Cutbacks In Redmond?
Is this a sign that Microsoft didn’t do as well as they thought they were going to this past year?
Rumors about substantial cutbacks at Microsoft have been circulating for at least two months, but have not been confirmed by credible sources. The rumors were reignited by Fudzilla, which claims that the axe will fall on January 15 and affect about 15,000 employees.
Such a cutback would translate into a 17% reduction Microsoft’s global workforce of 90,000 people. Fudzilla’s sources indicate that MSN will take the brunt of the layoffs and the company’s EMEA region will be hit harder than any other geography.
Maybe promoting a crappy operating system and web browser had something to do with it?
Sphere: Related ContentJust A Matter Of Time?
How long do you think it will be, until BofA comes knocking on the Treasury Secretary’s door?
Bank of America Corp said on Thursday it plans to eliminate 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over three years after it completes its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co.
The cuts could affect about 11 percent of the combined companies’ roughly 308,000-person workforce. Bank of America employs about 247,000 people and Merrill about 61,000.
Bank of America said the expected cuts reflect the pending merger, as well as “the weak economic environment, which is affecting the level of business activity.”
I knew I should have invested in that tin cup business a while back.
Sphere: Related ContentKB Toys Goes Bankrupt. Again
Twice in four years? Wasn’t the first bankruptcy sign enough that their business model sucked?
In another sign of the grim holiday season, KB Toys filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in four years on Thursday and plans to begin going-out-of business sales at its stores immediately.
The 86-year-old company said in a filing that its debt is “directly attributable to a sudden and sharp decline in consumer sales” because of the poor economy.
I guess they had to learn the hard way.
Sphere: Related ContentOffice Depot Does What Companies Should Do
I’m sure many people will attribute these closings to the “state of the economy”, but in reality, shouldn’t these companies be closing underperforming stores or doing something else to increase sales from them?
Office Depot on Wednesday said it will close 112 underperforming retail stores in North America during the next three months.
The announcement said the closures would occur in various geographic regions, including 45 in the central U.S., 40 in the Northeast and Canada, 19 in the West and eight in the South. Fourteen more stores would be closed through 2009 as leases expire or other lease arrangements are finalized.
It’s just common sense to be doing that anyway, why should the current state of the economy have anything to do with it?
Sphere: Related ContentPligrim’s Pride Plucked
While financial analysts keep a close eye on Washington, there is bad news for chicken lovers everywhere.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp (PPC.N), the largest U.S. chicken company, said on Monday it filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection after struggling with high feed costs and low meat prices.
The company said it intends to continue operating normally while it develops a reorganization plan.
Analysts had predicted a bankruptcy filing was possible for Pilgrim’s Pride, which produces about a quarter of the nation’s chicken.
In addition to high feed costs, the company has been hurt by its debt obligations, much of which were due to the acquisition in late 2006 of smaller rival Gold Kist Inc.
They intend to continue normal operations, which is bad news for the chickens as well.
Sphere: Related ContentDHL Cuts Thousands Of Jobs
If you were depending on a delivery service that didn’t leave items at your door without knocking, or require your delivery be dropped at a local business, you’re going to be sad today.
German logistics giant Deutsche Post announced Monday it would cut 9,500 jobs at its DHL Express operations in the United States.
Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel said DHL’s domestic air and ground business in the United States would be closed effective Jan. 30.
Unless you are expecting a package from overseas (or shipping one) you aren’t going to see the DHL truck pull up in your driveway anymore.
It’s a shame too, because the DHL guys who have delivered stuff to our house are much more polite with said deliveries, oh, and they don’t leave packages worth hundreds of dollars sitting on my porch without ringing the doorbell).
Sphere: Related ContentJob Cuts Can Be A Bear
Save the economy, screw your employees. Fair trade, right?
JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) could cut as many as 4,000 of its own employees worldwide as the bank prepares to take on staff from Bear Stearns Cos (BSC.N) at the same time it deals with turmoil in financial markets, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
In addition to roughly 2,000 JPMorgan employees who will be replaced by counterparts acquired through its takeover of Bear Stearns, the sources said that an additional 1,000 to 2,000 JPMorgan employees may lose their jobs because of the slowdown in investment banking activity and credit market crisis.
I think we all knew that job cuts would be coming somewhere along the line of this merger. Funny how it’s happening to the JPMorgan employees though huh?
– Powered By Stuffr! –
Will Home Builders Be Homeless?
Wow, now you know it’s getting bad…
How bad is the housing market? Bad enough that a cash-strapped builders’ group is forced to sell its own home.
Three years after moving into its posh, new $3.5 million headquarters, the Home & Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids is putting the building up for sale.
Chief Executive Judy Barnes said the association is hampered by the weak economy, a sluggish residential building industry and declining membership. The setbacks have resulted in some pledges made toward paying for construction of the 15,000-square-foot headquarters going unfulfilled.
The association spent $1.5 million of its own money on the building. The remainder was to be covered by donations and the sale of its previous headquarters.
Barnes declined to release the amount still owed on the new building but said the association was not in financial trouble.
If they are “not in financial trouble”, why is the association being “forced to sell it’s own home”? I think we can all see the writing on the wall. Too bad we can’t believe what we see on the wall either.
– Powered By Stuffr! –
Ford Is Cutting Back Again
How many times can Ford cut production before they stop making cars?
Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Monday it would eliminate shifts at four U.S. plants and lay off some 2,500 workers — or almost 5 percent of its remaining work force — as part of an effort to cut costs and return to profitability next year.
The layoffs come at a time when the No. 2 U.S. automaker is offering buyouts and early retirement incentives to all 54,000 of its U.S. factory workers as it attempts to recover from a $2.7 billion loss in 2007.
Ford said it would run its Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky, assembly plants on one shift rather than the current two shifts starting this summer.
They cut almost 34,000 workers in 2006. They are offering early retirement to 54,000 more employees, and they’re trying to bribe even more to leave. What are they going to do if everyone decides to take the incentives? That certainly won’t save any money.
– Powered By Stuffr! –
Morgan Stanley Cutting 1,000 More Jobs
Is it any surprise that investment firms that deal with mortgages are still cutting back? As more and more homeowners default on their mortgage and more of them enter foreclosure, it’s only logical that more and more brokers and such would be laid off.
Morgan Stanley (MS.N) will slash 1,000 jobs, scale back its U.S. home-lending business and shut down a British mortgage unit as new management takes a hard look at the continued deterioration in mortgage markets.
The cuts announced on Wednesday affect Morgan Stanley employees who generate home loans through brokers and other third parties, as well as bankers who packaged these loans into bonds. The bank declined to detail cuts for specific areas.
Including the latest moves, Morgan Stanley has laid off 2,900 people in mortgages, wealth management, investment banking and capital markets since October. That’s 6 percent of Morgan Stanley’s 48,256 employees at the end of November.
Once the market for mortgage-backed securities picks up again, I’m sure things will look different, but until then, we’re going to see more of these cuts, and I’m pretty sure this is still just the tip of the iceberg.
– Powered By Stuffr! –
Sphere: Related Content