Layoffs soared in January, continued in February. Not surprisingly, new job postings were down too.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported last week that the number of "mass layoffs" --
job cuts of 50 or more workers by a single employer -- increased to 2,227 in January,
up almost 50 percent from January 2008.
As we reported throughout February, the shedding of jobs has not stopped as
employers have continued cutting workers, cutting positions.
Here's the list of shame of employers who announced job cuts (or even
more job cuts) of 400 or more employees in the last week of February:
Cisco Systems (8,000 jobs)
Nortel Networks (3,200 jobs)
Neiman Marcus (450 jobs)
Dow Corning (800 jobs)
Spansion (3,000 jobs)
Micron Technology (2,000 jobs)
J.P. Morgan (1,800 jobs)
Pilgrim's Pride (3,000 jobs)
The list does not include the Walt Disney Company, which announced a major
restructuring of its theme parks division (including offering voluntary packages),
but would not comment on any estimated number of layoffs or reductions.
(See the entire list of companies that announced job cuts, as compiled by both
CNN.com and
Employment Spectator.)
Finally, Indeed.com, the job-search engine that aggregates job postings from all
over the Web, reported that job postings fell in all 12 major industry segments in
January, with many down about 50 percent from January 2008. Education and healthcare, while down,
were the lone bright spots in the report. See all the details in this entry
from the Indeed.com Job Trends.
