dooms du jour, December/2000
[Commentary] ©2000 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080 - HOMEPAGE

12/31/2000-1/1/2001
- the 3d Millennium, even for Arthur C. Clarke!
and the first full-year anniversary of our timesizing news tracking -

<< 1-6/2000:  273 dnsz (335,411+  cuts) +1209 takov ($1439B+) + 80 bkrp + 5 homlss + 8 prisn + 4 suic
vs. 3 timesiz + 76 upsz (52,918+=16%) + 85 untak ($110B+) >>
<< 7-12/2000:  389 dnsz (331,254+  cuts) +1037 takov ($868B+) + 131 bkrp + 9 homlss + 26 prisn + 10 suic
vs. 13 timesiz + 64 upsz (42,021+=13%) +59 untak ($4B+) >>
< Y2000 totals:  662 dnsz (666,665+  cuts) +2246 takov ($2307B+) + 211 bkrp + 14 homlss + 32 prisn + 14 suic
vs. 16 timesiz + 140 upsz (94,939+ =14%) +144 untak ($114B+) >

weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 19 downsizings reported, costing over 35,015 lost jobs
• 32 takeovers reported this week, worth $4.24B + $??
• 1 employment-related multi-murder
• 13 bankruptcy/failure mentions
vs. 5 UPsizings (7200+ new jobs) + 0 UNtakeovers reported ($0)
< YearToDate totals:  0 dnsz (0 jobcuts) + 0 takov ($0B) + 0 bkrup vs.  0 timesizings + 0 upsz (0= 0%) + 0 untak ($0B) >
+ weekend omens: • another reason Japan needs Timesizing - they're sidelining women
• time crunch article next to workplace killer, so "timesizing, not massacring"?!
vs. weekend glimmers of intelligence:
• "can't fight poverty with acctg tricks"  • women have caught up with men in Net use
• primitive forced timesizing as Delta relents on overtime, cuts 5 Vegas flights

12/30/2000 sat (re fri biz)
- Hap-py New Millennium (for real, this time) -
8 takeovers reported, totaling $1.11B + $??
+ 3 downsizings reported, totaling 1,969 lost US jobs:
• 1400 lost Ohio & Pa. jobs as Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel
follows up its Nov. bankruptcy filing, instead of all sacrificing together
starting at the top, with workweek cuts like Nucor Steel & Lincoln Electric
• 14% workforce cut (400 lost Calif. jobs) as Covad fast Web connex doubles Nov's
auto-chop, instead of just trimming workweek 14% (to five 7-hr days) for everyone &
keeping everybody together working, earning 86% pay, & shopping near-normally
• 26% staff cut (169 lost US jobs) at Cybex fitness eqpmt, instead of just trimming
hrs&pay 26% (to five 6-hr days) for everyone & keeping everyone
working, earning 74% pay, & doing some shopping
+ 2 bankruptcy stories: • LTV springs for Ch.11
• Mitsui begs 2d debt forgiveness in 3 yrs
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 2 UPsizings, unspecified new jobs -
new cooking school in Cincinnatti, new discount airline in Brazil
• governor of N.M. trashes "War on Drugs" as Prohibition-like failure
• ambivalent Times editorial unwittingly hikes interest in US football over baseball

12/29/2000 fri
7 takeovers reported, totaling $1.22B + $??
+ 7 downsizings reported, totaling 30,756 lost jobs:
• 100% workforce cut (28000 lost US jobs) as Montgomery Ward, once biggest American
retailer, has disappointing holiday season & files Ch.11, succumbing after 128 yrs
• 2% staff cut (1200 lost US jobs) as American Standard closes a factory, any factory, to
cut costs (& morale), instead of trimming hrs&pay 2% (10 mins/day) for everyone
& keeping everyone working, earning 98% pay, & shopping confidently
• 500 Ohio job cuts as LTV steel self-mutilates due to lowering steel prices,
instead of following Nucor's example & trimming hours, not jobs
• 411 US jobs in the air as J. Baker shoe-depts-in-Bradlees contemplates host's demise
• 12% workforce cut (400 lost Israeli jobs) as ECI Telecom self-fragments to cut costs
(& mkts), instead of trimming its workweek 12% (1 hr /day) for all & keeping
all together working, earning 88% pay, & shopping near-normally
• 20% workforce cut (185 lost Boston jobs) as Breakaway Solutions breaks itself & its
consulting morale, instead of trimming its workweek 20% (to four 8-hr days) for
all & keeping everyone working, earning 80% pay, & all looking for business
• 8% staff cut (60 lost mostly Irish jobs) as Cross pens closes a factory, any factory, to cut
costs (& morale), instead of trimming hours&pay 8% (4½-day/wk) for everyone &
keeping everyone working, earning 92% pay, & "shopping on regardless"
+ 2 bankruptcy stories: • Montgomery Ward filed yesterday • LTV steel mulls filing today
+ omens - makework abounding: • Argentine 'new' deal • NY cops play overtime game
vs. glimmers of hope & intelligence:
• 2 UPsizings (FNAC 1200 & Air France 5000) & a major timesizing in one article - French joblessness at 9-yr low by lowering workweek & squeezing out work (& earnings & spending power) onto more people

