November 2008 Layoffs

http://www.forbes.com/leadership/2008/11/18/november-layoffs-fires-lead-cx_kk_1118november08layoffs.html

Layoffs for November 2008 at America's 500 largest public companies:

90,718

Nov. 21: Manufactured home builder Clayton Homes, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRK - news - people ), dismisses 90 from corporate headquarters in Tennessee.

Nov. 21: International Paper (nyse: IP - news - people ) closes Louisiana Mill indefinitely due to poor pulp demand. Fires 550.

Nov. 21: Western Union (nyse: WU - news - people ) cuts 200 jobs globally. Blames “challenging economic environment.”

Nov. 20: Bank of New York Mellon (nyse: BK - news - people ) reduces workforce by 4% (1,800 employees).

Nov. 20: Whirlpool (nyse: WHR - news - people ) sacks 100 from Indiana-based plant. Cites poor refrigerator demand.

Nov. 19: GM Thailand closes 130,000-unit-per-year factory for two months. Fires 258 from another.

Nov. 19: Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) pink-slips 800 workers at defense facility in Kansas.

Nov. 19: Carpeting company Shaw Industries, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, fires 125 from Georgia-based plant.

Nov. 18: Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (nyse: FCX - news - people ) cuts 600 U.S. mining jobs. Blames sliding metal prices.

Nov. 17: Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) raises the interest rates on its credit cards and cuts 53,000 jobs.

Nov. 14: Computer network builder Sun Microsystems (nasdaq: JAVA - news - people ) hopes to save $800 million a year with a 6,000-person reduction in workforce.

Nov. 13: United States Steel (nyse: X - news - people ) pink-slips 675 workers (2% of its staff). Stock down 80% from July to November.

Nov. 12: Hoping to save $400 million a year, Applied Materials (nasdaq: AMAT - news - people ) cuts 1,800 jobs (12% of workforce).

Nov. 12: Las Vegas Sands (nyse: LVS - news - people ) is putting several billion-dollar Macau-based projects on hold. As many as 11,000 workers will be laid off.

Nov. 12: Morgan Stanley (nyse: MS - news - people ) announces 2,000 job cuts. This includes a 10% cut in the company's institutional securities group and a 9% cut in its asset-management group.

Nov. 12: Liberty Media's (nasdaq: LCAPA - news - people ) home shopping channel QVC announces a 910-worker layoff.

Nov. 12: Cessna Aircraft, a subsidiary of conglomerate Textron (nyse: TXT - news - people ), fires 665.

Nov. 10: General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) lays off 1,900 employees from its powertrain and stamping division. An additional 3,600 assembly employees were already getting pink-slipped.

Nov. 7: Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) cuts 2,600 hourly employees in the U.S.

Nov. 6: Toy producer Mattel (nyse: MAT - news - people ) announces 1,000 job cuts globally in preparation for a tough holiday season.

Nov. 6: Five-year-old Atlantic City establishment the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa--a joint venture between Boyd Gaming (nyse: BYD - news - people ) and MGM Mirage (nyse: MGM - news - people ) --sacks 400 employees.

Nov. 6: Advertising agency BBDO Worldwide, part of Omnicom Group (nyse: OMC - news - people ), is firing 145 from its Troy, Mich., office.

Nov. 4: Hartford Financial is dropping 2% of its staff (500). Blames--what else?--sagging investments.

...

that we are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

I recently heard on some pbs talking heads program that Obama is going to come in and pass legislation within his first couple of days in office. (If this has already been covered - pardon - I have not been able to live at DU lately and may have missed this discussion.)

the interesting thing is that commentators are scared to create panic themselves by talking about this or that scenario. we have to wait until job, unemployment and other applicable figures are announced.