dooms du jour, August/2001
[Commentary] ©2001 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080

8/31/2001 fri
4 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $392m + $??
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 16,508 jobcuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 20% workforce cut (10,000 lost jobs) at Kyocera cptr parts, instead of just trimming
20% off its workweek (to four 8-hr days for whole firm including top executives),
re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone
together, employed, earning & buying 80% as much computer stuff
• 2400 US jobcuts at Chas. Schwab  • 2200 Japan cuts at Oki Electric  • 1250 cuts at
Swissair  • 600 Tenn. cuts at Carrier air conditioners  • 58 Ma. cuts at ADE Corp.
+ 1 bankruptcy reported: • Musimundo in Argentina, with $206.4m debt
+ omens: • Dow dips below 10,000, again - first repeat since April
• incomes rise but spending slows (because funneling to top brkts)
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UNtakeover: Polaroid sells div. to div.'s mgmt
• electricity deregulation a flop - finally they're saying it out loud
• Greenspan stands alone - or is he treading water like the rest of the Pooh-Bahs?

8/30/2001 thu
7 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $4.38B + $??
+ 5 downsizings, totaling 3286 jobcuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 6% workforce cut (2000 lost US jobs) as Corning optical fiber continues overreaction
to 'cooling of demand' for its products by cooling it further, instead of just trimming its
workweek 6% (29 mins/day for whole firm including top executives), re-investing
overtime pay in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together,
employed, earning & shopping 94% as much as usual
• 590 Tex. jobcuts by AT&T  • 560 cuts at Sun Microsystems  • 106 Pittsburgh cuts
as Mellon Bank botches mailbox service for I.R.S.  • 30 cuts at MetLife in Boston
+ omens: • Belgium down  • US worst growth in 8 yrs  • revised output data down
• Ford cancels mgmt bonuses this yr • wage gap up in Mass. • NAFTA lost Mass. jobs
vs. glimmers of intelligence: • Groton School's sex assaults may explain CEO sociopathology
• Barney Frank - for anti-abortion fanatics, "life begins at conception & ends at birth"
• MIT physicist - Bush missile defense could just knock warheads onto Canada or Europe
• glimmers of TIMEsizing : should pilots be limited to 16 hours on duty even when flights are disrupted?
or Q: why can their shifts be 16 hours long in the first place?? (hell with this, dial 1-800-USA-RAIL)

8/29/2001 wed
- takeovers, left to the slow-witted and short-sighted, slow down -
4 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $1.8B + $$undisclosed
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 5780 jobcuts +?? reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 26% workforce cut (2000 lost US jobs) as weak consumer demand spooks Gateway
low-cost PCs, instead of just trimming its workweek 26% (to four 7hr,24min days for
whole firm incl. top execs), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together, employed, earning & buying 74% as many PCs as usual
• 580 jobcuts at Otis Elevator  • 150 cuts at Chromatis in Israel  • 50 Delta & Pine
Land Co.  • 18 at Krone Optical  • unspecified teachers cut in Michigan 
• unspecified jobs in air as 5 small businesses evicted in Harlem
+ omens: • 21 dot-coms closed in Aug., up from 9 in July
vs. glimmers of TIMEsizing:
• Japan - Accenture offers leaves with some pay
• Germany - NY Times carries story on VW's shorter-hrs backsliding
• France - Jospin is backsliding a bit too as he caves in to the squeals of small firms