12/28/2000 thu
4 takeovers reported, totaling $474m
+ 7 downsizings reported, totaling 2192+?? lost jobs
(plus general plaint on dot-com downsizings at large):
• 4% workforce cut (2000 lost US jobs) as Union Pacific RR reacts wrongly to declining
shipments due to the downturn, instead of trimming its workweek 4% (19 mins. /day) for
everyone & keeping everyone working, earning 96% of their pay, & shopping like mad
• 100% workforce cut (75 lost Ma. jobs) as Digital
Broadband Communications, DSL provider, files for Chapter 11
• 25% research staff cut (50 lost jobs) as Compaq Cptr kills the goose that laid
golden eggs like AltaVista, instead of trimming workweek 25% (to 30 hrs/wk) for all
& keeping everyone working, earning 75% pay, & researchin' lahk dee debble
• 66% workforce cut (38 lost jobs) as Quepasa.com announces $8m loss
• 50% staff cut so far (17 lost Ill. jobs) as Legacy.com online funeral
service restructures, probably preparatory to its own funeral
• 100% workforce cut (12 lost Ma. jobs) as BabyStripes.com upscale baby gifts dies
• unspecified Cal. jobloss as BizBuyer.com despairs of early profitability & returns $35m
+ 6 bankruptcy/liquidation stories: • BabyStripes.com  • BizBuyer.com 
• Digital Broadband  • Lernout & Hauspie again  • Quepasa.com  • Video City
vs. glimmers of hope & intelligence:
• 'good but' - NYT lists utopian websites but most hit Chesterton wall
• Mr. Tokyo Sexwale busts "race ceiling" in South Africa in executive suite
• Globe reader has perfect ambassadorship for Katherine Harris = Republic of Chad

12/27/2000 wed
2 downsizings reported, totaling 98 + ?? lost jobs:
• 28% workforce cut (98 US jobs lost) as EarthWeb on Silicon Alley
follows Silicon Valley to Shrinksville, instead of doing a 28% workweek
cut for everyone (to four 7.2-hr days like VW in '95) & keeping everyone
working, earning 72% of their pay, & surfing the web drumming up business
• unspecified layoffs in Japan as Oji Paper pools mktg operations with 3 affiliates
+ 13 takeovers reported, totaling $1.44B + $$undisclosed
+ 2 bankruptcy stories: • Bradlees goes for bankruptcy option
• insolvent Daewoo can't get enough people to take early retirement
+ 1 work-related multimurderer: • high techie machineguns 7 coworkers
• roundup of past decade in workplace slayings - they're rising as economy sinks
+ omens: • Japan in trouble - unemployment up, spending & Nikkei down
vs. glimmers of timesizing:
• 1 UPsizing, 1000 new UK jobs as Railtrack pours ££ into construction & maintenance
• local editor in Maine donates her 42-acre mountain to land trust to save from development forever
• timesizing event at Golden Northwest Aluminum, cutting worktime but not workforce

12/26/2000 tue, boxing day
no takeovers or downsizings reported, but...
1 big bankruptcy story: • though bankruptcies have been falling in a 1929-like
dip, demand for bankruptcy lawyers is now soaring, as in late 1929 & the early '30s
+ omens: • boondoggle porkbarrel prize of the week - 'Justice' Dept. is using $2m of our
federal taxes for items like paying cops to sit in pkg lots while two-faced 19-yr-olds ask
you to please buy beer for them (& if you're nice, or intimidated, you get arrested)
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • efforts converge to clobber telemarketing

