Mike: Wednesday was a very busy day for layoff announcements and economic news and the news keeps coming in. Thursday brings Jobless Claims numbers, which will be interesting to see considering how many large layoff announcements have occurred this past week.
Mike: Today’s larger layoff announcments:
US:
- Nike may cut up to 4 pct of jobs
- Watts Water profit misses estimates; to cut 400 jobs
- Graphic Packaging plans to cut 650 jobs
- US Airways to cut jobs
- Grainger to cut 300-400 jobs
- Caterpillar offering buyouts to cut 2,000 more jobs
- Con-Way: Cuts About 2,500
- Armstrong cutting 500 to 600 jobs
- Rexnord eliminates 500 jobs
- Sinclair Broadcast Group eliminates 200 jobs
- Alcatel to cut 1,000 manager jobs
International:
- Peugeot Citroen cuts 11,000 jobs
- ING To Scrap 2,700 Jobs In The Netherlands
- ArcelorMittal to cut 1,400 jobs in France
- Nokia to cut 1,100 jobs
- Pliva to cut 790 jobs
- Pratt & Whitney to lay off 1000 employees
Mike: Good day to all. The markets took a dive yesterday because comments by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner didn’t seem to ease the fears of those who think that banks should be bailed out with no strings attached. Obama didn’t seem to help the market either, since his stimulus speech didn’t assure the market and stocks continued to fall throughout the day. Because of that reaction, I can only assume that the market wants the taxpayer to absorb all bank losses and then have a trillion dollar stimulus in place immediately.
The stimulus package is again the likely main story of the day. While I find both parties actions distasteful, I am amazed that the Republicans keep bashing spending at the expense of tax cuts. The Republicans tax cut policy is what has put the US in massive debt, which makes funding spending programs more difficult because the government has to borrow to pay for any new spending. Republicans talk of fiscal responsibility and act shocked at the spiraling deficit, but if you look at the cost of their tax cut efforts in previous years, you can see the cost to the Treasury is much greater than any stimulus spending that the bumbling Democrats could even think to muster: The following articles put the Republican fiscal responsibility and tax cut mantra into perspective:
* Such objections are indeed ironic coming from some of the greatest advocates for President Bush’s $1.35 trillion tax cut package in 2001. Indeed, when Bush introduced his tax cuts he declared, “A warning light is flashing on the dashboard of our economy, and we just can’t drive on and hope for the best. We need tax relief now.” The Republicans who now call the $800 billion recovery package “too big” jumped on the Bush bandwagon claiming his $1.35 trillion in tax cuts were just what was needed to jump start a sluggish economy:
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.782083&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
* September 19, 2004 – The large tax cuts passed by Congress in 2001, 2002 and 2003 were signature items in President Bush’s fiscal policy. All provisions of those tax cuts, however, expire by the end of 2010 and some expire earlier. A prominent feature of the president’s campaign is to make almost all the tax cuts permanent.
We have analyzed that proposal and reached the following conclusions:
· Making the tax cuts permanent would generate large, backloaded revenue losses over the next 10 years. Combined with a minimal but necessary fix to the government’s Alternative Minimum Tax, making the tax cuts permanent would reduce federal revenues by almost $1.8 trillion over 10 years — and that’s in addition to the $1.7 trillion of revenue losses already locked into law. By 2014, the annual revenue loss would amount to $400 billion, or 2 percent of gross domestic product — almost the size of this year’s federal budget deficit.
via The Cost of Tax Cuts – Brookings Institution .
Ed Stein - Feb 11
Mike: Onto the news of the day:
- Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors/News
General Economic News
Municipal News
US and some Canada Layoff News
International News
Hiring News
– Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors & News –
* The Silicon Valley rumor mill is churning again. This time, unconfirmed reports have Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) extending job cuts from contractors and recruiters to coders.
Mary Hodder, a UC Berkeley graduate student who is well connected in the Valley, first reported the rumblings last night on Twitter. “We think [Google] is quietly laying [people] off so as not to alert press. [Managers] have mandate to reduce [headcount], no matter how critical the project,” she wrote.
via Should Google Cut Deeper? .
