Wave of job cuts across corporate America, mass layoffs well beyond Wall Street

Corporate America is bleeding jobs and wielding the ax well beyond the financial sector. As companies look at their prospects for the final quarter of 2008 and begin to see increasingly grim outlooks for 2009, they are cutting jobs from many different parts of their businesses. They are also slashing capital spending and, in some cases, dividends and even wages. Government figures released on Thursday [23 Oct 2008] showed the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 478,000 in the week ended October 18.

Whether it is a hotel company fearing declining bookings or room rates, a funds management company facing redemptions from clients who have seen the value of their investments plunge, or an office equipment firm facing slowing demand, many entities are urgently seeking to cut costs. And the payroll is often the critical focus. A sample of recent announcements and reports :

* Chrysler said on Thursday [23 Oct 2008] it is slashing 1,825 jobs after losing $1 billion in the first half of the year.
* Goldman Sachs plans to cut 3260 jobs, which is 10% of its staff, after laying off hundreds of support staff and junior bankers in June.
* Xerox announced job cuts of 5%, or 3,000 positions, due to a "tough business environment."
* Mining equipment maker Terex said it would lay off hundreds of workers and suspend its share buyback program to preserve cash.
* Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide said it plans to cut an unspecified number of jobs to offset slowing travel demand.
* United Parcel Service [UPS] sees layoffs in 2009 as customers need less shipping due to cutbacks on holiday gift purchases.
* Merck announced plans to cut 12% of its workforce, citing a need to change its business model in order to survive.

- Years ago, the peakoilers called it right : as a group, we have predicted that the next US President will preside over an age of rapidly declining oil supply, greatly increasing price volatility, financial turmoil, and massive layoffs as the downslope of peak oil leads to an economy that keeps shrinking and shrinking and nobody could quite figure out why. And so here we are, US Election Day, 4 Nov 2008.

All the best to the next US President. The hundreds of thousands who have been laid off, and the millions of jobless folks who don't know it yet, they will be looking up to you for leadership in the coming years. Good luck. You will need it.

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