12/24-25/2000
- Merry Xmas in ancient Hebrew: 'asherekhem leyom muledheth hammashiach' -
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 50 takeovers reported this week, worth $31.98B + $??
• 24 downsizings reported, costing over 36,940 lost jobs
• 2 employment-related suicide stories
• 10 bankruptcy/failure mentions
vs. 1 UPsizing (1100 new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover reported ($??)
< YTD:  643 dnsz (631,650+  jobcuts) +2214 takov ($2302.37B+) vs. 135 upsz (87,739+=14%) +144 untak ($114.49B+) >
+ 1 weekend economy-downsizing report: • 480,000 US jobs lost
from Jan to Nov this year (our YTD total above goes beyond US)
+ weekend omens: • "oh gee, where are all the disposable slaves?!"
• "good advertising just makes a bad product fall faster"
vs. weekend glimmers of intelligence:
• finetune the estate tax repeal!  • alternative currency 'Burlington Bread'
• "good, but..." - Bill Gates gives money away, but - no system debugging

12/23/2000 sat (re fri events)
- eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow...uncertainty -
3 downsizings reported, totaling 5500 lost jobs:
• 4,000 US.& Can. jobs lost as Outboard Marine files for reorg under Chapter 11
• 9% workforce cut (1500 French & German jobs lost) as EADS overreacts to shrinking
military budgets & cuts its skillset and morale, instead of merely having a
9% workweek cut for all (3.1-3.6 hrs/wk), & everyone keeps working & earning
• unspecified jobs lost as Japan's biggest dairy, Snow Brand Milk,
shuts factory faulted for tainted milk that sickened 13,000
+ 6 takeovers reported, totaling $3.66B + $undisclosed
+ 5 bankruptcy mentions, totaling $851m+ in debt:
• Coram Healthcare talking reorg, $251m   • TWA teetering again, $600m
• Levitz to emerge by merger with Seaman  • Outboard Marine goes Ch. 11
• bankrupt BroadcastAmerica.com gets backstab from 'partner'
vs. traces of intelligent life:
• Health Canada orders medical marijuana & LatAm prez says decriminalize!
• letter writer supports Bucky Fuller on voting by phone & Colorado has helpful experience
• another company timesizes on wk-by-wk basis, Weirton Steel

12/22/2000 fri
- "happy holidays" from America's suicidal CEOs...
5 downsizings reported, totaling 20,368 lost jobs:
• 10,000 jobcuts estimated for Lucent to return to profitability
• 10,000 northeast US jobs lost as Bradlees discount stores liquidate
• 5% workforce cut (200 mostly Euro jobs) as Sensient food flavorings
consolidates mfg plants, instead of 5% workweek cut for all
(2 hrs/wk), & all stay employed & enjoying the holidays
• 158 jobs get the deep freeze at Frigidaire since Thanksgiving
• 10 N.C. jobs stamped out at Murata Wiedemann metal-stamping machines
+ 12 takeovers reported, totaling $8.52B + $undisclosed
+ 1 liquidation story: • Bradlees, just out of bankruptcy, now mulls total liquidation
+ Kris's coal bag (omens): • July-Sept growth slowest in 4 yrs
• last month, Fed mulled minding unemployment, but 'nyaa'
vs. Kris Kringle's toybag (beams of hope): • NYT finally admits it's bubble, not boom
• another Euro secret, 50% employee mbrshp on co. boards that have power to replace top execs
& a flurry of timesizing stories -
• independent invention of timesizing, not downsizing, dots the economy as the slump cuts in
• here's a group of top executives taking a paycut for themselves instead of doing layoffs -
and they're encouraging unpaid time off = 'timesizing, not downsizing' at Charles Schwab
• and Phil 'Planta Clause' Hyde has bonuses from AOLNews - Ford's 1-wk shutdowns &
• a bonanza of search results on 'shorter hrs' & 'shorten workwk' - French 35 hrs &
labor costs, wages, bank & aircontrol strikes; Swedish teachers' demands