Mike: Watching the following testimony from corrupt and thieving bank CEOs should be entertaining. They will get slapped around by Congress and then act fawningly forlorn, apologetic and remorseful. Congress will do it’s act and at the same time contact these same banks for campaign contributions. This will be more a carnival than a public service. What will result from this testimony? You guessed it, nothing…..
* WASHINGTON (AP) — If Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner could get an earful of skepticism over the government’s financial bailout plans, the nation’s top bankers can expect no less when they make their maiden voyage to Congress as recipients of the widely criticized funds.
– Eight chief executives will slip behind a witness table in the Rayburn House Office Building on Wednesday morning to face a battery of questions about how they have used more than $160 billion in taxpayers’ money.
In prepared testimony, the CEOs applauded the program for making more loans available and promised to pay their share of the money back to the Treasury over time. Anticipating confrontations over their own compensation, several asserted that none of the government’s money went to bonuses or dividends.
via A day after Geithner, it’s the bankers turn: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance.
Live on C-Span – Eight CEOs testifying before the House Financial Services Cmte.
Mike: This banking circus conducted by Clowngress, and led by ringmaster Barney Frank, is doing everything it can to make the bank hacks look honest and contrite and to Congress look concerned and aware. The corrupt, greedy, overpaid banking CEOs are still being coddled and rewarded and remain in charge of the system they nearly destroyed. They should all be fired and investigated for fraud on the scale of the Enron hearings. Some should spend time in jail and others should be fined millions for their crimes. But unfortunately, as long as they are in hip pocket of Congress and continue to fund their reelection campaigns, they stand little chance of being punished in any manner.
Here are the bailout funds received and CEO salaries received in 2008 and 2007, repsectively:
- Wells Fargo: $25 billion, $850,000, $800,000 and $7.4 million in cash/stock
- Citi: $45 billion, $1,000,000, $250,000 and $2.5 million in cash/stock
- Morgan Stanley: $10 billion, $800,000, $800,000
- State Street: $2 billion, $1,000,000, $1,000,000and $20 million in cash/stock
- BOA: $15 billion, $1,500,000, $14 million
- BNY: $3 billion, $1,000,000, $1,000,000 and $20 million in cash/stock
- JP Morgan: $25 billion, $1,000,000, $1,000,000 and $27 million cash/stock
- GS: $10 billion, $600,000, $600,000 and 67 million shares of stock
*WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a disgusted public and Congress, bank CEOs agreed with demands for greater accountability Wednesday in the first testimony on how they’re spending money from the taxpayer-funded $700 billion bailout.
“Both our firm and our industry have far to go to regain the trust of taxpayers, investors and public officials,” John J. Mack, head of Morgan Stanley, told the House Financial Institutions Committee.
Added JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon: “We stand ready to do our part going forward.”
In general, the eight top bankers appearing before the panel were contrite and conceded they have work to do to win over a bitter public and an exasperated Congress. They had little choice but to acknowledge as much, given intense anger and anxiety as the troubled financial system continues to spiral downward in an ever-worsening recession.
via Bankers vow to work for financial system reform – Yahoo! Finance.
Mike: The banking crisis is not limited to the US and surprisingly, US may be in better shape than those in Europe. The following article shows just how financially dangerous the banking conditions are in Europe. Of course, those problems would also infect US banks at some point, since financial transactions are so intertwined. I recommend reading the entire article and visiting Jesse’s Café Américain on a regular basis:
* European Bank Bailouts Could Precipitate a Government Crisis *
There is talk that European banks may be sitting on £16.3 trillion of toxic assets and could suffer massive losses.
There is a business decision to be made as well as a policy decision.
– The prescription for a cure must include the option to nationalize, liquidate, investigate, and prosecute. And above all to act not out of fear, or of vengance, but with a practical and comprehensive justice.
via Jesse’s Café Américain: European Bank Bailouts Could Precipitate a Government Crisis.
