Layoffs Pick Up Speed—Is Your Firm On the List? - Economy * US * News * Story

Jobs Report Video Gallery

General Motors’ restructuring plan will include cutting 10,000 jobs in Europe, Tim Urquhart from IHS Global Insight told...

Jobs Bill on the Way?

Discussing President Obama's concern over unemployment, with James Pethokoukis, Reuters Money & Politics columnist; Davi...

NABE Forecast & Daily Jobs ...

The National Association of Business Economists releases a slightly more optimist forecast, and the daily jobs report, w...

State of the States: New Yo...

Investment banking profits have not translated to new jobs on Wall Street or even Main Street in New York and the rise i...

Nation's Employment Picture

Assessing jobs data across the nation, with CNBC's Bertha Coombs, Scott Cohn & Jane Wells.

MORE HEADLINES

Markets | Economy | Companies

- US Markets Bracing for Selloff On Worries About Dubai's Debt

LATEST FROM OUR BLOGS

- 10 Dividend Picks For Your Portfolio: Chief Investors

FEATURED SLIDESHOWS

Runway Angels
The superbowl of fashion shows, models walk down the runway at the 2009 Victoria's Secret Show.
Smartphone Guide
Here's a need-to-know guide to nine devices, based on features, price, network and platform.
Wines for the Holidays
Not quite sure what wine to pair with Turkey or Creme Brulee? Our experts do.

FEATURED QUIZZES

How Well Do You Know Your Bird?
Let's talk turkey. Test your turkey knowledge and perhaps pick up a bit of trivia to trot out at your holiday meal.
A Healthier & Wealthier You
Take the following quiz and find out how much you know about the impact of obesity on the health of the U.S. economy.
The Billionaire BFF's
Philanthropists. Bridge partners. Hockey players. Which responses are based on facts from Buffett's and Gates' real lives?

SPECIAL REPORTS

Winterizing Your Portfolio
If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.
Investor's Guide to Real Estate
Some even say the long-awaited recovery is here. Regardless, buyers and sellers alike can profit from our guide.
Alternative Investing
Stocks and bonds? Sure. But it's a big world out there for investors.

CNBC ON DIGG

Layoffs Keep Growing—Is Your Firm On the List?

By: CNBC.com with Wires | 20 Jan 2009 | 10:35 AM ET

Text Size

Even on Inauguration Day, companies continued to announce layoffs, reinforcing the economic challenges facing Barack Obama as he takes office.

Bank of America may slash as much as 4,000 jobs as it absorbs Merrill Lynch, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Rohm and Haas and Cerberus Capital Management also announced big cuts in staffing.

Analysts believe the job cuts are far from over.

Slideshows On the Job Front ...

“The experience of previous deep recessions suggests (jobless) claims are nowhere near their peak, and we doubt that peak will be reached before the fall of this year,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for consulting firm High Frequency Economics.

Shepherdson said in a research note that weekly jobless claims could reach 750,000 later this year.

Here is a rundown of corporate job cuts announced so far this year:

Rohm and Haas [ROH Loading... () ] said it plans to cut 900 jobs, or 5.5 percent of its workforce, in a bid to tackle the slump in demand and widespread market weakness.

Bank of America [BAC Loading... ()

] may slash as much as 4,000 jobs in its capital markets units starting this week. The cuts are expected to be in New York and reflect the consolidation of the bank’s sales and trading businesses after it bought Merrill Lynch [MER Loading... ()

] three weeks ago.

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, majority owner of automaker Chrysler, announced it may cut about 10 percent of its worldwide staff.

Clear Channel Communications [CCU Loading... () ], which operates radio stations and outdoor advertising space, plans to lay off about 1,500 employees—mostly in ad sales—of the 20,000 work force in the United States.

ConocoPhillips [COP Loading... () ], citing a steep decline in oil and gas prices, said it will cut 4 percent of its workforce and sees big writedowns on some of its exploration and production assets.

Pfizer [PFE Loading... ()

] plans to lay off as many as 2,400 sales staff this quarter in a continuing reorganization. The drugmaker has already cut about 15,000 jobs in the past two years, including 800 research jobs earlier this week, to downsize before the company's $12 billion-a-year.

General Electric's [GE Loading... () ] GE Capital unit will cut between 7,000 and 11,000 jobs. GE had said it would reduce costs at GE Capital by about $2 billion this year, according to the report.

RELATED LINKS

Advanced Micro Devices [AMD Loading... () ] plans to cut 1,100 jobs, 9 percent of its global staff, and slash the remaining employees' pay as the chip maker hopes its third round of layoffs in a year can help it get through a brutal market for computer sales.

