Job Cuts Keep Coming—Is Your Firm On the List?

Another round of layoffs was announced on Tuesday, adding to the gloom over rising unemployment.

AP

Smithfield Foods became the latest victim of the weakening economy, announcing it will cut up to 1,800 jobs. 

Companies from a range of sectors are hemorrhaging jobs as the recession worsens. Consumers have cut back on their spending in response to declining home values and plummeting stock portfolios, and businesses also are tightening their belts.

Meanwhile, California, which is on the brink of running out of cash, will notify 20,000 state workers their jobs may be eliminated, said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The layoff notices will affect about 20 percent of state workers, McLear said, adding the cuts would extend to every part of state government.

California, America's most populous state and the world's eighth biggest economy, has experienced a dramatic fall in revenues because of the housing downturn, rising unemployment and a sharp pullback in consumer spending.

Economists consider jobless claims a timely, if volatile, indicator of the health of the labor markets and broader economy. A year ago, initial claims stood at 339,000.

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

• Smithfield Foods announced a plan to restructure its pork group that involves cutting the number of independent operating companies in the group to three from seven, and closing six plants. The company expects to cut a net 1,800 jobs in the restructuring. Some workers will be offered transfers to other units, the company said.
• Nearly 800 jobs are being eliminated at the steering division of Delphi . The cuts announced are hitting 425 hourly workers and 350 employees who are on salary at the Delphi complex in Buena Vista Township.

• Pioneer said it is closing its television-making operations and plans to slash 10,000 jobs from its global workforce, as the economic slowdown batters the consumer electronics industry. The job cuts cover 6,000 staff positions—about 16 percent of the total—and 4,000 temporary positions.
• Auto parts maker BorgWarner said sharply lower global auto demand caused it to cut 4,400 jobs in the last six months—24 percent of its total workforce—and it posted a steep loss for the fourth quarter as industry-wide conditions worsened.
• U.S. heavy equipment maker Caterpillar offered voluntary early retirement packages to about 2,000 production workers. The cuts are in addition to the 22,000 layoffs the company announced last month.
• Click for companies that announced layoffs in January...

—Sources: AP, Reuters, with CNBC.com staff.

CONTINUED : The Layoffs Continue...

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