Mike: Go Andy!
* NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo laid out further details Wednesday about $3.6 billion in bonuses Merrill Lynch & Co. executives received, calling the investment bank’s executives irresponsible.
Cuomo detailed the size and scope of the bonuses in a letter sent Wednesday to U.S. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank.
“In a surprising fit of corporate irresponsibility, it appears that, instead of disclosing their bonus plans in a transparent way as requested by my office, Merrill Lynch secretly moved up the planned date to allocate bonuses and then richly rewarded their failed executives,” Cuomo stated. In the letter, Cuomo said he requested information on Merrill’s expected bonuses as early as Oct. 29, but never received any details about the size of the bonus pool and criteria it planned to use to make the payments.
via Cuomo blasts Merrill executives on bonus plan – Yahoo! Finance.
Bill Day - Feb 11
* BEIJING (AP) — China’s exports plunged in January amid collapsing global demand, adding to the threat of job losses and possible unrest and intensifying pressure on Beijing to boost slumping economic growth.
Exports fell 17.5 percent in January from the same month in 2008, the third monthly decline and a sharper drop than December’s 2.8 percent, according to customs data released Tuesday. JP Morgan said it was the biggest monthly decline since October 1998.
via Chinese exports, imports plunge, fanning worries: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance.
* GRANITE CITY — Steel workers, their families, community leaders, residents and folks from other communities joined together and marched as one through downtown Tuesday for the city’s steel industry.
United Steelworkers of America organizers estimated 5,500 people walked down 20th Street and then Niedringhaus Avenue to support the $838 billion economic stimulus bill. Granite City Mayor Ed Hagnauer, who was among the marchers, said he didn’t expect such a turnout.
via Thousands march in Granite City in support of steel workers – Business – Belleville News-Democrat.
* LONDON (AP) — The head of the Bank of England said Wednesday that Britain was in a “deep recession” that would require further easing of monetary policy, including expanding the money supply.
“The UK economy is in a deep recession,” bank Governor Mervyn King said at a news conference, who also gave his clearest sign yet that the Bank of England was ready to in effect print money to get the economy going again.
via Bank of England says Britain in ‘deep recession’: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance.
* Prichard Mayor Ron Davis said today that he would cut 17 jobs within the city and shorten the work week for city employees.
Sixteen employees will lose their jobs. One, a police administrator, will be transferred to the mayor’s staff.
via Prichard to cut 17 jobs, shorten work week – Breaking News from the Press-Register – al.com.
* The Exeter Union High School District Board approved the elimination of seven classified positions during a special meeting last Friday facing an uncertain financial future in the firestorm created by the state budget crisis.
via Mineral King Publishing – The Exeter Sun & The Lindsay Gazette.
* Amador County supervisors reluctantly agreed to lay off seven regular employees at its meeting today.
via Ledger-Dispatch.com | County issues layoff notices.
* The Aiken County Board of Education has agreed to eliminate 120 plus positions — just one component in more than $9 million in cuts for 2009-10.
via Aiken Co. schools to cut 120 jobs – Breaking News – The State.
* SPENCER, Iowa (KTIV) – The economy is hitting close to home as a Spencer, Iowa manufacturer of power sports accessories cuts close to ten percent of its workforce.
Cycle Country is cutting 16 jobs.
* SARASOTA COUNTY – School Board members signed off on eliminating about 140 positions to save almost $9 million Tuesday, while also saying that more cuts are almost certain to come.
* JAMES CITY — The next school budget eliminates 56 jobs and raises the average number of students in classrooms at all three high schools. Due to attritiion and retirement, the net number of teachers and staff is 42.
via The Virginia Gazette – News – 17 teachers part of 42 cut overall.
* Twenty teaching positions will be cut if the state goes ahead with a $1.8 million cut to Caroline schools, said Dr. Eric Cunningham, assistant superintendent for Administrative Services, at the February 9 School Board meeting.
via Caroline Progress.
