Alro Slatina considers 1,200 job cut

Alro Slatina said it would probably cut production by 50%, and as of next year, the workforce will likely shrink by 1,200, the final decision following to be made early next week by the Board.

Vitmeco proposed new production cuts at Alro SA and workforce reduction, in an effort to cope with the sharp decline of aluminum price, which fell over 50% since mid July 2008. The recommendation came as a response to a general review of global operations conducted by Vitmeco.

“In the past few months, the price of aluminum plummeted, in the context of a poor economy that heads towards recession. We are one of the first companies to react to market deterioration by announcing production cuts in China since October. At this point, the price of aluminum slid to a bottom level that forces us to consider production cuts in Romania, in order to stay competitive and to preserve the liquidities of the group and of local units”, said the chairman of Alro SA, Christian Wuest.

Furthermore, the aluminum smelter will seek other cost reduction measures on raw materials, such as alumina, coke, pitch and other materials and services.

The seven trade union leaders of Alro Slatina have signed a joint protest letter called “Stop the carnage at Alro Slatina”, as a response to Vitmeco’s board decision to cut 1,800 jobs and to close down half of the aluminum facilities.

Constantin Popescu, leader of “Aluminist” trade union said the announced layoffs were part of a first stage, and that in spring, the producer would shut down.

Trade unionists claim the board to state the reasons for this decision, in the context of 130 million US dollars profit. They stressed that the board had made this decision to enable the company contract the required amounts for financing investments conducted by Vitmeco in China. In China, Vitmeco is running an investment program of over 1.5 billion dollars which consists in setting up two aluminum firms and a thermal power plant. Vitmeco also holds a coal mine in China and a bauxite mine in Sierra Leone.

Trade unionists say Vitmeco ‘s board had allegedly used loans of over 250 million dollars in the development of production facilities in China. The trade unions leaders will meet on Thursday with unionists on the platform in front of the company at around 15:00 in order to agree upon the protest measures for the coming period.

Alro Slatina reported 292.8 million lei after-tax profit in first nine months, 22% down from a year earlier, as a result of 5% decline of turnover.

Alro Slatina reported an after-tax earning of 376.2 million lei in first three quarters last year.




Source : WallStreet
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

ASML cuts 1,000 jobs

ASML is the latest company to report job cuts on the harsh lithography industry environment. The Netherlands-based provider of lithography systems will trim 10% of its workforce, comprising approximately 1,000 employees who are mainly on temporary contracts, as it looks to cut costs in 2009.

The job cuts will occur between now and Q2 and will mostly be made at ASML's Veldhoven, Netherlands, headquarters, its manufacturing site in Wilton, Connecticut, and at its training site in Tempe, Arizona, which will be closed, the company said.

"Never before have we witnessed such a sharp and sudden fall-off in lithography system demand, triggered by an unprecedented mix of falling end-demand for semiconductors, weak memory prices and restricted access to capital for our customers," said Eric Meurice, president and CEO of ASML, in a statement at the end of last week.

"This steep decline in our business activity is forcing us to adjust our organization in order to lower our cost base significantly by using the full flexibility of our business model, while maintaining our important strategic investments in research and development. Although painful for our stakeholders in the short term, the current effort offers ASML an opportunity to emerge healthier and fundamentally stronger when the overall semiconductor market recovers," Meurice said.

ASML said it further plans to shut down production facilities for a total of four weeks, spread over Q1 and Q2 of 2009, as a cost-cutting effort. ASML said it will also reduce discretionary expenses, including contracted activities, salary raises, and unspecified miscellaneous consumption.

Moreover, ASML said that due to the anticipated lower level of sales volume in the coming year and the introduction of new, more cost-competitive, scanner models, the company will take impairment charges on certain inventories and assets.

All in all, ASML expects to incur costs between $167 million and $208 million (120 million Euro and 150 million Euro) on the actions, the majority of which it will face in the current quarter.

The implementation of the actions, in addition to earlier actions taken within a six-month old program to improve overall efficiency, will result in a cost reduction of more than $69 million (50 million Euro) per quarter by Q1 2009, ASML estimated.

ASML also lowered its Q4 guidance in the statement, saying it now expects sales in to be between $625 million and $694 million (450 million Euro and 500 million Euro), compared with the guidance it issued on October 15 for sales of around $736 million (530 million Euro).

The company said that a "sharp decline" in new order intake, in addition to requests from customers to postpone backlog system deliveries, will translate into substantially lower sales in the first six months of 2009. The revised guidance calls for Q1 sales between $250 million and 4347 million (180 million Euro and 250 million Euro).

ASML is slated to disclose full Q4 2008 results and Q1 2009 guidance on January 15, 2009.

Source : ElectronicsWeekly
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Threat of Big job cuts at Jaguar and Corus

Tata, the Indian conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land Rover and Corus, is planning to make thousands of UK workers redundant next month unless they receive government financial backing.

David Smith, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, admitted that he was working on a contingency plan to make job cuts early in the new year. The firm, along with other British-based car makers, continued to lobby business secretary Lord Mandelson last week. Smith added that it would be a "tragedy" if a rescue package was not unveiled soon.

