(Sigh)... More Layoffs

(Previous announcements)

A quick name check to:

Brooks Automation - which is cutting 20% of its workforce (350 people), in its second round of layoffs

Halliburton (yes, even Cheney's old company is going to lay off people, known as they are towards their people-friendly policies... NOT)

Schlumberger, not to be outdone by Halliburton, has announced it will lay off 5,000 people... and might have another headcount reduction in 6 months

Intel, after initially affirming it wasn't going to lay off employees, is cutting 6,000 manufacturing jobs.

Layoffs, Layoffs And More Layoffs

(Following my previous post on companies announcing layoffs)

The layoff announcements keep coming, and will probably keep coming over the next 6 months.  Some notable ones:

I had already chronicled how Caterpillar was cutting pay to manage costs.  Well, turns out they should have waited a bit... the cost cutting continues, with another 5,000 layoffs announced (in addition to 2,500 full-time and 8,000 contract employees having already been asked to leave).

UAL, United Airlines' parent, is laying off 1,000 people - it had recently (Q4 of 2008) laid off 1,500. 

Sprint Nextel is cutting 8,000 jobs.  Ouch!  I blame their tv ads (I hate the Sprint, and the Verizon ads).

Black Monday - 70,000 Laid Off

Yesterday, Monday, was a pretty sad day - layoffs to the tune of 70,000 employees were announced.  Among those who are letting people go:

Texas Instruments (TI) is laying off 12% of its employees - 3,400 people.  Demand for their chips has softened, given that virtually every downstream sector that is a customer (including cell phones) is experiencing soft demand, and high inventory.

Home Depot is closing its Expo chain, and some other smaller locations, leading to a loss of 7,000 jobs.  I don't fully understand how the housing and repair markets are affecting them - one the one hand, the overall housing market, specially new house building, has been hit hard, and this probably impacts Home Depot.  On the other hand, I would expect home-owners to have started doing a lot more of their own home repairs, which should benefit the Home Depot.

General Motors hasn't stopped hemorrhaging, and is cutting another 2,000 jobs in Michigan and Ohio plants

Staving Layoffs - Controlling Pay

Companies are, perhaps predictably, managing personnel costs now by controlling pay.  In most cases, salaries have been frozen, bonuses are being cut or eliminated.  In some extreme cases,  salaries are actually being reduced. 

And given the job climate, the employees can only say, "Thank you, may I have another?"

Yahoo has, starting this week, frozen pay raises.  Bonuses have also been cut (but per my sources, hopefully not completely eliminated in all cases).

  AMD has had layoffs (1,100 people), and the remaining employees are enduring pay cuts ranging from 5% - 20%

And Circuit City's 30K+ employees are all going to lose their jobs, as the chain shuts down.  (Note - I went to one of their stores, and didn't really find things selling for a huge discount.  This isn't like Sharper Image's going-out-of-business sale)

Having fired over a thousand people, Saks is also freezing wages, and removing 401K contributions for the year

Caterpillar, which I would say is the most successful autos-related company in today's climate, is cutting pay - up to 15% for regular employees, and up to 50% for executives

YRC has cut pay by 15% for employees that are non-union, and by 10% for its drivers

Hutchinson is reducing pay by 5% for its remaining employees

Robert Scoble At Kosmix

Robert Scoble, of Scobleizer fame (along with quite a few others, of course), is at the Kosmix offices today.  Cool.

Blue Screen Of Death - Microsoft Layoffs

Microsoft profit dropped 11% - thats quite huge.  And finally, the long-rumored layoffs are coming.  5,000 people in the next few months. 

It isn't a huge number for a company of Microsoft's size (about 5%), but it is a little unprecedented.  This is the software behemoth's first-ever layoff (at least as far as I know.  I'm not counting layoffs from acquired companies, of course.

Microsoft has a process where under-performers are constantly weeded out, a la Intel.  This will probably continue, and might even get increased - so who knows the true employee turnover to come?

Sony - Layoffs For The Official Number One

Sony is shutting down one of its two Japanese TV factories, and laying off 2,000 people (about 3%) of its workforce this year.  That's quite painful, but not unexpected in today's climate.

The funny comment though comes from Kaz Hirai, Sony's head of Computer Entertainment.  His contention is that Sony's PS3 is the "official leader.." in the gaming industry. 

Let's see.  There are three main players in the gaming industry - PS3, Microsoft's XBOX 360, and Nintendo's Wii. 

Good ol' Kaz says the Wii is operating in a different world, and hence doesn't count.  I'm a serious gamer, and I don't look at the Wii as a machine I would buy (although it has a few games, like Super Mario Galaxy, that are very good).  But this is a bit silly. 

Even if we gave Kaz a bit of a point here, the Xbox 360 is still outselling the PS3 2:1.  That's not small change.  His argument here?  That Microsoft still hasn't shown it can stay around for 5 years.

Of course, Microsoft recently announced the 360 is not going to be replaced any time soon - that it's life-cycle is going to be well above 5 years.  And having owned both the Xbox, as well as the Xbox 360, I can say that their customer service is quite good.  I've had both my Xbox, as well as my 360 replaced free of charge for different reasons.  The service was quick and efficient. 

So, my dear Hirai-san, please check your facts.  You aren't the official leader if you're lagging behind your only two competitors in sales as well as installed base.