* ST. ANSGAR — School board members this week directed administrators to cut five full-time positions for 2009-10 on the way to finalizing a corrective action plan required by the Iowa Department of Education.
* Nike Inc, the world’s largest athletic shoe and clothing maker, said on Tuesday it could cut up to four percent of its workforce to reduce costs as it restructures its business.
– Up to 1,400 jobs out of about 35,000 globally could be cut.
via UPDATE 1-Nike may cut up to 4 pct of jobs as it restructures | Markets | US Markets | Reuters .
* WASHINGTON (AFP) — Nike said Tuesday it could cut up to 1,400 jobs from its global workforce to help the giant maker of athletic footwear and apparel cope with a sharp global economic downturn.
* Plumbing products supplier Watts Water Technologies Inc (WTS.N) posted lower-than-expected quarterly results and said it would close three facilities and cut 400 jobs as the global downturn continues to weaken its markets.
* ArcelorMittal has laid off 95 people indefinitely. Human resources manager Victor Riva said that amounts to 18 percent of the plant’s 520-member hourly workforce.
via Shelby’s biggest employer lays off 95 workers | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News Journal.
* Technology research firm Forrester Research Inc. will cut 50 jobs.
Affected employees at the Cambridge, Mass., based company were notified Feb. 9. Forrester plans to incur between $2.5 million and $3 million in first-quarter expenses. Those costs are primarily due to severance and related benefits costs.
via Forrester to cut 50 jobs, 5% of staff – Boston Business Journal: .
* ATTLEBORO — Sensata Technologies Inc. is laying off 100 workers in Massachusetts after another 50 accepted voluntary buyout offers.
via Sensata to cut 100 jobs in Massachusetts – BostonHerald.com.
* Workers’ compensation insurer Zenith National Insurance Corp (ZNT.N) said it will cut 100 positions, or 6 percent of its total workforce, in response to the ongoing economic downturn.
* US Airways, the second busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport, will cut dozens of jobs at the Las Vegas airport later this year.
Chief executive Doug Parker made the announcement in a letter to employees made public this afternoon by the airline. US Airways’ McCarran station was notified Tuesday morning.
Parker said 233 airport support positions would be cut nationwide at 10 airports with Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Tucson, Ariz., being the hardest hit by the decision.
via US Airways to cut jobs at McCarran – Las Vegas Sun.
* Graphic Packaging said Tuesday its plan to close four plants around the country by the end of September will eliminate 650 jobs as part of a goal of $90 million in savings by 2010.
Plants slated for closure include folding carton facilities in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Morris, Ill.; and Muncie, Ind.; and a multiwall-bag packaging factory in Cantonment, Fla.
* Graphic Packaging Co. plans to close one of its two plants in the Airport Industrial Park, Tuscaloosa, sometime before the the end of June,
Graphic Packaging, a Marietta, Ga., -based company said about 90 employees of its folding carton facility in Tuscaloosa will be affected by the closing,
via Graphic Packaging Co. plant to close | TuscaloosaNews.com | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL.
* TULSA – Aerospace manufacturer Limco-Piedmont Inc. is shutting its Tulsa plant.
The company will move the operations of its Tulsa-based subsidiary, Limco-Airepair Inc., to Kernersville, N.C., where Piedmont Aviation Component Services Inc. is based.
The move will be completed by the end of June and will reduce the company’s work force by 12 percent. Limco has about 150 employees in Tulsa, according to recent reports.
via The Journal Record – Article.
* Limco Airepair Inc., a Tulsa-based aerospace company, will close its 70,000-square-foot plant by July and transfer operations and some of its 150 employees to a sister operation in North Carolina, company executives said.
via Tulsa World: Firm will move, another cuts jobs .
* Chipmaker Vishay Intertechnology Inc (VSH.N) posted a fourth-quarter loss, said it was evaluating additional plant closures and expects more job cuts, sending shares to their lowest in over 18 years.
The company, which has already reduced close to 9 percent of its workforce in the fourth quarter, said it had laid off 700 more employees in January.
via Vishay posts loss, sees job cuts | Reuters .