8/28/2001 tue
5 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $8.08B
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 3250 jobcuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 14% workforce cut (2000 lost US jobs) as Deere & Co. panics over slumping demand &
depressed farm sector, instead of just trimming its workweek 14% (to five 6hr,53min days
for whole firm incl. top execs), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone employed, earning & buying 86% as many weed whackers as usual
• 500 Calif. cuts at Northrup  • 500 Cape Breton cuts as Can. gov't cans its coal mining 
• 250 Washington State cuts (0.3%) as Georgia-Pacific closes part of paper mill
+ 1 bankruptcy reported: • Standard Media, parent of The Industry Standard
+ omens: • at five percent, Japan breaks its record for unemployment
• and now, the beginning of the end of Social Security in the USA
vs. glimmers of insight:
• US finally raps Israel's violent overreactions
• 1 UPsizing, 10 new jobs: Earle Palmer Brown picks up where Warwick Baker O'Neill laid off, partly
• 2 glimmers of TIMEsizing : - big German union fights bid for blank check on VW employees' lives
- US study shows students with part-time jobs do better, but those with full-time jobs do worse

8/26-27/2001
- chronicling the demise of America due to path not taken -
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 22 takeovers reported this week, worth over $1.392 billion
• 30 downsizings reported this week, costing over 44,525 lost jobs
• 3 bankruptcies  • 1 makework  • 1 homelessness item &  • 3 prison stories 
vs. 9 TIMEsizing stories + 4 UPsizings (2360+ new jobs) + 0 UNtakeovers ($0)
< YTD: 878 dnsz (1045004 jbcts) +1051 takv($595B) +147 bkrp vs.208 timsiz +92 upsz(46765+=4%) +41 untk($103B+)>
+ 3 downsizings reported this weekend, totaling 19,020 Japan & Tex. jobcuts:
• 10% of workforce cut (19,000 lost Japan jobs) as Toshiba computer chips
accelerates the downward spiral of demand, instead of trimming its workweek by
10% (48 mins/day for whole firm including its own top execs) & keeping everyone
together, employed, earning & making 90% of their usual computer purchases
• all 20 jobs adrift as Focus ad agency in Tex. loses last remaining client
• unspecified Japan jobcuts at Hitachi Ltd. computer chips
+ 2 homelessness stories: • Clinton's original supportive welfare reform turned nasty
• in Mass., families overflowing shelters have grown 8-32-228 in 1999-2000-2001
+ 2 prison stories: • 1 in 32 US adults is in the corrections system (& not as staff)
• in Mass., released inmates face hopelessness - no housing, no jobs
+ 1 bankruptcy story: • Q2 bankruptcy filings highest on record
+ weekend omens: • America is getting creepier
vs. weekend glimmers of intelligence, if not hope:
• readers slam too much regulation (Fed ratecuts) &  • too little regulation
(unregulated free market), &  • press for an Environment bubble to replace the Internet bubble

8/25/2001 sat (re fri biz)
3 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $250m + $$undisclosed
+ 2 downsizings, totaling 825 jobcuts +?? reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 10% workforce cut (790 lost US jobs) as Hughes Electronics gets hysterical about
sluggish consumer spending, instead of just trimming its workweek 10% (48 mins./day for
whole firm incl. top execs), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together working, earning & shopping 90% as much as usual
• 35 American & Canadian cuts by Arthur D. Little 
+ omens: • 'doggie bag' index up & 'going out to eat' index down
• Bush says Social Security not untouchable
vs. glimmers of insight:
• reader talks sense about senseless 'president'
• 'good, but' - last START I silo destroyed but Bushpush for new ones
• 'good, but' - Texas arrests show gains against people smugglers, but...
• TIMEsizing glimmers: - feisty Brockton Hospital nurses lead the way again
- Schroeder pushes catchy 5000x5000 plan (5000-mark jobs for 5000 people)
regardless of arbitrariness, rigidity & union objections on 48-hr wk in Deutschland

