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Layoffs Continue to Grow—Is Your Firm on the List?

Topics:Employment | Consumers | Economy (U.S.)

By: CNBC.com | 12 Dec 2008 | 12:04 PM ET

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This week brought a slew of layoffs, including Dow component Bank of America, which said its planned job cuts may grow to 35,000 over three years after it completes its purchase of Merrill Lynch.
Crowd of people on the street

Additionally, Yahoo announced its plans on cutting 1,500 jobs, along with Office Depot, which said it is laying off 2,200 employees, and Rio Tinto, which will cut 14,000 jobs.

And on Friday, BlackRock became one of the latest companies to announce layoffs in attempt to rein in costs and weather the weak economy.

The job picture has continued to dim considerably in recent weeks. On Thursday, data from the Labor Department showed that the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to a 26-year high last week.

Continuing claims jumped to 4.43 million in the week ended Nov. 29, also a 26-year high, from 4.09 million the previous week. The 338,000 increase in continuing claims matched the gain recorded in the week ended Nov. 30, 1974.

Slideshows On the Job Front ...

New York City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. said the economic downturn has not yet found a bottom. He said huge job losses still lie ahead for the city. He projected approximately 165,000 jobs may be lost—of which around 35,000 will be from Wall Street.

Here's a rundown of some of the recently announced job cuts: (source: Reuters, with CNBC staff):

BlackRock [BLK Loading... ()

] has slashed 500 jobs worldwide as it grapples with a surge in outflows during the global credit crisis.

France's Alcatel-Lucent said it would shed 5,000 contractors as it gave a pessimistic forecast for the 2009 telecoms equipment market and declined to say when it would make a net profit.

Dow component Bank of America [BAC Loading... ()

] announced its plans to cut up to 35,000 jobs over three years after completing its purchase of Merrill Lynch [MER Loading... () ].

Stanley Works [SWK Loading... () ] said it will slash 2,000 jobs—or 10 percent of its workforce—and close three plants, and cut its 2008 outlook as all its business segments are reeling under the global economic crisis.

Yahoo [YHOO Loading... ()

] plans to slash 1,500 jobs by the end of December. The cuts were made mostly in high-cost workforce markets.

Office Depot [ODP Loading... ()

] will layoff 2,200 employees over the next three months and close about 9 percent of its North American stores while planning to open fewer locations next year in an effort to cut costs.

Rio Tinto [RTP Loading... ()

] announced plans to cut 14,000 jobs, slash capital spending and boost asset sales but said it would hold its dividend steady.

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Sony's [SNE Loading... ()

] plan to eliminate 16,000 jobs calls for the company to cut 8,000 regular workers, or roughly 4 percent of its staff, and an equal number or more temporary and contract staff.

Novellus Systems [NVLS Loading... ()

] will cut its work force by 10 percent by the end of January, and its chief executive's salary will be cut in half.

Dow component 3M [MMM Loading... ()

], which slashed its 2009 profit outlook to between $4.50 and $4.95 a share, confirmed it will cut 1,800 jobs in the fourth quarter.

Anheuser-Busch InBev announced plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the United States, some 6 percent of the workforce there.

Dow Chemical [DOW Loading... () ] said it would close 20 facilities, divest several businesses and cut 5,000 jobs in response to the global economic slump.

AT&T [T Loading... () ] is cutting 12,000 positions—about 4 percent of its workforce—in moves that will begin in December and continue through the year. The telecom giant said it also plans to reduce capital spending in 2009.

DuPont [DD Loading... () ] is slashing 2,500 positions mostly serving the U.S. and European automotive and construction markets, due to lower demand linked to the steep global decline in homebuilding, auto sales and consumer spending. The Wilmington, Del.-based chemicals maker also says it will trim 4,000 contractors by the end of this year, with additional contractor reductions expected in 2009.

Viacom said it will cut its workforce by about 7 percent, or 850 positions, underscoring the advertising slump afflicting most major media companies. The company also plans to suspend salary increases for senior level U.S. management in 2009.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse [CS Loading... ()

] said it was cutting another 5,300 jobs, as it revealed it made a net loss of about 3 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion) in October and November. The cuts come on top of more than 2,000 that had come earlier in the year.

Japanese brokerage house Nomura Holdings [NMR Loading... () ] said it would axe up to 1,000 staff in London in its first big job cuts since it bought parts of failed Lehman Brothers, adding to a wave of lay-offs in the global financial industry.

At least 10,000 employees at Merrill Lynch [MER Loading... ()

], are expected to be laid off as Bank of America [BAC Loading... ()

] absorbs the investment bank. Pink slips could start being delivered as soon as this week, sources have told CNBC. Together the two firms had 260,000 employees, about 50,000 in investment banking.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, said in June it expected to eliminate about 7,500 jobs over the next two years after the completion of its acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender.

JPMorgan Chase [JPM Loading... ()

] said on December 1 it will eliminate about 9,200 jobs at the former Washington Mutual, which on Sept. 25 became the largest U.S. bank to fail. The cuts amount to more than 21 percent of the work force at WaMu, which ended June with 43,198 employees. The cuts follow earlier reports JPMorgan Chase would lay off 10 percent of its investment banking staff —about 3,000 jobs—as the economy cratered.

Switzerland-based Credit Suisse said on December 2 it was cutting 650 jobs in the United Kingdom, equivalent to roughly 3 percent of its investment banking workforce of about 21,300. Credit Suisse has axed more than 2,000 jobs, the majority in investment banking in the last year since 2007.
Britain's HSBC , Europe's biggest bank, said on December 2 it was cutting 500 jobs at its UK banking business following a review of the business. HSBC, which employs 58,000 people in Britain, slashed 1,100 investment banking jobs in September, about 4 percent of its workforce.