* Grapevine’s American Locker Group Inc., a secure storage locker supplier, reduced 50 permanent and temporary positions and enacted a 10 percent reduction in wages as of January 2009 in an effort to reduce its labor costs.
via American Locker Group next in line for job cuts – Fort Worth Business Press.
* Boeing’s first wave of layoff notices in the Puget Sound region this year, with 668 layoffs scheduled in March and April, is causing friction with the Machinists union.
via Business & Technology | Boeing sends 668 layoff notices | Seattle Times Newspaper.
* Sears Holdings Corp. plans to lay off 145 employees at its call center in Naperville, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification report for January.
via Sears Holdings Corp. to lay off 145 employees at Naperville call center .
* Tate Hoxworth, spokesman for Michelin North America, said the company is attempting to make production adjustments in a slowing economy and must reduce its inventory.
Hoxworth says “an indefinite layoff of fewer than 80 production employees” will go into effect on February 14. The plant employees close to 1,000 people.
via WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |Layoffs come to BF Goodrich Opelika plant.
* In an effort to adjust to tough economic times, Steffes Corporation in Dickinson laid off about a dozen employees Monday, according to Joe Rothschiller, President of the company.
* SHILOH — Another victim of the deepening recession, Employers Choice Plus/Voisard Manufacturing has reduced operations in its Shiloh facilities, affecting about 150 jobs.
The two metal fabricating plants will be idled immediately, laying off 79 workers indefinitely; 70 other employees will see their hours reduced.
via Shiloh manufacturer Voisard lays off 80 | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News Journal.
* WVEC-TV, smarting from the recession, has laid off an unidentified number of employees, its general manager said today.
via Citing downturn, WVEC-TV lays off employees | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com.
* North American Hoganas Inc.’s Cold Stream Division at Hollsopple started laying off employees in December, according to a release from the company.
The company has laid off 56 workers out of 278 employed at the company’s two regional plants, according to the release.
* U.S. industrial distributor W.W. Grainger (GWW.N) said it will cut about 300 to 400 jobs across the company, after it posted a 9 percent decline in January daily sales due to weakened demand across all its customer end-markets and geographies.
* BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — Twenty-six workers at Beckley-ARH are being laid off, but the hospital’s CEO says the cuts would have been greater if other cost-cutting measures hadn’t been implemented.
* MTS Systems Corp. is cutting 150 jobs, or 6 percent of its workforce, the company said late Thursday.
The Eden Prairie firm, which makes testing systems for manufacturers, said the move is in response to a slowdown in demand for its products. The job cuts will include a combination of layoffs and elimination of open positions. It’s unclear how many Minnesota jobs will be cut. A spokesperson for the company couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
via MTS to cut 150 jobs – Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal: .
* Grande Cache Coal Corp (GCE.TO) said it would cut coal production by 25 percent and reduce about 100 jobs to save cash amid a weak steel production outlook and delay in shipments.
via UPDATE 1-Grande Cache to reduce coal output, cut 100 jobs | Industries | Energy | Reuters .
* Caterpillar Inc., in yet another move aimed at cutting its workforce at time when global demand for its heavy equipment is spiraling downward, said Wednesday that it is offering a voluntary early-retirement package to 2,000 U.S. production workers.
via Caterpillar offering buyouts to cut 2,000 more jobs — chicagotribune.com.
* Text hereJW Aluminum notified employees Tuesday that it is cutting workers’ hours and laying off some workers.
The majority of the layoffs will occur in, and be completed by, the end of April, said Brien Doyle, plant manager. He did not know how many of the plant’s 75 employees would be affected by the layoffs; however, Jackson’s workforce reduction will equal about 5 percent of JW Aluminum’s 750 to 1,000 total workforce.
via JW Aluminum to cut jobs, hours | jacksonsun.com | .
* Con-way Inc. (CNW) Chief Executive Doug Stotlar said Wednesday that his company has cut a total of about 2,500 jobs – or nearly 14% of its workforce – as part of large-scale reductions it unveiled in early December.