Corus, formerly British Steel, is also in talks with the government about temporarily laying off staff. The steel maker wants the government to pay the majority of laid-off workers' salaries to avoid making permanent redundancies. "If the government doesn't pay, it will end up paying jobseekers' allowances anyway," one source warned. The union Community said it was braced for "significant job cuts" at Corus in the new year.

After bailing out the banks, the government is worried that rescuing other industries will create a precedent of intervention. Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of the Unite union, urged the government and Tata to break the deadlock and help Jaguar Land Rover and the car industry. "Once the industry's gone, it's gone forever," he said.

Analysts say Tata, whose empire was valued at $22bn before the credit crunch, has enough money to keep Jaguar Land Rover and Corus afloat. But Ashvin Chotai, who runs analyst group Intelligence Automotive Asia, said the Tata kitty might not be as full as people think. "Considering they are looking to the Indian public by selling bonds at high rates of interest, and coming out with a rights issue, that may not be the case," he said.

Source : Guardian
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Big job cuts in Australia's Retail and Finance Sectors

TWO of Australia's main employment sectors — finance and retail — are showing heavy falls in the number of jobs in the three months to the end of November.

The finance sector, which includes insurance, posted the sharpest decline of 5.5 per cent, or 22,500 jobs, in the latest quarter.

The two sectors, which employ 380,000 people, have been rocked by lay-offs from local and international finance houses caused by the world credit crisis.

Several major banks have cut staff, and investment banks and stockbrokers, including Macquarie Group, are believed to have culled more than 500 local jobs.

The credit crisis is estimated to have caused almost 200,000 job losses at financial companies worldwide.

The second-biggest fall came in wholesale trade, the back end of the retail economy, which posted a decline of 5 per cent, or 23,200 jobs, amid poorer sales. Retail jobs decreased by 21,200 jobs, or 1.4 per cent, as companies were more likely to cut back-end staff before those on the shop floor.

Senior economist at the ANZ Bank Julie Toth said falls in job numbers tended to lag behind the rest of the economy, and the falling headcount in finance reflected lower profits generally.

"Retail and wholesale trade are showing the effects of deteriorating retail turnover through the middle of 2008," Ms Toth said.

The retail industry has avoided major lay-offs so far, but Christmas is shaping up as a crucial test for the retail industry of more than 1.5 million jobs, close to 10 per cent of the national workforce.

The executive director of the Australian Retailers Association, Richard Evans, said the Christmas period accounted for about 15 per cent of sales, but was normally more profitable than this suggested because of higher margins.

This year, however, many retailers had been forced to offer discounts to gloomy consumers who were spending less than previously.

"Anecdotal reports indicate that foot traffic has increased, but the unit spend is not as big as it was last year," he said.

Despite the economic gloom, retailers are hoping for a bounce in last-minute Christmas sales this week, as the multibillion-dollar Federal Government handouts trickle into the economy.

In other sectors, new mining jobs increased by 4.8 per cent, though Rio Tinto has laid off 14,000 workers since the figures were recorded, and Macarthur Coal and Xstrata sacked more than 400 workers last week.

Ms Toth said this was a "last gasp" from the sector, which usually had a higher proportion of full-time jobs.

Source : TheAge
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

One Million Job Cuts Predicted in 2009

Another one million Americans will likely be getting pink slips next year.

That's according to the latest forecast from layoff tracking firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

The Chicago-based company says employers have already shed more than a million jobs this year because of weak consumer and corporate spending, a trend that is expected to continue.

CEO John Challenger says a massive stimulus plan expected from the Obama administration is going to take time to work through the system. He says even if the Obama plan goes well it could be several months before we see the benefits.

Challenger says the state of the economy and the job market will have a significant impact on 2009 workplace trends. He says there could be a major shift toward telecommuting as employers look to cut costs without turning to layoffs.

Challenger says many companies have already found they can save big on real estate costs by having employees work from home.

He says job seekers are also likely to turn to the Internet, enhancing their work search through video resumes posted on YouTube and the use of social networking sites. The national unemployment rate is now at six-point-seven percent.

Some economists expect that number to go as high as nine percent before the job market even starts to rebound.

Challenger says health care, education and energy industries are likely to do the most hiring in the year ahead. He says construction could be the lone industry to see an immediate boost from Barack Obama's economic plans since they focus heavily on a nationwide infrastructure rebuilding program. Read more atarkansasmatters.com.

Source : MSNBC
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Unisys to cut 1,300 jobs

Unisys on Monday said it was laying off around 1,300 workers worldwide as part of an "aggressive" effort to cut costs and return to profitability.

The headcount reductions have already begun and will continue into 2009, Unisys said in a statement. All told, the company expects to save around US$225 million annually through cost-cutting measures that include salary freezes, slashing its 401(k) retirement plan contributions and consolidation of facilities. Most employees will not get raises in 2009, the company said.

Unisys will take restructuring charge in the $80 million to $85 million range for the fourth quarter of 2008. During the third quarter of 2008, Unisys reported a net loss of $34.7 million, an increase from the loss of $31 million it reported in the year-ago quarter.

Layoff announcements are becoming commonplace in the technology industry. Outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that technology industry job cuts could hit 180,000 by year's end. Already enterprise vendors such as HP and Sun Microsystems have announced steep cuts. HP is slashing up to 25,000 jobs following its acquisition of IT services vendor Electronic Data Systems. Sun plans to lay of as many as 6,000 workers.