12/21/2000 thu
6 takeovers reported, totaling $3.19B + $undisclosed
+ 1 downsizing reported: • 20% workforce cut (25 Calif. jobs)
as Salon.com cuts expenses & Xmas cheer to earn a profit, instead
of cutting 20% of its workweek for all, and to all a Merry Christmas
+ 2 bankruptcy stories: • bankrupt Dimac Corp's reorg plan approved
• Japan's 12th public firm this year files, a record for any year since WW2
+ Kris's coal list (omens): • Congress reconstructs 1928, resurrects bucketshops
• $20m salary for one useless sports figure equates to 500 useful $40K workers
• John Lindsay † - archetype of bankruptcy- & dependency-breeding liberalism
• charity chokes again, drops dreams of college   • Russians lack mgmt skills (so do we)
• Canada a statute-of-limitations disaster - lawsuit over 77-year-dead race tax
vs. Kris Kringle's candy list (glimmers of hope):
• 1 UNtakeover - antitrust awakes, slams USAIR-United merge plan
• Thomas 'The Baffler' Frank of Chicago, social critic, & his new book 'One Market Under God'
• euro falls, Europe rises - what's their secret?

12/20/2000 wed
17 takeovers reported, totaling $12.22B + $??
+ 2 downsizings reported in NYT (& Bos. Globe), totaling 1,323 lost jobs:
• 5% of hourly workforce cut (1300 US jobs) at Norfolk Southern, which
should instead have trimmed 5% of its hours&pay for everyone including top
mgmt & kept everyone employed, earning something & Xmas shopping
• 33% staff cut (23 lost NYC jobs) at Griffin Bacal ad agency as
parent DDB plays shell games between itself & Griffin
+ 1 $3½B corporate fine mentioned: • Exxon hit for gypping Alabama of gas royalties
+ 1 bankruptcy story: • Armstrong Holdings hires new CEO to pick its poison
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing, 1100 new Va. jobs as Infinion retools chip plant
• Allstate agents sue for overtime pay   • Clinton cans bankruptcy 'fix' &
• firms up enforcement of environmental, civil rights and employee protection

12/19/2000 tue
- "happy Xmas" to you from America's CEOs...
new record = 13 downsizings reported, totaling 9,724 lost jobs:
• 5000 jobs from Aetna, which could have cut 13% of its workweek, not its workforce
• 2700 jobs from Gillette, which should have trimmed 8% of its hours, not its staff
• 750 jobs from Solutia in St. Louis   • 325 jobs from InfoUSA
• 200 jobs from Detroit Free Press & Detroit News
• 188 jobs from Adero web software (75%)
• 160 investment bankers from Prudential Securities
• 140 jobs from Stan Lee Media in Calif.
• 100 jobs from Sohu.com in China after a takeover
• 79 jobs from MVP.com (48%)   • all 50 jobs at LearningBrands.com
• 32 jobs from Red Herring magazine   • unspecified further layoffs at GM
+ 8 takeovers reported, totaling $4.39 billion + $undisclosed
+ 6-in-1 insolvency story: • So. Korean gov't pressures 6 big sick banks to merge & cut
+ 1 business-related suicide item: • HP employee jumps from company plane at 2000 ft
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• timesizing demo - Canadian territorial gov't takes 2 full wks off for Xmas-NewYrs

12/17-18/2000
- if only a brave 3 of 271 electors broke ranks, they'd give us a higher democracy
& induce both parties to lose the Electoral College - but there aren't even 3
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 47 takeovers reported this week, worth $27.98B + $??
• 16 downsizings reported, costing over 40,448 lost jobs
• 4 bankruptcy/failure mentions
vs. 2 UPsizings (?? new jobs) + 5 UNtakeovers reported ($??)
< YTD:  619 dnsz (594,710+  jobcuts) +2164 takov ($2270.39B+) vs. 134 upsz (86,639+=15%) +143 untak ($114.49B+) >
1 weekend takeover reported, worth $??
+ 1 weekend industry-downsizing report: • 20,000 U.S. jobs lost in 1998 as 81%
of "runaway production" turns protean Toronto into 'Hollywood North'
+ 1 weekend story on work-related suicide: • among the Inuit in Nunavut
+ weekend omens: • wealth gap in Ore. hikes housing costs & hunger rate
vs. weekend glimmers of intelligence:
• Clinton touts drop in welfare rolls - but doesn't mention working poor, homelessness, prisons...
• Bob Reich is personally familiar with lengthening workweek, but his 'solutions' come up empty