Insurance company WellPoint [WLP Loading... () ] said that it would eliminate about 1,500 positions, or about 3.5 percent of its workforce, to reduce administrative costs.

Rental car company Hertz Global [HTZ Loading... () ] said Friday it will eliminate more than 4,000 jobs worldwide as it further cuts costs amid slowing demand.

Delta Air Lines [DAL Loading... () ], which took over rival Northwest Airlines last year, said it expects about 2,000 staff to opt for an early retirement program as it aims to trim capacity as much as 8 percent this year.

Autodesk [ADSK Loading... () ] is cutting 750 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force to cut expenses and expects to report a loss rather than a profit for the fourth quarter.

Marshall & Ilsley [MI Loading... () ] is cutting 830 jobs, or 8 percent of the total. It said 80 percent of the cuts had already been made. It also began a program to reduce costs by $100 million a year, and said no executive officers will receive bonuses for 2008.

Hybrid electric and electric powertrain maker Azure Dynamics said it would reduce its workforce by about 25 percent as part of a cost-reduction plan.

Motorola [MOT Loading... () ] said it would cut another 4,000 jobs, as it forecast a fourth-quarter loss and weaker-than-expected handset sales. The company had previously announced a plan to cut 3,000 jobs in October 2008.

MeadWestvaco [MWV Loading... () ], which makes paper and plastic products, said it will cut some 2,000 employees, or about 10 percent of its work force, as it accelerates cost savings

Google [GOOG Loading... () ] said it was closing three engineering offices and cutting 100 recruiters as the recession dampens hiring. Computer equipment maker Seagate Technology also said it will eliminate 2,950 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force.

Seagate Technology [STX Loading... () ] is cutting thousands of jobs and slashing some employees' salaries by as much as 25 percent, a surprise move coming just a few days after the company changed chief executives and announced it was cutting 800 U.S.-based workers.

St. Paul-based sanitizer and detergent maker Ecolab [ECL Loading... () ] laid off 1,000 workers in response to the economy that has dramatically affected the company's restaurant and hotel customers.

The nation's largest book store chain Barnes & Noble [BKS Loading... () ] said it would cut nearly 100 jobs at its corporate headquarters in New York, due mostly to reduced store openings and consolidated operations at its retail and online segments. The company said it would provide affected employees with an enhanced severance plan and healthcare benefits for the next 12 months, as well as job placement counseling and transition seminars.

Barclays [BCS Loading... () ] was the latest major banking institution to announce big layoffs, revealing its plans to cut 2,100 jobs in its retail and commercial banking units, adding to redundancies of the same size in its investment banking arms announced earlier in the year.

Dutch financial services group ING [ING Loading... () ] said it will cut 750 U.S. jobs as part of a global program to cope with the economic slowdown.

Software giant Oracle [ORCL Loading... () ] announced it will cut around 500 positions in its North American sales and consulting business. However, this is not as much as some people had speculated.

Visteon [VS Loading... () ] said it cut salaries for about 2,000 white-collar employees by 20 percent at its facilities in Michigan and adopted a four-day workweek there for the month of January. Visteon will also suspend matching payments for 401K employee retirement plans and reduce new hiring, it said.

U.S. manufacturer Cummins [CMI Loading... () ] it would cut its global white-collar workforce by at least 800 and reduce its top executives' pay by 10 percent next year to save money during the deepening recession.

Lexmark International [LXK Loading... () ] announced that its fourth-quarter sales came in worse than expected,prompting a decision to cut 250 jobs and transfer roughly 125 more to lower-cost countries in the coming months.

Drugstore operator Walgreen [WAG Loading... () ] said it will cut 1,000 jobs by mid-year, or about 9 percent of corporate management, through a combination of voluntary buyouts and layoffs.

Boeing [BA Loading... () ], the world's second-largest airplane maker, plans to cut about 3 percent, or about 4,500 positisons, of its work force as a weakening global economy lowers demand for jetliners. Many of the cuts will be in areas not directly associated with aircraft production. This will be the company’s second round of layoffs after cutting 800 workers in November 2008.

Cigna [CI Loading... () ] said it will cut about 1,100 jobs and consolidate some offices because of the flagging economy and won't give pay raises to salaried employees this year.

Alcoa [AA Loading... () ] said it will eliminate 13,500 jobs, or 13 percent of its work force, in order to conserve cash and cut costs in the face of the global economic downturn.

Schlumberger [SLB Loading... () ], the world's largest oilfield services provider, plans to shed 5 percent of its North American workforce, or 1,000 jobs, and is looking at cuts elsewhere, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Oilfield service company Halliburton [HAL Loading... () ] also confirmed it will begin laying off workers but hasn't said how many or when.