There have been 140,000 technology industry job cuts so far this year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Source : ComputerWorld
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

New Zealand Recession Deepens

New Zealand's economy contracted by its biggest amount in eight years as the recession deepened in the third quarter, backing the case for more central bank rate cuts to cushion the impact of the global slowdown.

Gross domestic product fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in the three months to Sept 30, as consumers spent less, businesses cut investment and weak global markets and prices hit exports, data showed on Tuesday.

The drop was the biggest quarterly decline in GDP since the June quarter 2000, and followed a 0.2 percent fall in the previous quarter, backing market views that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will keep cutting rates.

"This means interest rates still have to come down," said JP Morgan chief economist Stephen Walters. "We suspect the recession will last for another one or two more quarters to come."

The New Zealand dollar was unmoved by the data, last trading steady around $0.5720/30. The yield on the March bank bill contract NBBH9 was unchanged at 4.41 percent compared with the official cash rate of 5 percent.

A Reuters poll had expected GDP to contract 0.5 percent. The RBNZ had forecast a 0.3 percent drop.

New Zealand is in its first recession since 1997-98, which followed the Asian financial crisis. However, economists and the central bank are divided on whether the current downturn will continue.

Private forecasters expect a continuation into the middle of 2009, but the central bank governor said earlier this month the economy will probably emerge from a "shallow" recession in the fourth quarter into a period of "shallow" growth.

The third quarter's decline was led by a fall in household consumption, manufacturing, export volumes, and business and housing investment, which were partly offset by higher agriculture production and government spending.

The central bank has cut rates four times since July by a total of 325 basis points to a five year low of 5 percent, and said further small cuts are likely.

Most analysts see rates falling to 3.5 percent by the middle of 2009. The next rate review is on Jan 29.

Average annual growth slowed to 1.7 percent in the year to the third quarter, in line with expectations, from 2.5 percent in the previous quarter.

The economy in the third quarter was 0.1 percent smaller than the same quarter a year earlier, compared with 1 percent growth in the previous quarter. It was the first contraction on an annual basis since the third quarter 1998.

Source : Reuters
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Automakers shares tumble as bailout sinks in

Washington's emergency loan program won't provide much of a lifeline for holders of General Motors Corp. shares, Wall Street analysts said.

The bearish reports, which warned that the measures called for in the loan program would severely dilute existing GM shares, sent GM's stock sharply lower. A negative outlook from Toyota Motor Corp. added to the pessimistic view of automakers Monday.

Buckingham Research auto analyst Joseph Amaturo said the $17.4 billion loan program approved by the White House is likely to diminish the value of GM stock in the long term as the company restructures and the government takes a stake.

Amaturo reiterated $1 price target on GM. The price target implies an expected 72 percent drop in value for GM's Monday close of $3.52.

GM and Chrysler LLC have three months to develop plans to restructure into viable companies. The value of GM shares are likely to be diluted as the government takes an equity stake and debt is converted to equity. Those steps, outlined in the loan program, would boost the pool of outstanding shares, Amaturo said.

Credit Suisse auto analyst Chris Ceraso said the restructuring demanded of GM "will require the complete and/or near-complete elimination of existing GM equity."

He cut his rating on GM to "Underperform" from "Neutral,"

The bailout, announced by the White House on Friday, requires GM and Chrysler to achieve "viability" by March 31. The loans may be called back if the government determines the automakers haven't meet that goal. Shares of GM plunged 97 cents, or 21.6 percent, to close at $3.52 Monday.

Ford did not lobby for government help, saying it has access to enough cash to survive the auto industry downturn. Still, its shares lost 36 cents, or 12.2 percent, to end at $2.59.

U.S.-traded shares of foreign automakers also declined. Toyota said it expected to post its first operating loss since it began releasing such reports in 1941, citing the crumbling automobile market. Shares of Toyota lost $3.50, or 5.4 percent, to $60.88.

Nissan Motor Co. shares fell 2 cents to $6.54. Daimler AG shares gave up $1.6, or 3 percent, to $34.61. Bucking the trend, Honda Motor Co. shares rose 15 cents to $20.48.

Source : BusinessWeek
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

AirAsia and Jetstar in merger talks

Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia Bhd is in talks to merge with the budget carrier of Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd, a Malaysian newspaper reported on Tuesday citing an unnamed source.

The possible merger between AirAsia and Jetstar could involve a share swap and would help the carriers cope with the impact of slowing demand worldwide as the global economy weakens, The Star newspaper said.

Merger talks are at a preliminary stage, the report said.

Asked to comment, AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes told the newspaper: "We are always talking and looking at ways to strengthen AirAsia into a global brand.

A Qantas spokesman told the paper: "We talk to airlines all the time about possible partnerships, relationships and cooperative agreements."

Qantas and British Airways (BAY.L) had earlier this month called off talks for a $6.4 billion merger.

Source : Reuters
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Polaroid files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Consumer electronics company Polaroid Corp said on Thursday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to facilitate its restructuring.

The maker of iconic instamatic cameras said its bankruptcy was due to events at Petters Group Worldwide, which has owned the company since 2005.

The founder of Petters is "under investigation for alleged acts of fraud that have compromised the financial condition of Polaroid and other entities owned by Petters Group," the company said in a statement.