12/16/2000 sat (re fri biz)
- from Gore the Bore to No-Count Bush -
& here's more on how our CEOs are workin' to cast "a plague on both their houses":
10 takeovers reported, totaling $7.94B + $??
+ 3 downsizings reported, totaling 490 lost US jobs:
• 200 lost Cleveland jobs as National City Corp. pulls out
of financing auto leases & offering mtgs thru outside lenders
• 8.8% workforce cut (190 NYC jobs) as Agency.com e-consulting kills
a bit of US employment & exacerbates dot-com shakeout, instead of doing
8.8% workweek cut (3½ hrs/wk) for all & keeping everyone working & webshopping
• 33% staff cut (100 US jobs) as Shockwave.com digests AtomFilms acquisition to
achieve profitability, instead of 33% hrs&pay cut for all (to three 9-hr days)
& everyone keeps working & earning something before Xmas
+ 1 liquidation story: • despite Ch. 11 emergence, Bradlees mulls liquidation
+ 1 homeless story: • 29% of Boston's homeless do have jobs, many full-time
+ 1 prison mention: • women inmates in Indiana make dolls for Honduran kids
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 2 UNtakeovers - AT&T will spin off Liberty Mutual,
- Novartis & Astrozeneca spun off their crop-science units into Syngenta
• Democrats need to be trying to break out of the box just as hard as Republicans
• UN's Kofi Annan is trying too, on behalf of poor countries, but his approach needs debugging

12/15/2000 fri
- doom-ocracy at work: 4 "electors" trump 337,576 voters -
11 takeovers reported, totaling $8.55B + $??
+ 2 downsizings reported, totaling 800 lost US jobs:
• 85% workforce cut (450 Ma. jobs) as Digital Broadband
joins HarvardNet in failure to find financing without profitability
• 3.6% support-staff cut (350 US jobs) as Northeast Utilities cuts costs, instead of
3.6% hrs&pay cut for all (to 38½-hr wk) & everyone keeps working & shopping
+ 1 homeless story: • Boston's homeless population up to 5906, 1½% over last year
+ 1 prison mention: • chaplain says guards at Shirley Ma kicked & beat inmates
+ omens: • debt worries spread beyond Europe's phone carriers
• cashstrapped govt agencies strangely generous in strange ways
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing, 1600 new Ma. jobs as Intel pours $1.8B into Hudson chip plant
• 1 UNtakeover - desperate So. Korean workers halt big bank merger...for now
• CalTech & MIT presidents unite to get American election technology out of the 19th century
• EEOC says health plans must cover the pill   • Chernobyl finally shuts down

12/14/2000 thu
- Gore is gone & we're back in the Bush leagues -
(but stay tuned, Dubya could get "Hoover'ed")
10 takeovers reported, totaling $2.08B + $??
+ 3 downsizings reported, totaling 13,500 lost jobs:
• 40% workforce cut (7000 So. Korean jobs) as Daewoo tries to regain markets by cutting
its best market - its own people, instead of letting all sacrifice together with a
40% workweek cut (24 hrs/wk) & all keep some work & pay
• 10% staffcut (6300 US jobs) as Whirlpool appliance mfg battles sagging markets by
cutting markets = its own employees - instead of 10% hrs&pay cut for all
(to 36-hr wk) & everyone keeps working, earning & buying appliances
• 4.7% workforce cut (200 lost US jobs) as Cone Mills denims clobbers its best markets &
moves jobs to Mexico, instead of doing a 4.7% workweek cut for everyone (to 38-hr
wk) at its SC plant & keeping everyone employed & confidently clothes-shopping
+ omens: • Moody's predicts corporate debt defaults will triple next year as credit quality
declines & investor pullback induces deeper downturn
• foodbanks already booming at depression levels
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • 1 UNtakeover - Utilicorp spins off Aquila Energy
• Europe moves against hostile takeovers

