Where the Layoffs Are—Is Your Firm on the List?

Sony became one of the latest companies to announce layoffs in attempt to rein in costs and weather the weak economy.

Sony plans to cut 16,000 jobs, curb investment and pull out of businesses to save $1.1 billion a year amid weak demand for electronics products.

Elsewhere in the tech sector, semiconductor manufacturing tool maker Novellus said it would cut 10 percent of its workforce.

Monday brought a slew of layoffs, including those at Dow component 3M, which plans on cutting 1,800 jobs, and Dow Chemical, which said it is slashing 5,000 jobs, or 11 percent of its global workforce.

The job picture has continued to dim considerably in recent weeks, particularly in the financial sector, as Citigroup confirmed it would be cutting as many as 53,000 jobs, while JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America announced deep staff cuts as they absorb fallen financial institutions, Washington Mutual and Merrill Lynch, respectively.

The pain is global. On Dec. 2 European bank heavyweights Credit Suisse and HSBC Holdings announced they were axing hundreds of jobs in Britain as the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression bites. Two days later Credit Suisse announced even more layoffs.

The cuts are the latest in a wave of job losses in which over 100,000 jobs have been axed at major global financial institutions since September.

A jobs turnaround is unlikely any time soon. Also Monday, staffing firm Manpower said a quarterly survey showed that employers globally expect to slow their hiring in the three months to March, adding to the pain from the financial crisis that has already put much of the rich world into recession.

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

• Sony's 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 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 , 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 said it would close 20 facilities, divest several businesses and cut 5,000 jobs in response to the global economic slump.

• AT&T 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 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 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 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 , are expected to be laid off as Bank of America 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 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.

CONTINUED : Layoffs Hit European Giants, US Automakers, More

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