"Polaroid and its leadership team are not subjects of the ongoing investigation involving Petters Group," Polaroid said.

The company said the restructuring should not impact its day-to-day operations and that it was not seeking additional debtor-in-possession financing.

"Polaroid has entered bankruptcy with ample cash reserves sufficient to finance the Company's reorganization under Chapter 11," it said.

The case is In re: Polaroid Corp, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Minnesota, No. 08-46617

Source : Reuters
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Tokyo Stocks Decline Ahead of Rate Decision

Most Asian markets dropped Friday after U.S. stocks declined and crude-oil prices suffered steep losses overnight, with Japanese shares losing ground after a tentative start as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's decision on interest rates.

Shares of Toyota dropped in Tokyo on report it may post an operating loss during the current financial year, while HSBC Holdings extended losses in Hong Kong on speculation the banking giant may raise capital.

The Nikkei 225 Average fell 0.7% to 8603.56 in the afternoon, while the broader Topix index dropped 0.2% to 836.69, after moving in a range around break-even in early trading.

The volatility came ahead of the outcome of a decision on interest rates by the Bank of Japan after a two-day meeting, with the central bank widely expected to expand liquidity-boosting steps or even cut interest rates for the second time this year.

Credit-Suisse analysts wrote in a report the market was pricing in a chance of a rate cut by the Bank of Japan to 0.15% from 0.3%. "Any rate cut from an already low level will be taken by the market as largely a symbolic move."

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 1.9% to 15208.68 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gave up 1.1% to 8459.75.

Steve Cheng, associate director at Shenyin Wanguo in Hong Kong, said in spite of the day's losses, the market seemed "very resilient, as we are getting a lot of support" from Chinese shares traded in Hong Kong.

"The reason might be that people are still expecting more measures from China, especially something like a cut in interest rates or bank reserve ratio. This happens before every weekend, but this time it seems more likely," said Cheng.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was recently down 0.3% at 3570.70 and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3% to 1179.82, while New Zealand's NZX 50 index lost 0.9% to 2684.39.

China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 2018 and Taiwan's Taiex gave up 1.3% to 4635.85. Singapore's Straits Times Index shed 0.4% to 1792.14.

In Tokyo, shares of Toyota dropped 1.2% after the Nikkei business daily reported the automobile giant was likely to post its first-ever operating loss during the year ending March 31 on plunging worldwide sales.

Hong Kong stocks were weighed down as market heavyweight HSBC Holdings tumbled 4.5%, on top of Thursday's 3.4% decline, on market speculation it may raise capital.

Energy-related stocks dropped across the region, with Woodside Petroleum slumping 6.7% and BHP Billiton dropping 3.6% in Sydney, while Inpex tumbled 6.9% in Tokyo trading.

January crude-oil futures slipped as much as seven cents to $36.15 a barrel in electronic trading, after sliding 9.6%, or $3.84, to $36.22 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Asian currency trading, the U.S. dollar changed hands for 89.16 yen, compared 89.20 yen Thursday.

Source : WallStreetJournal
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Bail Out Cartoons

[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Pentair to cut 1,600 jobs

Pentair Inc. cut earnings forecasts and said Thursday it will slash 1,600 jobs due to sales that plummeted 9 percent to $770 million during the fourth quarter.

The job cuts represent 10 percent of the Golden Valley pump and water equipment maker's total workforce. The company also said it will close 15 of its facilities next year.

Fourth quarter earnings are now expected to drop to 40 to 42 cents a share, down from an earlier estimate of 52 to 55 cents. Full year earnings are now expected to hit just $2.19 to $2.21 a share rather than the previous forecast of $2.28 to $2.31.

Pentair issued a statement saying it expects fourth quarter sales to drop by $70 million to $770 million "due to sharp volume declines" in the company's technical products business as well as certain industrial, commercial and residential water businesses.

While company executives started cutting costs in the third quarter, they said "global economic conditions declined more quickly and intensely than forecasted."

Pentair is the third Twin Cities manufacturer to announce job cuts this week, joining floor equipment maker Tennant Co. of Golden Valley and fluid-control equipment maker Graco of Minneapolis. Pentair also said it will freeze hiring, eliminate annual salary increases and aggressively cut indirect costs and capital expenditures.


Source : Star Tribune
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Worthington Industries posts 2Q loss on write-downs, job cuts

Severance costs and write-downs driven by steep drops in steel prices and demand sent Worthington Industries Inc. to a nearly $160 million loss in its second quarter, the company told investors Thursday.

The Columbus-based steel processor said it lost $159.5 million, or $2.02 a share, for the quarter ended Nov. 30, versus a profit of $14.7 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. The loss included a $98 million inventory write-down and a $96.9 million write-down on the non-cash, or goodwill, value of its metal framing business.

Worthington Industries (NYSE:WOR) also absorbed $11.9 million in charges primarily for worker severances – the company has shed hundreds of jobs through idling and closing plants and making across-the-board cuts to its steel-processing work force – and boosted its bad debt reserves by $2.9 million.

Revenue for the quarter, however, grew 4 percent to $745.4 million from $713.7 million a year earlier.

“We anticipated a softening in our markets and some headwinds as we entered the second quarter, but no one predicted the financial collapse that contributed to a massive and swift decline in steel prices and demand,” CEO John McConnell said in a release. “We believe the steps we have announced to close or idle facilities, sell non-core assets, reduce the work force and work schedules and, in general, to cut costs throughout the company are required in this extraordinary period.”