12/13/2000 wed
- this is the way we create a depression -
6 downsizings reported, totaling over 25,565 lost jobs:
• 20,500 jobs gonzo as GM phases out last survivor of 19th-century marks, Oldsmobile
• 8% workforce cut (3300 LatAm jobs) as Panamerican Beverages tries to regain
profitability by cutting its best markets, its own employees - instead of 8%
workweek cut for all (to 36.8-hr wk) & everyone keeps chuggling Coke
• another 8% workforce cut (1200 lost jobs on 3 continents) as Hayes Lemmerz
wheels worsens downturn in auto industry, instead of 8% workweek
cut for everyone & they all buy another set of wheels
• 285 jobcuts as Georgia-Pacific turns off 2 papermakers & a pulpmill in Kalamazoo
• 25% staffcut (180 lost Silicon Valley jobs) as Ask Jeeves search engine's ad
revenues shrink, vs. 25% hrs&pay cut for all (to 30-hr wk) & everyone
keeps working, earning, shopping, motivating advertising...
• 100 jobs to go as Boston Herald strains to finance
buying Community Newspapers from Fidelity
+ 4 takeovers reported, totaling $1.42B + $??
+ 3 bankruptcy mentions: • NYT slams corrupt Congress for slimy bankruptcy bill
• Lernout&Hauspie tries again for concordat = bankruptcy in Belgium
• Thai Petro bankruptcy stalled by desire for new judges
+ omens: • Delta still fighting for overtime & against passenger safety = boycott call!
• GOP caves on enforcing immigration laws - why not pay everyone's fare here?
• Rodriguez "doesn't know what to do with" his record $252m = "fake money"
• dot-com belt-tightening adding to pressures for yet more spam
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• Bill Gates' "temps" manage to jimmy measly $1B off his $60B-70B bankroll after an 8-yr lawsuit
• US Navy grants referendum to islanders targeted for bombing practice

12/12/2000 tue
14 takeovers reported, totaling $7.99B + $??
+ 1 downsizing reported: • unspecified jobs lost as SoftNet wraps ISP Channel
+ 1 prison mention: • tough questions re stowing young mental patients in prisons
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UPsizing, ?? new Ma. jobs at RiverDelta's new plant  • 1 UNtakeover, Pitney Bowes' spinoff
• Babbitt leadership moves dam busting from "Unrealistic!" to "Let's do it!"
• fight vs. mandatory overtime spreads from Amazon.com to Etown.com

12/10-11/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 44 takeovers reported this week, worth $27.91B + $undisclosed
• 34 downsizings reported, costing over 14,060 lost jobs
• 10 bankruptcy/failure mentions, with over $102m debt
vs. 2 UPsizings (50+ new jobs) + 4 UNtakeovers reported ($377m+)
< YTD:  603 dnsz (555,262+  jobcuts) +2117 takov ($2242.41B+) vs. 134 upsz (86,639+=16%) +138 untak ($114.49B+) >
1 weekend downsizing report: • unspecified layoffs at Knight Ridder
+ weekend omens: • local congregation in Georgia finds $60m
bequest so disturbing that it passes on all but $3m
• Conn. a microcosm of nation's widening wealth gap
vs. weekend glimmers of intelligence: • how is death penalty prolife?  
• against the taxcut? then demonstrate your sincerity & give it back!
• time for Ireland to 'drop off the radar screen' - and Israel too, for that matter

12/09/2000 sat (re fri biz)
5 takeovers reported, totaling $788m + $??
+ 4 downsizings reported, totaling 272 + unspecified lost jobs:
• 60% workforce cut (150 lost Wa. jobs) as Pope Resources timber focuses on tree farms
• estimated 100 lost South African jobs as Allianz insurance does 20% business cutback
• 22 more lost Maine jobs in still-uncounted portion of 5% workforce cut as General
Dynamics weathers postColdWar military budget cuts at Bath shipyard, instead of diluting
the pain with 5% workweek cut (to 38-hr wk) & keeping all working & Xmas shopping
• unspecified jobs lost as Sovereign Bank closes 19 branches in RI Stop&Shop supermkts
+ 2 bankruptcy mentions: • Belgian court blocks Lernout&Hauspie bankruptcy  • Sogo
+ 1 business-related suicide item: • the 2 Sogo suicides in Japan surface again
+ 1 prison mention: • 'strange but true' & sorta good - inmates cram Greek
to peruse New Testament in original lingo - en arkhé én ho logos...
+ omens: • "free-mkt capitalism"? - NY state & city to give record subsidy to Wall St
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• 3 UNtakeovers - Bear Stearns & Hicks drop Manville,
Rockwell spins off avionics & comms, Getty rebuffs United again
• analyzing or even defining humor, with or without killing it
• blunt Prince Philip outwits hope-for-foot-in-mouth Yankee press
• NYT pops the question - pick an arbiter (one only): judiciary, legislature, or the public

