Delta Airlines Layoffs News - Job Cuts -voluntary buyouts

Delta Airlines has announced that it will cut at least 2100 jobs by voluntary buyouts for employees who request them. Moreover, the announcement said that the number of actual job layoffs or job cuts through voluntary buyouts or otherwise could be much more than 2100. The exact number of jobs to be cut or job layoffs will be clear after Delta Airlines assesses future labor needs. Delta employes around 70,000 people worldwide and layoff announcement indicates that Delta may cut its total workforce by 3% or more.

Delta Airlines previous job layoffs voluntary exits in 2008

Delta Airlines has already cut about 4000 jobs last year in 2008 through voluntary exit packages. Although the preliminary layoff estimate says 2100 or more jobs, the Delta Airlines has not offered a firm estimate on the exact number of layoffs or job redundancies. Indeed, it is quite likely that the number of job layoffs or voluntary exits will eventually be larger than 2100 as a result of slowing demand for air travel.

Reasons for Delta Airlines Layoffs - Voluntary buyouts Job Cuts

Delta Airlines is the worlds largest airlines. Due to the current economic downturn, Delta airlines, like all other airlines is experiencing a slowdown in air travel and in fact air travel demand may see a drop further in 2009. Delta has announced that it will cut capacity by 6 to 8 percent. After its merger with Northwest Airlines, as part of its restructuring, Delta had announced capacity cuts of about 11 percent in 2008. The above announced 6 to 8 percent capacity cuts are in addition to this 11 percent.
source: Reuters,

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Goodyear Layoff news - latest announcement

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. is the largest U.S. tiremaker. Goodyear has announced that it will layoff 5000 employees. The 5000 jobs to be cut will be cut worldwide by the end of 2009. Moreover, the Goodyear layoff announcement also said that it will freeze salaries and cut production capacity.

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The following quote is from Reuters:

Goodyear said the planned 5,000 job cuts will come from the salaried and hourly ranks worldwide, but did not specify how the cuts would be divided or what regions they would come from.

Goodyear, the Arkon Ohio-based company, has already cut 4000 jobs in the second half of 2008 and the above job layoffs are in addition to these job cuts. Goodyear employes around 71000 workers worldwide, thus the above job cuts amount to reducing its total workforce by about 7%.

Reason for Goodyear layoff - Goodyear job redundancies

Goodyear Chief Executive Robert Keegan said

"The global economic slowdown has increased both in severity and geographic scope throughout the year. We are aggressively adjusting our plans to the new market realities,"

Goodyear had reported a net loss of $330 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 as compared to a $53 million profit in the same quarter last year. The above job layoffs and cuts in production are a part of Goodyear's restructuring program which is aimed at reducing costs by about $700 million this year.
Read an even more detailed report about Goodyear job cuts on Reuters.

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One week ago, roughly at the end of February second week, GM had announced a restructuring plan which included 10000 job cuts and also pay cut or salary cut of its employees of upto 10%. You may read the previous announcement in my earlier post on GM Layoffs Salary Cut.

General Motors GM Layoffs News - latest update
General Motors or GM has unveiled a massive restructuring plan which will layoff 47000 jobs worldwide. GM also plans to get rid of its loss making Hummer brand by the end of this year. It also plans to either sell or simply phase out its Saturn brand by the end of 2011. GM currently employes around 250,000 employees all over the world and the above GM Layoffs announcement amounts to cutting the total workforce of GM by a massive 23%

Reasons for General Motors GM Layoffs Job Cut - GM redundancies

General Motors or GM has been in deep trouble since the beginning of the current economic downturn. Having reported billions of dollars in loss in the past few quarters, GM has already recieved $13.4 billion aid from the US governement and is seeking 'URGENT" $30 billion in aid. The following is quote is from CNBC.