Worthington Industries’ loss for the first half totaled $90.8 million, or $1.15 a share, versus a profit of $34.9 million, or 42 cents a share, in the first six months of last fiscal year.

Revenue for the six months was up 13 percent at $1.66 billion from $1.47 billion a year earlier.

Worthington Industries, one of Central Ohio’s 10 largest publicly held companies, earned $107.1 million on $3.07 billion in revenue in its year ended May 31.

Source : Biz Journals
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Western Digital announces job cuts for 2500

Western Digital has announced plans to reduce headcount worldwide as well as the closure of some of its manufacturing facilities.

John Coyne, chief executive officer of the hard drive manufacturer, has been quoted by BetaNews as saying that he expects the poor demand for storage products “to last well into the middle of the 2009 calendar year,” and has advised a new projected revenue for Q4 2008 at $1.8 billion – a significant drop from the $2.15 billion the company had previously forecast for that period. Coyne goes on to say that the company will be “taking additional steps to immediately reduce production capacity and operating expenses on a longer-term basis across our entire business as we approach the seasonally weaker second half of our fiscal year.”

Due to the declining demand for storage products – and overproduction that has resulted in excess stock in the channel – the company has announced a freeze on production between 20th of December and the 1st of January in order to minimise losses.

This is far from the only cost-saving measure the company is taking, however: top-flight executives – cinluding the board of directors – will see their annual bonuses severely curtailed, employees will be called upon to cut their billable work hours by at least twenty percent, and various cutbacks will result in a projected reduction of around $250 million from capital expenditure.

As if that wasn't enough to keep shareholders hopeful, Western Digital is also to close one of its manufacturing plants in Thailand, along with the sale of a substrate factory in Malaysia. These closures, along with reductions in other areas, will leave around 2,500 jobless – about five percent of the company's overall workforce.

With the company seeing increased competition in the market along with a pricing war that has left it with ever-decreasing margins, investors must be hoping that tightening the company's belt now will save it from disaster further down the line.



Source : Bit Tech
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

FedEx may deliver big job cuts

FedEx Corp stunned investors a week ago by slashing its annual profit forecast, sending the US stock down the most in 21 years. Job cuts may be next at the shipper, a proxy for the US economy.

　　Rosa Santiago sorts packages before loading them onto delivery trucks at the FedEx Express Station Monday, Dec. 15, 2008 in New York. [Agencies]

　　With the recession deepening, the second-largest package delivery company must trim labor costs, speed retirement of older jets and halt expansion of its FedEx Office printing shops, said Dan Ortwerth, an Edward Jones &Co analyst.

　　The Memphis, Tennessee-based company may say today in its quarterly earnings report that US express and freight volumes fell at least 10 percent amid the longest US slump in a quarter-century, Ortwerth estimates.

　　"Even in a best-case scenario, they're still going to suffer a lot," said Ortwerth, who is based in St. Louis. "FedEx is a premium services company and a transportation company, and both of those sectors get hit badly in an economy like this."

　　He still recommends buying the stock, because he says it is undervalued and package demand will rebound when the economy recovers. FedEx has tumbled 29 percent this year, compared with a 38 percent drop for the Standard &Poor's 500 Index. The shares rose $3.18, or 5.3 percent, on Tuesday to $63.39 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

　　No holiday forecast

　　FedEx and larger competitor United Parcel Service Inc both broke with tradition this year and didn't project peak holiday shipping volumes, saying the soft economy made forecasts too difficult. Higher fuel surcharges and pressure to trim costs have prompted some customers to switch to less-expensive delivery options, FedEx has said.

　　FedEx's earnings projection last week of $3.50 to $4.75 a share for the fiscal year ending in May, down from as much as $5.25, suggests "unprecedented" declines in volumes, said David Campbell, a Thompson Davis &Co analyst in Richmond, Virginia.

　　"If they're implying that, they should be doing something with costs," said Campbell, who also rates FedEx as "Buy".

　　Profit for the year will be $4.37 a share, according to the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. FedEx may say today that fiscal second-quarter earnings were $1.58 a share, according to 12 analysts surveyed, compared with $1.54 a year earlier. Spokesman Maury Lane declined to comment.

　　Cuts underway

　　Express air envelopes and packages account for about 64 percent of FedEx's total revenue, or $24.4 billion. Many of those items are sent on short notice, curbing the company's ability to forecast demand.

　　"FedEx doesn't have visibility beyond Monday," said Art Hatfield, a Morgan Keegan Inc analyst in Memphis who rates the shares as "market perform".

　　Chief Financial Officer Alan Graf told investors in September that bonuses and other variable compensation already have been pared, and that flight time for its jet fleet and labor hours were cut "significantly". FedEx's global workforce numbers about 290,000 people, including 13,000 contractors.

　　Last week, FedEx Freight employees were told that 540 jobs would go, and more than 650 jobs were eliminated at the FedEx Office unit. FedEx is closing more than 35 Office retail stores and said in June it would add 70 locations in fiscal 2009, down from 300 the previous year.

　　Parking planes

　　Ortwerth suggested further trims to the payroll and shutting underperforming FedEx Office outlets. FedEx said in June it had a $696 million non-cash charge to write down the value of goodwill from the 2004 Kinko's acquisition, and changed the chain's name to FedEx Office.