8/24/2001 fri
6 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $323m + $$undisclosed
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 4449 jobcuts +?? reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 20% workforce cut (3000 lost Euro jobs) as France Télécom over-reacts to shrinking
margins by amputations at Equant data carrier, instead of just trimming its workweek 20%
(to four 8-hr days for whole firm incl. top execs), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-
targeted training, & keeping everyone earning & spending 80% usual am't on data
• 1000 Finnish cuts at Sonera  • 216 Philly cuts by GE  • 118 Ma. cuts at MKS  • 115 Ca.
cuts at Cooley Godward  • unspecified NJ cuts at Sea Breeze, Hi Ho, Santa Maria...
+ 1 makework case: • latest leaky life raft - 1000s of kids grasp for security via law school
+ 1 bankruptcy reported: • Viatel phone & data service sales, with $9m registered debt 
+ 1 homelessness item: • NYC workfare ain't workin' despite lower welfare figures
+ omenettes: • unemployment benefit costs & new jobless claims up
• incredible shrinking surplus   • Germany, • Chile & • Brazil down
• Dubya plans to yank us out of ABM pact into hi-risk uncertainty
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: Sanochemia Pharmazeutika of Vienna gets approval for factory in US
• angry Utah GOP pack heat to their convention = good chance of self-annihilation?!?

8/23/2001 thu
5 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $672m + $$undisclosed
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 2203 jobcuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 15% workforce cut (1283 lost jobs worldwide) as Tellabs telecom equipment joins the
slump & worsens it, instead of just trimming its workweek 15% (to five 6hr-48min days
for whole firm including top executives), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted
training, & keeping everyone working, earning & spending 85% usual am't on high tech
• 620 Brit cuts at Baltimore Technologies  • 300 Power-One jobs move to Mexico
& China from Mass.   • unspecified NY cuts as Chandler Care Center closes
+ 1 prison story: • seven years of 3-strikes law's hammering on non-violent
offenders have only made for aging prison population & higher costs
+ omens: • mounting snafus with our uncontrolled immigration
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: Maytag opening $2m plant in Mexico with 230 new jobs (but how many lost in US?)
• 4 TIMEsizing items: - for different reasons, people mull 4-day workweeks in Colorado & - Brazil
- big German union fights for 35-hour week versus pressure for 'flexibility,'
but why not implement overtime-to-job conversion?
- ex-Genoa protesters to demonstrate at Greek PM's state-of-nation address for 35-hour workweek

8/22/2001 wed
1 takeover reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, worth $undisclosed
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 6585 cuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 4500 more jobcuts at AOL Time Warner 
• 5% workforce cut (1100 lost jobs) as Steelcase furniture sales slump hysteria leads
another firm to grab onto suicidal 'strategy', instead of just trimming its workweek 5%
(24 mins/day for whole firm including top executives), re-investing overtime pay in OT-
targeted training, & keeping everyone earning & spending 95% as much on furniture
• 600 jobcuts at Hutchinson Technology  • 330 cuts at Parlex  • 55 at Be Free 
• unspecified cuts upon shutdown of magazines Classic American Home,
• Working Woman & • Family PC
+ omens: • impotent Fed cuts rates for 7th time this year
vs. glimmers of TIMEsizing:
• there's an EU directive limiting workweek to 35 hrs?!
• 35-hr week in France is having rationalizing side-effects on French life

8/21/2001 tue
- 'neutron-bomb' mgmt style = companies & markets without people -
"Fujitsu's restructuring smacks of an emergency evacuation." Hiroshi Yoshihara. -
5 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $136m + $??
+ 9 downsizings, totaling 15,463 cuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 8% workforce cut (8000 lost jobs) as J.P. Morgan Chase overreacts to bear market,
instead of just cutting its workweek 8% (to five 7hr-22min days for whole firm
including top executives), re-investing overtime pay in OT-targeted training, & keeping
everyone employed, earning, & buying 92% as much stock as before
• 4000 jobcuts at Agilent  (• 1400 more cuts to count at Fujitsu)  • 614 at NY state prisons
• 500 at Korn/Ferry  • 500 at UMass Memorial Health Care  • 180 at Keane  • 169 at
Initiative Media Worldwide  • 100 at Engage  • ?? cuts at Triton Network Systems
+ 2 bankruptcies: • Ames Dept. Stores  • World Commerce Online
+ 1 prison story: • NY state prisons & prison staff thin a bit
+ omens: • Nikkei, • Mexico & • Turkey all down
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 2 UPsizings: - China's Netcom adds 200 jobs/mon.
- Spartan Motors heavy-duty chassis builds new plant in Marion, SC
• 2 TIMEsizing items: - employer survey finds longer hours cause absenteeism
- French labor minister works on imagining creative ways to buffer jump to 35 hrs/wk on small firms