General Motors said on Tuesday it could need a total of up to $30 billion in U.S. government aid—more than doubling its original aid—and would run out of cash as soon as March without new federal funding.

source: WSJ, Reuters,

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Smithfield Foods Layoffs News

Smithfield Foods Inc. has made an announcement saying that it will layoff around 1800 jobs and close 6 of its 40 processing plants as part of its restructuring program. The closure of six factories will affect around 3.4% of its total workforce or 3000 employees. However not all 3000 employees will be fired - some willbe relocated as part of the restructuring that will eliminate four independent operating companies.

Smithfield is the world's largest pork producer by revenue. Smithfield accounts for around a third of the US processed pork market.

Reasons for Smithfield Layoffs announcement, Smithfields redundancies

The restructuring announced by Smithfields is expected to translate into a saving of $55 million in fiscal year 2010 and $125 million by 2011. In addition to being hit by loss making hedges, Smithfield foods is hit by consumers switching to white-lable offerings from branded products. In addition, exports are expected to slow amid weakening economic growth and a possible strengthening of U.S. dollar.
source: WSJ, AP

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Terex Corp Layoffs News

Terex Corporation has announced that it will layoff around 5000 jobs. Some of this job layoffs have already been implemented according to the latest Terex Corp layoff announcement. These 5000 job cuts also include majority of its temporary working staff.

Terex Corporation is a diversified manufacturer makes construction trailers, mining excavators and cranes and according to the 2007 annual report of Terex Corporation it had around 21000 jobs world wide. The 5000 job layoffs by Terex amounts to a massive 24% cut in its total workforce. This is also an indicator of the overall plight of real estate and construction related companies.

Apart from the job cuts, Terex has frozen hiring, 2009 wages for managers and cuts executive long-term compensation from 10 percent to 50 percent.

Reasons for Terex Corp layoffs

Terex Corp. made a $451 million loss in fourth quarter of 2008 as compared to a profit of $174 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. The following quote by Terex Corporation chairman and chief executive is from Yahoo Finance.

"This past year has been like no other -- the first half of the year exhibited robust growth and expansion, while the second half of the year was severely impacted by the global credit crisis and economic deterioration, which drove significant declines in customer demand in our businesses," said Ron DeFeo, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

source: Yahoo Finance

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Applied Materials Layoffs News

Applied Materials had originally announced to cut 1800 jobs. This number has been increased to 20%, which means that the total number of job cuts or layoffs will equal to roughly 14% of the total workforce of Applied Materials. The following comments are from George Davis, senior VP and CFO of Applied Materials.

Continuing deterioration in our end markets is expected to lead to additional restructuring activities which are now under evaluation," he said. "By the end of fiscal 2009, we expect to reduce our quarterly revenue breakeven level to below $1.2 billion and our free cash flow breakeven revenue level to approximately $1 billion. Both of these measures are sensitive to product mix."

You can read more about Applied Materials Layoffs 2008 or 2009 on EDN

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Nokia Layoff News - Nokia job cut announcement 2009

Cellphone maker Nokia has announced that it will layoff nearly 3000 jobs as demand for mobile phone handsets reduced sharply due to the current global economic slowdown. The specific layoff announcement by Nokia says that it will cut production at its key Salo plant in Finland. The following quoted from Reuters:

At the Salo plant, a cornerstone of Nokia's rise to become the world's top mobile phone maker in 1998, it will temporarily lay off the whole staff of 2,500 on a rotational basis, with between 20 percent and 30 percent of staff idle at a time.

Nokia also said it would close a research site in the Finnish town of Jyvaskyla which will result further 320 job layoffs. In addition to this Nokia will also hand over layoff letters to 90 other staff elsewhere (exact details of this 90 job redundancies not known).

Reasons for Nokia Layoffs Job Cut

Nomura has forecast that the smartphone market will see a flat growth in 2009. The job layoff announcement by Nokia is part of it cost cutting exercise and efforts to save nearly 700 million euros (or $800 million) in costs as demand for Nokia products is decreasing.