　　"FedEx realizes that by taking some pain and continuing to serve the customer, it's going to pay off in the long term," Ortwerth said. "I don't think there's anything about this downturn that changes their long-term prospects."

　　FedEx also should accelerate plans to ground more of its inefficient Boeing Co 727s beyond the 5 slated for retirement in fiscal 2009 and 40 more over the next three years, Ortwerth said. The company has 80 of the three-engine jets in service, averaging 29 years old, according to the Ascend Online Fleets database. FedEx said its fleet totaled 672 planes as of August.

　　The trick for management is to avoid drastic changes that would hamper the ability to win new business once the economy resumes growing, said Morgan Keegan's Hatfield.

　　"You've got to be able to just ride it out, and that's what they can do," Hatfield said. "They can contain costs on the air side, try to run better operations at their hubs and cut back on white-collar hiring and slow planned spending." )

Source : RedNet
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Caterpillar to lay off more than 800 in Mossville

Caterpillar Inc., hit by a drop in demand for diesel engines, disclosed Thursday that it plans to indefinitely lay off 814 production workers at its engine assembly plant in Mossville.

The heavy-equipment giant said the layoffs will begin on Feb 23.

Caterpillar makes "big-bore" diesel engines for heavy trucks at the Mossville plant, and the company noted that demand for those engines has "decreased significantly."

Demand for engines that the plant makes for use in Caterpillar machines has also fallen off, the company said.

The weakening global economy has taken a toll on Caterpillar, which sells big-ticket equipment used in construction, mining, oil wells, seagoing ships, and a host of other activities that are sensitive to the economic cycle.

Published reports have made it clear in recent days that Caterpillar is cutting back on its use of "contract workers" who work in a variety of jobs at Caterpillar facilities, but are actually employed by outside contractors.

The Peoria Journal Star, citing sources in the United Auto Workers union, also reported this week that Caterpillar plans one-week shutdowns of three plants in East Peoria in February and again in March.

Those layoffs are temporary, in contrast to the indefinite layoffs that Caterpillar plans for the Mossville engine plant.

Separately, the governor of Texas announced late Thursday that Caterpillar will relocate to the San Antonio area engine-making operations performed in Illinois and South Carolina. The move will create about 1,400 jobs, said Gov. Rick Perry.

A Caterpillar spokesman confirmed that the engine operations are being transferred to Texas as part of a series of structural changes the company unveiled in June.

Those changes call for Caterpillar to invest $1 billion, over three years, to expand and modernize five big factories in Illinois.

The Mossville plant is one of the facilities due for the capital investment and expansion, and Caterpillar is expected to shift some operations to Mossville in the future. But as part of Caterpillar's revamping, the company indicated in June that some engine operations would go elsewhere.

It is that engine production, along with production at a plant in Greenville, S.C., that are moving to Texas, the spokesman said.

Texas said South Carolina and Mexico had also been competing for the new Caterpillar plant.


Source : ChicagoTribune
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Barclays Capital to make 3000 layoffs in 2009

Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Britain's Barclays Plc , will inform employees about layoffs only after the new year, the New York Post said, citing sources.

Barclays executives including President Bob Diamond decided to hold off on the layoff news, which is expected to affect some 3,000 employees, until the beginning of next year, the paper said.

Barclays took over Lehman Brothers' North American investment banking and capital markets businesses after the bank collapsed in September.

It is folding Lehman's operations into Barclays Capital, which now employs more than 20,000 people worldwide.

The cuts are expected to come from both the Barclays and Lehman camps, sources told the paper.

While job cuts associated with the merger were widely expected, sources familiar with the matter told the paper Barclays opted not to announce job cuts this year in order to maintain employee morale.

Barclays Capital could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

Source : Reuters
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Boeing Co. continuing with layoff plan

Layoff notices for about 60 Boeing Wichita workers are going to be issued Friday the company says.

Boeing spokesman Jarrod Bartlett says the 60-day notices are just another step in the company’s overall plan.

“This is just the next round of our planned reduction for 2009,” he says.

Program delays and reduced work on military programs have forced the company to make production cuts.

In late November, Boeing Co. announced it would be cutting around 800 jobs in Wichita, around 25 percent of its work force here.

Source : BizJournals
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Newell Rubbermaid slashes 1,000 jobs

Newell Rubbermaid slashed its fourth-quarter profit and sales forecasts on Wednesday, blaming a deep slump in the global economy, and said it would cut up to 10 percent of non-manufacturing jobs.

Shares in the consumer products maker sank as much as 12.6 percent in premarket trade.

Newell, which makes Rubbermaid storage products, Sharpie pens and other household and office items, also froze wages and salaries and said it would temporarily halt some production as it works on reducing inventory levels.

"The unprecedented rapidity of the economy's decline makes it difficult to anticipate an economic rebound any time soon," Chief Executive Mark Ketchum said in a statement. "Our expectations are for a more challenging business environment in 2009 than any we've seen to date."

Ketchum said the company is seeing "extraordinary volatility, weaker than expected demand, and customer inventory reductions" across its markets, and that trends were worsening near the end of the fourth quarter.

