time.

 

[localoid]

Unemployment rate and all recessions since 1948:

In October 2008, the unemployment rate rose from 6.1 to 6.5 percent. In June of 2003 it was 6.30 percent.

The US Unemployment Rate -- January 1948 to September 2008

 

[GoCubsGo]

However, I think with the sheer volume of these announcements lately, it deserves its own thread.

Lately?

This is 2008 alone. My company laid off 10,000 people in 2007/2008.
California WARN notices alone.

 

[JNB]

Well, even using your own figures, it looks like you'd have to be around 35 to remember a worse job market.

That would make you round 18 or 19 during most recent unemployment dip you mention (1992), just old enough to be entering the workforce.

Let's just say that the first one I mentioned (not the Depression, mind you ), I had already been in the workforce a number of years and experienced the joy of it firsthand. I started working during the latter years of the Great Society.

With the penetration and round-the-clock nature of media today, we're just hammered with it endlessly, making it all seem much worse, particularly for those that have no personal experience to relate to. The '70's were a particularly bad era, with unemployment, inflation, and interest rates all conspiring to put us all in a deep economic funk. The "Misery Index" of the Carter years did nothing to improve our collective moods.

For all the woes right now, this is really all part of a greater realignment, and things will get better. Folks will get retrained, industries will adjust, and markets will rebound. I know this is of no solace here & now to those directly affected, but then it never is on an individual level. All one can do is keep an eye on the bigger picture and try to keep themselves positioned as best they can.

I guess I'm just saying that I have personally witnessed--and endured--worse times than these, and I'm still here, still have a job and a roof over my head (and have had times of neither). I don't consider myself either lucky or blessed, nor particularly prescient, just aware. Good times and bad, this too shall pass.

 

[Unspeaked]

Lately?

This is 2008 alone. My company laid off 10,000 people in 2007/2008.
California WARN notices alone.

I realize there are always companies laying off people from time to time, but there has been a noticeable spike since September.

You can't possibly be saying you don't notice a huge increase in layoffs since the sub-prime mortgage fiasco took off in late summer...?

 

[DZ/015]

As JNB stated, it was worse in the 70s. High unemployment, higher interest rates (15% at the end of the Carter years). I hit the layoff market in 2003. It took me 7 months to find a job. That sucked, bad. Today is good by yesterday's standards.

 

[Unspeaked]

As JNB stated, it was worse in the 70s. High unemployment, higher interest rates (15% at the end of the Carter years). I hit the layoff market in 2003. It took me 7 months to find a job. That sucked, bad. Today is good by yesterday's standards.

Interest rates are a double edged sword.

In the 70s, they were trying to curb inflation.

Today, they're trying to prevent deflation.

 

[LethalWolfe]

A few months before 9/11 I headed west even though the entertainment industry was already on the rocks. Needless to say things didn't go too well. I was basically unemployed for 10 months (a few gigs here and there), then worked in retail for 6 months. Then got a real job but was laid off after only 4 months. I looked for work for another 2 months before ending up back in retail. 6 months later I finally landed another real job (and have had pretty steady work ever since). Not exactly how I envisioned my first few years out of college.


Lethal

 

[rhett7660]

Motorola too: 2600

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/apr/04/business/chi-fri-motorola-8k-jobcuts-motapr04