Read more about Nokia Layoffs on Reuters or Globeandmail.com

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Pioneer Layoffs News, Pioneer Job Cut announcement

Japanese electronics company Pioneer has decided to lay off 10,000 jobs. These 10000 job cuts are in addition to the 5,900 job layoffs by Pioneer in 2008. Of the 10,000 employees to be fired, 6,000 are full time employees while 4,000 are contract workers. All the job cuts will take place in Japan as well as abroad. Pioneer employes around 36,900 workers and hence 10000 job layoffs amounts to cutting its total workforce by a massive 27%. There is no specific news as to when these job layoffs will be implemented however these job layoffs are a result of Pioneer exiting the flat tv market (read below) and the report said that Pioneer plans to exit flat TV market by 2010.

Reasons for Pioneer Job Layoffs - Exiting flat TV market

Pioneer was once among the leader in flat TV market however its flat TV unit has been a highly loss making unit since the sharp fall in demand last year. As a result Pioneer has decided to exit the flat TV business completely. Pioneer has warned that it expects to make an annual loss of 130 billion yen or $1.4 billion.

Read more about Pioneer Job Layoff and redundancies on : Reuters, BBC or WSJ,

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Peugeot Citroen Layoffs

France biggest carmaker Peugeot Citroen has announced that it will layoff 11000 jobs in 2009. The 11000 jobs will be eliminated starting with European plants outside France. Peugeot Citroen had already cut 2700 jobs at the end of 2008. French President Nicolas Sarkozy had recently unveiled a three-billion-euro (£2.7bn; $3.9bn) loan for the company. Mr Sarkozy's loan to Peugeot Citroen and Renault is dependent on assurances they will not shut French plants or cut French jobs.

Reasons for Peugeot Citroen Layoffs

Peugeot Citroen reported an unexpected loss of 343m euros of $443m. Peugeot Citroen said sales revenues across its Peugeot and Citroen brands declined 7.4% last year. The firm warned it expected to make a similar loss in 2009, but said it aimed to return to profit in 2010. Mr Steiff warned the European car market was in for further tough times and forecast a 20% decline this year. He said the company was continuing efforts to reduce levels of unsold cars and maintain cost-cutting.

source: BBC

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Nike Job Layoffs - Nike to lay off 1400 jobs

Nike is a multinational company making athletic footwear and apparel. A recent Nike announcement confirms plans to implement 1400 job layoffs because of drop in demand and sales of Nike products due to the current recession. Nike has around 35000 employees, and its decision to implement 1400 job cuts would amount to cutting its total workforce by around 4%. Exactly which employees will be fired or served layoff letters, or what is the nature of job redundancies created due to recent demand drop, is not yet known. Exact details of the Nike job cuts will be known by the end of May 2009 when Nike will review its planned restructuring and cost cutting program.


update: The latest announcement of Nike says that it will cut 1,750 jobs. Read Latest News on Nike Layoffs - 1750 jobs to be cut

Thus if you are looking for more details on Nike Layoffs or Job Cuts you will have to wait till the next official Nike layoff news to be announced sometime in May 2009.

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RBS Layoffs

Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS, has announced that it will cut upto 2,300 jobs as part of its restructuring plan. RBS employes about 106,000 people in UK and the proposed job cut amounts to cutting about 2% of its total workforce. This job cut is in addition to the 3000 job cuts announced by RBS in October 2008. However the layoffs will NOT affect customer-facing staff, according to the announcement.

Former RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin also told the MPs on 10th Feb 09 that the bonus culture in RBS also needs to be reviewed.

Reasons for RBS Layoffs

RBS expects to make a loss of between £7bn and £8bn in the year of 2008. It is also set to write down the value of assets, largely related to its takeover of ABN Amro in 2007, by up to £20bn. The announced job cuts are part of cost cutting plan in order to keep the redundancies at a bare minimum.

source: BBC, Reuters, WSJ,

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UBS Layoffs

Ailing Swiss Investment Bank UBS had earlier announced cut around 2000 jobs as part of its cost cutting measures. However the latest announcement from UBS confirms that it will cut about 15,000 jobs , much more than 2000 jobs announced earlier. The 15,000 jobs would be eliminated by the end of 2009. The following is quoted from Wall Street Journal:

UBS AG Tuesday reported a narrower fourth-quarter net loss and said it will cut 15,000 jobs by the end of this year in its loss-making investment bank.