Newell said it would cut 8 percent to 10 percent of its salaried jobs. It said the cuts, which already have begun, would continue into 2009.

The job cuts represent about 800 to 1,000 professional and managerial positions, a spokesman said. Newell has about 20,000 employees worldwide, but about half of those, which are manufacturing jobs, would be unaffected by the announced job cuts, he said.

Newell also said that starting on January 1 there would not be any pay increases for the entire year.

Newell now expects fourth-quarter normalized per-share earnings of 6 cents to 10 cents, down from its prior forecast of 29 cents per share to 34 cents per share. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to earn 32 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

It now expects fourth-quarter sales to fall in the low teens percentage range, after previously expecting sales to be flat to down 2 percent.

The announcement comes less than two months after Newell cut its full-year earnings forecast on expectations a weak economy would take an even bigger bite out of sales.

On October 30, Newell cut its full-year earnings forecast to $1.40 to $1.45 per share. It now expects to earn $1.17 per share to $1.21 per share. Analysts' average forecast was $1.43 per share.

The company plans to temporarily shut down some of its manufacturing facilities to reduce inventory. Office products is one area where the shutdowns are planned.

Newell said it would give more details on these and other plans when it reports fourth-quarter results on January 29.

Shares of Newell were down 10.5 percent to $11.80 in premarket trade after falling as low as $11.52. The shares fell 49 percent from the start of the year through Tuesday.

Source : Reuters
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Valeo Car Parts Maker plans 5,000 job cuts

French car parts maker Valeo said on Wednesday it was cutting its full year targets and would seek to reduce its headcount, to cope with a sharp fall in automobile production.

Carmakers and suppliers worldwide are seeking government help to cope with a deepening crisis that is engulfing the industry, as automobile sales have plummeted due to the effects of the credit crisis and the worsening economic outlook on consumer confidence.

Valeo said it expected a 25 percent drop in sales in the fourth quarter, and a negative operating margin for the period. It does not see an improvement in production levels in 2009, compared with the fourth quarter 2008.

It now forecasts an operating margin of around 2.6 percent for the full year 2008. At its third quarter sales presentation in October, the group had stuck to a revised target of a margin around 3.6 percent.

Valeo, whose major customers include French car manufacturers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault said it also presented its European Works Council with a plan to cut around 5,000 jobs worldwide, out of around 54,000 employees in total.

The group said job losses, of which around 1,600 would be in France, and 1,800 in other European countries, would be achieved through a plan prioritising voluntary departures.

Valeo CEO Thierry Morin said in a statement that the group has no significant debt reimbursement due before January 2011.

Source : Reuters
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Canadian Pacific Cuts 600 Jobs

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. cut 600 union jobs, suspended bonuses and restricted air travel on corporate jets, the Globe and Mail said.

The Calgary-based railway is focused on “containing costs on all fronts, in tough ways,” the newspaper said, citing an internal company memo. The cost-cutting measures were announced to employees during a meeting in Calgary. The job cuts amount to 3.8 percent of its workforce of 16,000.

Source : Bloomberg
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Adobe Cuts 600 Job Cuts & Gains

Adobe Systems Inc., the world’s biggest maker of graphic-design programs, gained as much as 7.7 percent in Nasdaq trading after its first-quarter profit forecast, bolstered by job cuts, reassured investors.

Earnings will be 43 cents to 47 cents a share in the period, excluding some costs, the San Jose, California-based company said yesterday. Analysts had estimated 44 cents on average, according to a Bloomberg survey. Adobe also posted fourth-quarter profit and sales at the top end of a preliminary range given this month.

Adobe Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen, facing slumping demand for design software from advertisers, this month announced 600 job cuts, equal to 8 percent of the workforce. Ad spending probably will shrink next year, the first time since 2001, according to ZenithOptimedia and Interpublic Group of Cos.

“Investors like to see companies cut costs aggressively, which Adobe is clearly doing,” said Andy Miedler, an analyst with Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis. He advises buying the shares, which he doesn’t own. “Everyone realizes in this environment, revenue growth isn’t in management’s hands.” Adobe, which also makes the Flash online video and animation software, rose $1.45, or 6.5 percent, to $23.77 on the Nasdaq Stock Market at 9:47 a.m. New York time and earlier advanced to $24.04. The stock had lost 48 percent this year before today.

Sales will be $800 million to $850 million in the first quarter, Adobe said yesterday, matching an earlier forecast.

‘We Delivered’

Fourth-quarter revenue was little changed, at $915.3 million, in line with the preliminary results released two weeks earlier. Net income rose to $245.9 million, or 46 cents a share, from $222.2 million, or 38 cents, a year ago, also in the range of the earlier report.

Excluding some costs, profit rose to 60 cents a share in the fourth quarter, which ended Nov. 28. Adobe said earlier this month that the figure would be 59 cents to 60 cents. Sales a year earlier were $911.2 million.

“If you consider the fact that we’ve been in a recession for a year, we think we really delivered,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Garrett said in an interview yesterday. “We delivered the revenue growth we said we would and had better profit. The industry and the market we serve is still very good. We are just waiting to get through a tough economy.”

Adobe is counting on Creative Suite 4, a package of design programs, to entice buyers. The software, known as CS4, more tightly integrates the company’s Flash technology with its other applications.

