Layoffs

Layoffs have become increasingly common in the American workplace as the United States suffers through a particularly tough recession — one which has been described by leading economists and politicians as being "the worst since the Great Depression".

A layoff by definition is what happens when your occupation — your "job" — has been eliminated for reasons other than termination due to things like violating company policies, theft, or poor job performance.

Layoffs most often occur as a result of companies making necessary reductions in the work force, or in some cases eliminating positions or even entire departments altogether. This is commonly referred to as "downsizing". The one upside to being "laid off" is that companies will often call dismissed employees back into service, once their own economic fortunes improve. The net result, however, remains unemployment for the dismissed worker.

With the current economic downturn showing little signs of a quick turnaround, leaders around the world are looking for solutions to stimulate their local economies. In the meantime, layoffs continue to cut deep into the economy, even affecting such business giants as Microsoft, Target, and IBM.

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Original Technorati articles tagged “Layoffs”

• in Lifestyle
  Volunteer Unemployment Offered At AOL
  AOL is asking for volunteers to join the ranks of the unemployed.
  by breetreport / on Nov 19, 2009

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Layoffs”

• 4 ways to rebuild productivity, morale once recession lifts

  
  HRMorning.com — Authority: 140
  While many employers have taken the steps necessary to stay afloat during the recession, some workers have felt neglected and frustrated by the process. Once the dust settles from layoffs, pay freezes and other cutbacks, employers are left with a group of staffers with a wide range of negative emotions. Here are ...
  5 hours ago

• Tolko closing High Level sawmill in Alberta

  
  ForestTalk — Authority: 139
  Tolko has decided to indefinitely close its High Level mill in Alberta due to the poor lumber market. 290 employees will be out of work. Another 300 woodlands contractors and their employees will also be affected. The sawmill will work through the current log inventory. It is expected this will take until ...
  5 hours ago

• Business Briefing | Media: Rogers Communications to Cut 900 Jobs in Canada

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 908
  The largest wireless carrier in Canada said it was eliminating about 900 jobs nationwide as the company reorganized its wireless and cable units.
  13 hours ago

• Elucidating Technology Layoffs

  
  Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds — Authority: 434
  At GigaOm, Kevin Kelleher recently wrote a blog post that attempted to answer the following question: “Why are tech layoffs rising in a recovery?“Although I think the question is skewed — you call this a recovery? — what follows are my replies, enumerated for the convenience of the reader. 1) The alleged ...
  1 day ago

• Turkey Time Inc: Publisher sends staffers packing for holiday

  
  Stupidica — Authority: 174
  The list of staffers downsized from Time Inc. yesterday grew by another 25 people, even though it appeared that CEO Ann Moore and Editor-in-Chief John Huey would wait until after Thanksgiving to begin this round of cuts. Fortune was the hardest-hit title. Including yesterdays layoffs, about 30 staffers have left the ...
  1 day ago

• Martha Stewart Caught in Bed With Big Government [Media Crack]

  
  Gawker — Authority: 866
  In your cheery Wednesday media column: our nemesis Martha Stewart s magazine implicated in decoration-for-prestige scheme, iTunes for magazines is coming, your weekly layoff roundup, and the Search Engine Media Wars heat up. POLITICO EXPOZAY: Our archnemesis Martha Stewart (s magazine, Martha Stewart Living, ...
  2 days ago

• Bright & (Not So) Early: Ars Gratia Artis Edition

  
  Nashvillest — Authority: 477
  Good morning, Nashville, and happy almost Turkey Day! This morning, we’re giving thanks for our city’s public art, which Councilman Charlie Tygard has declared that he would like to spread around to the rest of Nashville by filing an ordinance with the Metro Council . This sentiment isn’t sitting well with ...
  2 days ago

• Washington Post to close N.Y., L.A. and Chicago bureaus

  
  DailyFinance — Authority: 805
  Filed under: Company News It is worth remembering that there was a time not too long ago when most large newspapers and news services got their stories about the federal government directly from their own Washington, D.C., bureaus. Some had bureaus in New York, London and elsewhere. But the era of the foreign ...
  2 days ago