Reasons for UBS Layoffs

UBS has reported a massive loss of about $7 billion or 8 billion Swiss francs in the fourth quarter of 2008 alone. The loss for the entire year is about 19.7 billion Swiss francs or $17.2
billion. Four months ago, the Zurich based Swiss bank had already approached the Swiss government for a aid package. However, later it reported a much larger than expected quarterly loss, thereby intensifying its cost cutting measures.
sources: WSJ,

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update: For latest announcement on GM layoffs read my latest post.

GM Layoffs and PAY CUT - Salary Cut

General Motors has finally confirmed the news that had already been floating for a while - about 10,000 salaried GM employees will be fired. GM currently employes around 73000 people worldwide. The job cut amounts to reducing its total workforce by a whopping 13.7% ! GM had indicated earlier this month that it might cut upto 5000 jobs, but this number has been later revised and doubled ! Of the 10000 planned job cuts, 3,400 jobs will be cut in the US and the remaining worldwide.

Reduction in Salary: Moreover, GM has also announced a 'temporary pay reduction' in majority of the US salaried employees starting May 1 2009. The announcement does not give any specific information about pay cut for employees located outside the US. Details of GM Pay Cuts are as follows:

• Executives may see 10% of reduction in pay.
• 'Several Other employees' will see a reduction in their pay of 3% to 7%.

update: For latest announcement on GM layoffs read my latest post.

Reasons for GM Job Layoff and Pay Cut

GM has been trying hard for a US Govt. Aid since late last year. In a plan submitted to the US congress at the end of 2008. Following quotes from Nytimes:

GM had proposed a restructuring and cost cutting plan. GM faces a Feb. 17 deadline to present a plan to the government showing the wounded automaker can become viable. GM has received $9.4 billion from the Treasury Department and expects to get $4 billion more, but the government can demand repayment March 31 if it determines the company can't become viable.

....
GM reported a $2.5 billion loss in the third quarter alone and said it burned through $6.9 billion in cash during that period, adding to urgent warnings that it would run out of cash without government aid.

sources: BBC, Nytimes,

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Walmart Layoffs

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is cutting 700 to 800 jobs at its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club home offices as the world's largest retailer looks to realign its corporate structure and reduce costs.

The discount retailer, which has roughly 14,000 employees at its home office in Arkansas, is eliminating jobs in merchandising, real estate and marketing in its Wal-Mart U.S. division, while cutting merchandising positions at its Sam's Club division. Spokesman David Tovar said that while Wal-Mart is cutting jobs, it will be adding new positions in divisions that are taking on greater importance for the retailer.

For instance, given Wal-Mart's increased focus on renovating and relocating stores, it will add more positions in that division, he said.

Much more detailed information about Walmart Layoffs is available on the Morning News link given below.

source: Reuters, Morning News

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Anglo Platinum Layoffs

The world's biggest platinum miner- Anglo Platinum- has said that it will cut 10000 jobs in 2009. The proposed job cuts will be made by firing contractors and not hiring anyone in place of departing staff.

Reasons for Anglo Platinum Job Layoffs

Anglo Platinum has reported a 5% drop in operating profit amid higher costs and lower sales. Platinum prices have fallen over 50% from its record peak. With signs of deflation in 2009-2010, the South African Mining group Anglo Platinum has forecast a virtually flat 2009. The job cuts are measures to cut down costs and tackle global slowdown. Anglo American

London based mining giant - Anglo American - has a majority stake in the Anglo Platinum.

sources: BBC,

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NISSAN LAYOFFs

Nissan has announced that it will cut 20000 jobs worldwide. Japanese auto giant Nissa employees around 235000 people around the globe and the current massive job layoff amounts to about 8.5% reduction in its total workforce. The job cuts would be made between March 2009 to March 2010, the report said. Nissan has also expressed intentions to talk to the unions to reduce working hours. The above job cut is in addition to the 1,200 job layoffs already announced by Nissan in January in its UK plant in Sunderland.