The figure is more than the 1,450 job cuts that the trucking and logistics company announced late last year, but Stotlar said industry conditions have continued to deteriorate early in 2009.
via Con-Way: Cuts About 2,500 Jobs As Part Of Dec Announcement.
* Hurt by the plunging residential-housing market, Armstrong World Industries will cut 500 to 600 jobs across North America.
The indefinite layoffs at five plants are needed to cope with “a significant downturn in our business,” a company spokeswoman said today.
via LancasterOnline.com:Local Business:Armstrong cutting 500 to 600 jobs.
* YARMOUTH – The Yarmouth Port-based International Fund for Animal Welfare has joined the list of businesses and organizations forced to make staff reductions in order to cope with the recession.
via IFAW feels economic pinch: Cuts 26 jobs on Cape – Yarmouth, MA – The Register.
* AVERY’S CREEK – BorgWarner Turbo Systems will lay off 140 employees by week’s end, a decision driven by the weakening economy and cutbacks by construction equipment and diesel truck manufacturers the company supplies with turbochargers.
via Weak economy forces job cuts at local plant | CITIZEN-TIMES.com | Asheville Citizen-Times.
* Rexnord LLC of West Milwaukee said it will eliminate more jobs after cutting 500 employees in its fiscal third quarter because of a sudden reduction in orders, according to the industrial company’s top executive.
via Rexnord eliminates 500 jobs, plans more cuts – Triangle Business Journal: .
* Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. is cutting 138 jobs and slashing production at its lumber and pulp mills, the Edmonton-based forest products company announced Tuesday.
via Alberta mill firm cutting 138 jobs.
* Commercial Vehicle Group (NASDAQ:CVGI) didn’t specify the number of jobs that would be eliminated in the plant closings. The company employs more than 6,000 workers.
via Commercial Vehicle cutting costs, jobs – Business First of Columbus: .
* Nortel Networks’s bankruptcy advisor Ernst & Young International said that the troubled network equipment vendor is planning for more job cuts, though it is not yet clear when or how many jobs might be cut beyond the 1,300 jobs the company pledged last November to eliminate.
via Nortel: More jobs cuts possible, but patent incentives intact – FierceTelecom.
* Thirty-eight layoffs were reported today by Unity Physicians Group in Bloomington.
via Unity Physicians Group lays off 38: HeraldTimesOnline.com.
* Intellectual-property law firm Merchant & Gould said Wednesday it’s cutting 33 jobs, or 13 percent of its work force, citing the downturn in the economy.
via Merchant & Gould cuts 33 jobs – Triangle Business Journal: .
* The Apache Gold Casino announced cost containment measures on Thursday, Feb. 5. Layoff notices were sent to approximately nine percent of its work force.
via Globe, Arizona Silver Belt – News.
* A shift to a more studio-centric approach in game development and support will impact 70 to 90 employees at NCsoft West, the game developer said today.
via Disturbance In The Workforce: More Layoffs Hit NCSoft.
* Sinclair Broadcast Group said today that it has eliminated 200 jobs, or 7 percent of its work force, and suspended its quarterly dividend to cut costs as it expects falling advertising revenues this year amid a recession.
via Sinclair Broadcast Group eliminates 200 jobs — baltimoresun.com.
* Fernwood Resort is the latest business to downsize in order to weather the recession and run more efficiently.
The Bushkill Group, the resort’s parent company, said that 14 employees were laid off by the company.
* Pratt & Whitney has confirmed to CTV Montreal it will cut 1000 jobs, but it has not announced where those jobs will be.
Pierre Boisseau, Marketing & Communications Manager for Pratt and Whitney Canada, confirms that employees were notified this morning that up to 1000 employees worldwide would be laid off.
* BOSTON (AP) — Putnam Investments is eliminating 260 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force. It’s the second round of cuts in just three months at the Boston-based money manager.
via The Associated Press: Putnam Investments to cut 260 jobs.