“The economy is really slowing people’s decision to upgrade from CS3 to CS4,” Garrett said. Sales of the new software “are 20 percent below where CS3 was at the same time in its product cycle, and we believe it’s all driven by the economy.”

The gain in the U.S. dollar last quarter also ate into sales at Adobe, which gets more than half its revenue outside the U.S. The euro, the British pound and other major currencies fell more than 10 percent in the third calendar quarter against the dollar. That reduced the value of sales overseas.

Source : Bloomberg
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Japan workers protest massive wave of job cuts

Hundreds of unionized workers rallied in Tokyo on Tuesday to protest massive job cuts, accusing the country's biggest companies of sacrificing jobs to protect profits.

The global financial crisis has forced some of Japan's corporate giants to take drastic measures including job cuts, suspending production, postponing projects and closing factories. Sony Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. are among the major employers to trim thousands of workers from their payrolls.

About 200 protesters waved banners and shouted slogans through loudspeakers outside the headquarters of the Nippon Keidanren — Japan's largest business lobby group — in Tokyo's main business district.

"Toyota, stop cutting seasonal workers! We workers are not disposable!" they chanted. "Sony, stop massive firing!"

Most of the job cuts have targeted temporary contract workers, but lately they have included full-time salaried workers.

Speakers at the protest said some newly unemployed contract workers also lost their company-owned housing, leaving them jobless and homeless.

"We do not accept job cuts in the name of the economic crisis," said Kazuko Furuta, a representative of New Japan Women's Association, a women's rights group that organized the rally with dozens of labor unions. "Shame on the Japanese companies that dump their workers like objects."

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai told reporters Tuesday that the government was doing its "utmost to support small businesses and ensure job security."

Fujio Mitarai, head of Keidanren and also chairman of Canon Inc., said the influential lobby "will cooperate with the government" to implement job security measures.

Japanese exporters have been hit hard by slowing consumer demand from abroad and the yen's appreciation, which erodes their overseas earnings.

Sony announced plans to slash 8,000 jobs around the world — about 5 percent of its work force — and lowered its full-year earnings projection 59 percent from the previous year.

Major automakers including Toyota and Nissan have terminated contracts with thousands of seasonal workers at their factories and parts makers.

Citing their own tally, union members say more than 18,800 people, mostly contract workers, have lost their jobs in recent months.

The government last week announced a 23 trillion yen ($256 billion) stimulus package to shore up the economy, including measures to encourage employment.

Source : AP
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

National Express to cut 750 jobs

Rail and bus firm National Express says it plans to cut up to 750 jobs to save costs over the next year.

The firm said it was offering voluntary redundancies but could not rule out making any compulsory cuts.

National Express, which runs buses, coaches and the East Coast and East Anglia rail franchises, said that it needed to save £15m a year.

It said the job cuts would come from back office staff rather than workers serving customers.

A spokeswoman said some of the job cuts had already been made.

Voluntary redundancy has been offered to about 50 train catering staff across the North East.

In November, National Express said it would close its call centre in Norwich with the loss of at least 73 jobs.

The company, which employs 18,000 people in the UK, said its 2008 profit would still meet expectations.

Source : BBC
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Aetna To Lay Off 1,000

Aetna Inc. is laying off 1,000 employees companywide, including 375 in Connecticut -- about 5 percent of its work force here -- to protect profits in a declining economy.

Hartford-based Aetna notified affected employees Wednesday and said the job cuts will "align administrative expenses with the company's growth outlook for 2009 and redirect resources to areas with a greater potential for future growth."

The group health and life insurer has about 7,850 employees in Connecticut, excluding part-timers.

Details couldn't be obtained on how the 375 Connecticut layoffs will be split among Aetna's Hartford, Middletown and Windsor offfices.

The 1,000 layoffs represent a little less than 3 percent of the company's 36,208 employees.

"These actions will reduce our operating costs and allow us to manage through the economic downturn from a position of strength," Ronald A. Williams, Aetna's chairman and chief executive, said in a prepared statement. "The fundamentals of our business are solid, and we continue to win in the marketplace.

Many insurers have begun layoffs, and most of Aetna's competitors have been projecting enrollment declines for 2009. Aetna expects to add 800,000 members in the first quarter of 2009 but hasn't said whether it expects enrollment to shrink after that.

Employers are laying workers off around the nation, which means fewer members in their health plans.

Employers have also been cutting back on benefits in the plans and shifting more medical costs to employees, which makes it harder for health insurers to grow revenue.

Aetna wouldn't say how much money it will save by reducing staff, but expects to discuss that on its fourth-quarter earnings conference call in early February.

Laid-off employees will continue to receive their salary for nine weeks, and then severance pay will kick in and will be based on years of service to the company, Aetna spokesman Fred Laberge said.

He noted that Aetna, while losing some positions, has added 5,725 new jobs companywide since May 2007. Of those, 1,968 came through acquisitions and 3,758 were created internally.

"We're committed to adding jobs and investing in businesses or geographic locations that offer revenue growth opportunities," Laberge said.

The company will take an after-tax charge of about $35 million to earnings in the fourth quarter to reflect expenses related to layoffs and office consolidations, which will be outside Connecticut.

Aetna said the job cuts, across a wide range of corporate staff and business units, are being done in a way so they don't hurt the company's ability to meet commitments to customers and to grow.

Source : Courant
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]