Reasons for Nissan Job Layoff

The auto company has experienced a sharp drop in sales due to the current economic slowdown. As every other global auto maker, Nissan is struggling and has posted a quarterly loss of $0.81 billion dollars for the quarter which ended on December 2008. Painting a grim picture for 2009, Nissan said that it expects to make a loss of $2.65 billion (or 265 bn yen) in the current financial year.

Nissan is the third biggest Japanese auto maker after Toyota and Honda, and although several global auto giants have announced layoffs, Nissan's job layoff is the biggest job cut by any Japanese automaker so far.

want even more info on Nissan layoff? read Reuters, BBC , or Nytimes

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Emerson Layoff

Emerson Chief Executive David Farr reportedly told an investor meeting today (Feb 6, 2009) that Emerson may cut upto 14000 jobs by October 2009. Emerson global workforce had peaked last year at 141,000. Currently Emerson employes around 134,000 people worldwide. The planned job cut is about 10.5% of the Emerson's total work force.

Reasons for Emerson Layoff

This week, Emerson had reported better than expected quarterly profits mainly due to better sales, cost cuts and sharply higher profits from a unit that makes technology for the oil and gas industry. Despite this, Emerson is contemplating a job cut because it forecasts a drop in sales and outlook for 2009. Emerson has said that 2009 sales could decline by up to 8 percent from last year's levels, citing recent order patterns.

source:Reuters.

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Estee Lauder Layoffs

Estee Lauder has announced that it plans to begin a four year restructuring plan which will include

1. Freezing Merit raises.
2. Continuing its hiring freeze.
   
3. Cutting 2000 jobs.
   
4. Cut costs and inventory, and realign its geographic locations.
   

This restructuring plan would cost the company about $350 million to $450 million. Details on the 4th point as to what would be the precise nature of realigning geographic locations are not yet available.

Reasons for Estee Lauder Layoffs

The company reported a 30% fall in quarterly profits in the quarter that ended on December 31. Net profits of Estee Lauder fell to $158 million from $224 million in the same period last year. The company sales have been hurt by strong dollar and weak consumer spending. Sales fell across all categories, with skin care sales down 7 percent, makeup down 12 percent and fragrance down 20 percent. The scenario is not expected to improve in the coming fiscal and the global economic slowdown would continue to hurt sales- a company report said.
source: Nytimes.

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Alcatel-Lucent Job Layoff

Alcatel-Lucent, a French-American telecommunications equipment giant has announced that it will layoff about 6000 employees. Of these 6000 jobs to be cut, 1000 are management jobs and remaining 5,000 are contractors. The job layoffs will take place in the next two years.

Reasons for Alcatel-lucent Job Layoffs

Alcatel Lucent has reported huge losses of 3.9 billion euros of $5 billion due to write downs on the value of its assets. It has made a net loss of 5.22 billion euros or $6.7 billion. The company has been struggling since the French company Alcatel bought US-based Lucent Technologies in 2006 and the above job cut brings the total number of job layoffs by Alcatel Lucent to 22,500 since 2006.

source: BBC, Nytimes.

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TIME WARNER LAYOFF

Time warner, owner of well known internet unit AOL, and film studios Warner Brothers. has decided to cut 1250 jobs as it forecast flat earnings in 2009. Warner Bros. had announced earlier this month that it would cut 800 jobs while AOL had planned to cut 700 jobs.

Reasons for Time Warner Layoff, Warner Bros. Layoff, AOL Layoff

Time Warner reported a huge loss of $16 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 mainly due to write downs on its cable, publishing and AOL assets. Time warner forecasts flat profit in 2009.

sources: Reuters, Nytimes

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