12/08/2000 fri
- downsizing sounds like a qik fix, but dents consumer demand -
12 takeovers reported, totaling $3.8B + $??
+ 6 downsizings reported, totaling 2821 lost jobs:
• 5% workforce cut (2000 lost US jobs) as Unisys exits low-profit businesses,
instead of simply 5% workweek cut (2 hrs/wk) for all & all keep working & shopping
• 44% plant staffcut (400 lost Cal. jobs) as Boeing abreacts to end of spaceshuttle work,
instead of 44% hrs&pay cut for all & dilute preholiday hit across everyone
• 20% workforce cut (248 Cal. jobs) as NorthPoint abreacts to Verizon's bailout pullback -
why not 20% workweek cut (four 8-hr days) & happy holidays for all?!
• 17% staff cut (125 lost U.S. jobs) as Viant Corp. joins crash of e-consulting, instead of
17% hours&pay cut for whole company & everyone stays earning & surfing
• 11% workforce cut (48 lost US jobs) as Nordstrom.com cuts costs in worst way, instead
of best way = 11% workweek cut, keeping everyone working & catalog shopping
• unspecified jobcuts as HomeBase closes 22 home-improvement stores
& switches 67 others to home furnishings
+ 1 bankruptcy mention: • National Airlines
+ omens: • Mass. private sector just a little too spoiled?
• Wall St. unease over 2x4s & 3x5s breeds last-feast mentality?
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • 1 UPsizing, ?? new jobs as Calif. creates 3 research institutes
• 2 UNtakeovers - Abbey rebuffs Lloyds tho not Scots & Deutsche Bahn rebuffs 2 Scandlines suitors
• Chrysler clips overtime...rather than cutting staff = hours not jobs = timesizing not downsizing
• Manhattan's Food Emporium gets slammed $3m for violating overtime laws...

12/07/2000 thu
- downsizings increasingly outnumber takeovers -
8 takeovers reported, totaling $2.88B + $??
+ 10 downsizings reported, totaling 3285 lost jobs:
• 1000 as British Airways shifts flights from Gatwick to Heathrow
• 25% workforce cut (480 lost Tx. & Ca. jobs) as Scient e-consulting cuts costs
& mkts, instead of just 25% workweek cut to 30-hr wk, & mkts shrink minimally
• 380 US jobcuts at Xpedior e-consulting   • 320 SC cuts at Springs Industries bed linens
• 58% staff cut (280 New England jobs) as HarvardNet cuts the wrong stuff, instead of
58% hours&pay cut & keeping everyone earning something before the holidays
• 225 more lost US jobs at Hasbro   • 120 lost US jobs at Lante Corp. e-consulting
• 25% staff cut (85 lost Cal. jobs) as Women.com prolongs 8-yr profit goosechase
• 5% staff cut (65 Ont. jobs) as GSI Lumonics cuts wrong stuff (staff), instead of a
5% hours&pay cut (to 38-hr wk) & keeping everyone earning & seeing their way clear
• 3.5% workforce cut (35 lost Seattle jobs) as Nordstrom.com cuts costs in worst way,
instead of best way = 3.5% workweek cut, keeping everyone working & catalog shopping
+ 2 bankruptcy/failure mentions: • Armstrong World in Chap. 11 over asbestos claims
• Babygear.com in Chapter 7 (poor customer service?)
+ omens: • burnout & sleep deficit creeps from workforce to college applicants
vs. glimmers of intelligence : • 1 UPsizing, 50 new jobs in Cambridge Ma as Compaq opens lab
• 60,000 protesters gather at EU summit in Nice for equal social rights & against globalization

12/06/2000 wed
- this is the way we induce a depression -
12 takeovers reported, totaling $2.84B + $??
+ 5 downsizings reported, totaling 5728 lost jobs:
• 4638 employees thrown out in regular winter layoff as the Union Pacific risks its skillset
& abuses unemployment insurance system with yrly predictable firing (& spring hiring)
• 14% workforce cut (1000 lost Ill. jobs) as Outboard Marine cuts costs in way that
worsens demand for its recreational vehicles, instead of just 14% workweek cut
• 85 lost US jobs as Grand Ole Opry closes Internet unit, Gaylord Digital
• 10% staff cut (65 US jobs) as Oxygen Media cuts the wrong stuff, instead of a 10%
hours&pay cut (to four 9-hr days) & keeping everyone earning & breathing easy
• 33% workforce cut (40 lost US jobs) as JuniorNet.com cuts costs in worst way, instead
of best way = 33% workweek cut, keeping everyone working & buying netware for kids
+ 4 bankruptcy/failure mentions: • Decora Industries files with -$102m
• broke Pets.com sells name to rival  • 1stUp exits from business
• broke Legend Airlines ends perpetual 1st-class upgrade
+ omens: • Delta too dumb to hire enuf pilots
• another Globe gripe about (self-determined) lack of Ma. political contests
vs. glimmers of intelligence : • 2 UNtakeovers
- Xerox spins off Gyricon ($?), Lucent spins off new Agere ('virtual' $377m)
• OJT dept. - firefighters out for ice-rescue training find young deer in trouble, so...