* Franco-American telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said it plans to cut 1,000 managerial posts from its global workforce will see 198 positions in France eliminated.
Alcatel-Lucent managers in France told a works council meeting on Wednesday that 450 managerial posts would go in North America and 450 in Europe, of which 198 in France, the CFDT union said in a statement.
via Franco-American telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said it plans to cut 1,000 managerial posts from its global workforce will see 198 positions in France eliminated.Alcatel-Lucent managers in France told a works council meeting on Wednesday that 450 managerial posts would go in North America and 450 in Europe, of which 198 in France, the CFDT union said in a statement.
via Alcatel to cut 1,000 manager jobs | Markets | US Markets | Reuters | Markets | US Markets | Reuters
* Joel Snead, accounting director for Grammer in the Americas, said the company moved assembly of headrests for BMW vehicles from Greenville to Mexico to save on labor costs. In addition, he said, Grammer lost seat cover work it was handling for BMW at the Greenville plant.
As a result, the plant’s employment level has dwindled from its peak of 110 in 2007 to the current 36.
via Grammer closing area plant | GreenvilleOnline.com | The Greenville News.
* MOUNT PLEASANT — Pacon Corp., a manufacturer of a variety of paper and arts and crafts products, announced Wednesday it will close its Mount
Pleasant facility by April.
The nation’s struggling economy was a large factor in the decision that impacted the 65 employees in Mount Pleasant.
via The Hawk Eye.
Mike: I wonder how the Swiss feel about this story. UBS was bailed out by the Swiss taxpayer and they have the nerve to start raising bonuses? I would think they should be given state type salaries until whatever they took from the taxpayer is paid back in full. These guys will not stop the carnage they have brought unless they are punished for the damage they have already done. The people get the shaft the bankers get the bonuses.
* Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest lender, said it will offer investment bankers more pay this year after announcing 2,000 additional job cuts at the unit.
The bank plans to reduce the number of employees at the unit to 15,000 this year from about 17,000 at the end of 2008, Zurich- based UBS said in a statement today. Bankers that remain are likely to get bigger bonuses as the unit returns to profit, Chief Financial Officer John Cryan said in an interview today.
* France’s biggest carmaker, Peugeot Citroen, has announced it will slash more than 11,000 jobs in 2009, starting with European plants outside France.
via BBC NEWS | Business | Peugeot Citroen cuts 11,000 jobs.
* French car group PSA Peugeot Citroen says it expects to cut 11,000 jobs throughout the world in 2009 after reporting net losses of €343m in 2008.
* PARIS: Management at steel maker ArcelorMittal has outlined details of a plan to reduce support staff in France by 1,400 through voluntary
via ArcelorMittal to cut 1,400 jobs in France- Jobs-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times.
* Controversial defence company QinetiQ flagged that further job cuts could be on the way in the UK as it said it was reviewing its cost base because the Ministry of Defence is trimming its spending budget.
via QinetiQ to cut jobs as Ministry of Defence trims spending | Mail Online.
* Portakabin today announced that it will cut more than 10 per cent of its workforce at its York factory as the company feels the pinch from the recent downturn.
via Portakabin to cut 80 jobs at its York factory .
* Accident management firm Helphire Group plc has announced plans to cut 130 jobs due to ‘challenging market conditions’.
via Helphire to cut 130 UK jobs.
* Kredyt Bank BKRE.WA, a Polish unit of Belgian financial group KBC (KBC.BR), plans to cut as much as 7 percent of jobs by the end of this year as it seeks savings in the face of economic slowdown, it said on Wednesday.
via UPDATE 1-Kredyt Bank to cut jobs by 7 pct in 2009 | Reuters .
* Nokia is to shut down its mobile devices research and development (R&D) site in Jyväskylä, Finland, and will scale down operations at its Salo production site. Moves in the company are expected to affect a total of around 1,100 workers.
via Nokia to cut 1,100 jobs – Mobile News.
* HELSINKI (Reuters) – Cellphone maker Nokia said on Wednesday it would cut production at its key Salo plant in Finland as demand for handsets has dropped.