• More good news in employment: Initial jobless claims plunge to 466,000

  
  DailyFinance — Authority: 805
  Filed under: Economy Initial jobless claims plummeted 35,000 to 466,000 for the week ending Nov. 21, and continuing claims continued to decline as well, falling 190,000 to 5.42 million, the U.S. Labor Department announced Wednesday. This marks the lowest initial jobless claims total in more than a year. ...
  2 days ago

• Tipster Confirms Ten Layoffs at the New York Post [Layoffs]

  
  Gawker — Authority: 866
  A tipster at the New York Post confirms there will be ten editorial layoffs in this round, and that theyd all have come this year if it hadnt been for the Sandra Guzman lawsuit. The tipster, who is clearly no fan of the reporters on the chopping block, says the dismissals are not economically motivated, but ...
  2 days ago

• Senators press EU to speed its Oracle-Sun probe (AP)

  
  Seo, Make Money Online and Technology — Authority: 147
  This came from Yahoo News AP - U.S. senators are pressuring European antitrust regulators to hurry their investigation of Oracle Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc., citing Sun’s “precarious” financial condition and fears about more layoffs at the struggling computing company. Go to Source
  2 days ago

• Editorial: State Courts at the Tipping Point

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 908
  State budget cuts are impeding core court functions, forcing court closures and narrowing of access to justice.
  2 days ago

• Washington Post to Shut U.S. Bureaus

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 908
  A move to cut costs also reflects a mission to cover the world through the prism of Washington, D.C.
  2 days ago

• Five-Day Furlough OKd at Detroit Free Press

  
  Fading to Black — Authority: 440
  Detroit Free Press newsroom employees will take a five-day furlough in exchange for no job cuts through March.Detroit Newspaper Guild members voted in favor of the plan Sunday. The unpaid days off will be scheduled in 2010.The furloughs will include editor and publisher Paul Anger and other non-union newsroom ...
  2 days ago

• Washington Post shutters last U.S. bureaus

  
  Fading to Black — Authority: 440
  The Washington Post, in a significant retrenchment, is closing its remaining domestic bureaus around the country.The six correspondents who work in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago will be offered reassignments in Washington, while three news assistants will be let go.}}} full story {{{.
  2 days ago

• Toronto Star to Cut 78 Editing Jobs, Save C$4 Million

  
  Fading to Black — Authority: 440
  Torstar Corp.’s Toronto Star, Canada’s biggest newspaper, plans to cut 78 editing jobs, or about a fifth of its editorial staff, to reduce expenses by C$4 million ($3.8 million) annually.The newspaper plans to contract out the jobs to Pagemasters North America, a unit of the Canadian Press news service, ...
  2 days ago

• Considerations For A Successful Online Business

  
  Online Security Authority — Authority: 133
  With so many problems in the economy many of us are looking for alternate ways to make money. With all of the corporate layoffs, the shutting down of some laedrge corporations and other large institutions, many people today have a lower feeling of confidence in the market and many are concerned about the longevity of ...
  2 days ago

• Et Tu, Playboy? Hugh Hefner Outsources Jobs, Preps For Layoffs

  
  Mediaite — Authority: 802
  Playboy magazine is not the cultural touchstone it once was and is on track to lose $8 million this year. To counteract such disappointing numbers, the company has decided to outsource all of its publishing jobs, excluding only editorial, to generically named American Media Inc., according to a report from Reuters . ...
  2 days ago

• Is Pfizer Skirting NY State Law About Layoffs?

  
  Pharmalot — Authority: 577
  That’s what workers at Pfizer’s Pearl River, NY, are concerned about. A state law requires employers with 50 or more workers to give both employees and the state 90 days’ notice if they plan to lay off either at least 25 people and 33 percent of their headcount, or at least 250 workers. But Pfizer employees at ...
  3 days ago

• G.M. to Present Unions With Strategy for Opel

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 908
  The carmaker will meet with workers on Wednesday to present a restructuring plan that could cut up to 9,500 jobs.
  3 days ago

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