12/05/2000 tue
6 takeovers reported, totaling $4.2B + $??
+ 8 downsizings reported, totaling 1654 +?? lost jobs:
• 1300 jobs lost worldwide as Dun & Bradstreet cuts costs (& markets)
• 175 lost US jobs as Engage Technologies reacts the dumb way to shrinking markets
• 7% workforce cut (150 US jobs) as DoubleClick follows Engage, instead of just doing a
7% workweek cut & keeping everyone workin & surfin
• 19 doctors laid off as American healthcare system continues
meltdown, this episode at Emerson Hospital outside Concord, Mass.
• 17% primary-care staff cut (6 US jobs) as New England Medical Center cuts the wrong
stuff, instead of a 17% hours&pay cut & keeping everyone working & health-insured
• est. 4 doctors laid off as CareGroup closes practices in Weston & Cambridge, Mass.
• unspecified cuts at Deutsche Bank, and...   • Seattle Times
+ omens: • the Economic Problem in a baseball microcosm
• toy designers get even more violent
vs. glimmers of intelligence : • US sets up big coral reserve round NW Hawaii
• white knight bails out recent Muppet kidnapper

12/03-04/2000
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 31 takeovers reported this week, worth $7.6B + $undisclosed
• 20 downsizings reported, costing over 9,147 lost jobs
• 5 bankruptcy/failure mentions, with over $9.2B debt
vs. 3 UPsizings (48+ new jobs) + 4 UNtakeovers reported ($2.6B+)
< YTD:  569 dnsz (541,202+  jobcuts) +2073 takov ($2214.5B+) vs. 132 upsz (86,589+=16%) +134 untak ($114.11B+) >
1 weekend takeover reported, totaling $13.4B
+ 1 weekend downsizing report: • 4% workforce cut (300 lost Maine jobs)
as Bath Iron Works shipyard continues defense-cutback shrinkage, instead of
just doing a 4% (1½-hr) workweek cut for all & all help look for civilian mkts
+ 1 weekend biz-failure story - Legend Airlines halts flights indefinitely
+ weekend omens: • women lawyers fleeing big firms over megahours
• can foosball replace what layoffs & megahours wipe out?
vs. weekend glimmers of hope:
• Book notes risks of busy schedule   • Amish kids work - is that a crime?

12/02/2000 sat (re fri biz)
4 takeovers reported, totaling $1.04B + $??
+ 4 downsizings reported, totaling 2466 lost US jobs:
• 1700 midwest jobs up in the air as Delphi autoparts employs indefinite 95%-paid
furlough instead of simply timesizing & keeping everyone together & morale high
• 1% staffcut (625 lost NY jobs) as Xerox cuts costs & own mkts, instead of unnoticeable
1% hours&pay cut for all (5 mins/day) & everyone stays together innovating
• 28% workforce cut (141 Conn. jobs) as DSL.net ISP tries to save cash the wrong way,
vs. 28% workweek cut (to four 7¾-hr days) & everyone stays employed & surfin the Web
• unspecified Tex. cuts as Miller Brewing closes Celis Brewery
plant in Austin in wake of complete takeover
+ 1 homeless story: • the mental illness connection
+ omens: • now we know that not all votes count
vs. glimmers of intelligence : • AMA council backs access to morning-after pill
• Massachusetts nurses assoc. slams national assoc. for foot-dragging on forced overtime

12/01/2000 fri
6 takeovers reported, totaling $1.7B + $??
+ 1 downsizing reported: • 160 Dixie jobcuts as Terra Industries
closes Ark. & Tex. plants as raw material prices for fertilizer mfg rise
+ 1 bankruptcy mentioned: • court delays reorg in biggest Thai bust, Thai Petro -$3.8B
+ omens: • mad cow disease panics Europe, beef sales plunge
vs. glimmers of intelligence : • 1 UNtakeover, worth $300m
- Worthington puts 'the Techs' on indefinite hold
• Mexico & Canada elections make Big Brother look bad
• EU facilitates Web customer redress  • Dell to offer Linux  • McDonalds backs environment