Cellphone sales are set to dive this year, affected by consumers’ reluctance to spend on new gadgets in the midst of the economic recession and large inventories built up by phone sellers at the end of last year.
via Nokia to cut production as phone market dives | Reuters .
* News International told staff today it will cut about 65 editorial jobs across its four national newspapers as part of an efficiency drive.
via News International to cut 65 editorial jobs at its national papers | Media | guardian.co.uk .
* Advanced Life Sciences Holdings Inc (ADLS.O) reported a narrower quarterly loss, helped by lower research and development expenses, and cut its workforce by 30 percent to focus on the development of its once-a-day antibiotic, cethromycin.
via UPDATE 1-Advanced Life Q4 loss narrows; cuts 30 pct jobs | Reuters .
* -Dutch bank and insurer ING Groep NV (ING) said Wednesday it will scrap 2,700 jobs in the Netherlands, as part of an earlier announced worldwide headcount reduction.
via ING To Scrap 2,700 Jobs In The Netherlands.
* THE owner of largest Harris Tweed mill has announced another 11 redundancies. It means there are now 15 workers at the Mackenzie mill in Stornoway compared to 85 just 18 months ago.
via Tweed mill to cut a further 11 jobs due to lack of orders – Scotsman.com News .
* South African steelmaker Columbus Stainless might cut 10% of its workforce at its Middelburg operation, in response to the continuing challenging global economic conditions, the company said on Wednesday.
via Columbus might cut 160 jobs at Middelburg operation.
* Almost 40 staff face losing their jobs at the Bermuda headquarters of insurer XL Capital this year, as the company looks to cut costs after losing $2.6 billion in 2008.
via The Royal Gazette.
* Pliva will lay off 790 workers within a year, and all of them will be given severance pay, the director general of this drug producer with principal offices in Zagreb told a news conference on Monday.
via Pliva to cut 790 jobs over next 12 months :: emportal :: SEE news.
* Editorial staff at four News International titles in Wapping were told today the news that they had feared, with 65 compulsory redundancies, while casual production posts are also being cut.
via Sports Journalists’ Association newsblog » Blog Archive » 65 jobs to be cut at Wapping titles.
* Hyco International laid off 30 employees from its Arab plant Friday. Several hundred layoffs have occurred recently at other Hyco plants in Canada, Germany and Brazil.
via Hyco plant lays off 30 employees.
* MANILA, Philippines – Around 1,200 Customs employees will lose their jobs once the government implements its plan to streamline the bureaucracy, the Bureau of Customs Employees Association (BOCEA) said Wednesday.
* Last spring, Vestas Wind Systems donated a 12,000-pound turbine hub to Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles so students enrolled in the wind technician training program could get their hands on the very equipment they would one day maintain.
via Wind power jobs are abundant, but training is scarce – OregonLive.com.
* Gates Corp. kept its word this week when it rehired the full-time employees who were laid off last year.
The 30 full-time workers who had been laid off retur ned to work Monday, Jesse Vanpool, human resources manager for the Gates plant, said.
via NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas’ News Source.
* A group of Internet-based graphic designers has launched GraphicDesignFreelanceJobs.com (http://www.graphicdesignfreelancejobs.com), a new website to help graphic designers find their next paying freelance graphic design job. GraphicDesignFreelanceJobs.com gives freelancers free access to hundreds of current freelance graphic design jobs.
* UAL Corp (UAUA.O), parent of United Airlines, said on Tuesday it will fill 165 customer relations jobs — previously outsourced to India — in the United States.
* Winston-Salem, NC – Alliance, a RockTenn company based in Winston-Salem, NC, and QPSI, a contract packaging and supply chain solutions company based in New Jersey, have announced plans to open a 192,000 square-foot, contract packing facility in Iowa City, Iowa.
Tags: cut jobs, economic, factory closing, firing, jobs cut, laid off, plant closing, positions eliminated, redundancies, unemployment, workforce reduction