8/19-20/2001
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 32 takeovers reported this week, worth over $5.24 billion
• 37 downsizings reported this week, costing over 39,853 lost jobs
• 6 bankruptcies  • 4 prison stories 
vs. 7 TIMEsizing stories + 2 UPsizings (112 new jobs) + 0 UNtakeovers ($0)
< YTD: 848 dnsz (1000479 jbcts) +1029 takv($594B) +144 bkrp vs.199 timsiz +88 upsz(44135+=4%) +41 untk($103B+)>
2 weekend takeover reports, totaling 11m + $??
+ 1 downsizing reported this weekend, totaling 15,000 Japan jobcuts:
• 10% of workforce cut (15,000 lost jobs) as Fujitsu computer chips worsens the
slow demand it's suffering from, instead of just trimming its workweek by
10% (48 mins/day for whole firm including its own top execs) & keeping
everyone together, employed, earning & buying 90% of their usual computers
+ 1 prison story: • Justice stats say drug charges & average prison stay doubled
+ 2-in-1 weekend bankruptcy stories: • new Newsweek says consumer debt doubled
since last recession & loans to low-income consumers exploding
+ weekend omens: • NYT toes party line that all economies sinking in lockstep -
no mention of France's sink-resistance or its secret = sharing the vanishing work 
• new Newsweek comments on silly avoidance of R-word
• author compares good doobies in today's workplace with Titanic's mailroom
• other authors say pity the poor post-downsizing bosses 'asked' to do more with less & salvage morale
vs. weekend glimmers of insight:
• botanist slings soundbites, e.g., US has more prison inmates than farmers
• 1 timesizing item:Paula Rayman's new book "Beyond the Bottom Line" pops The Big Question re our future

8/18/2001 sat (re fri biz)
4 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $315m + $??
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 3226 cuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 2% workforce cut (1500 lost jobs) as Accenture, née Andersen Consulting, churns &
demoralizes its once-elite staff, instead of just cutting its workweek 2% (10 mins. a day
for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime pay in OT-targeted training, &
keeping everyone employed, earning, & creating 98% as much consumer demand as usual
• 670 Irish jobcuts as General Semi closes plant in County Cork  (• 500 more cuts to count
at Ford)  • est. 224 lost jobs at Southern Union energy via 448 early retirements  • 186
Calif. cuts this year at Certicom security software  • est. 137 employees adrift as Agere
moves jobs 60 mi. west  • 9 Boston cuts as Walking gets stopped by 'Readers Disgust'
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Vitech [vy a duck?] ducks into Chapter 11 to hide on Gateway
+ 1 prison story: • Justice Policy Institute prez slams prison privatization
+ omens: • Taiwan, • big-firm profits & • foreign investor faith in US all down
vs. glimmers of TIMEsizing:
• shorter-workweek-powered French jobs still growing in teeth of global slump

8/17/2001 fri
6 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $145m + $$undisclosed
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 8955 cuts +?? cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 10% workforce cut (4500 lost jobs) as Ford gets efficient & falls into the Reuther trap,
"Let's see you sell cars to these robots!" - instead of cutting workweek 10% (48 mins. a
day for whole firm incl. top execs), re-investing overtime pay in OT-targeted training, &
keeping everyone employed, earning, & buying 90% as many new Fords as before
• 2000 jobcuts as Ames shutters 47 more stores  • 1200 cuts by Philips in Vienna  • 900 as
Wabash National closes 2 plants & a distrib ctr  • 295 as Industry Standard mag stops
publishing  • 60+unspecified cuts as Bozell ad agency closes offices
+ 1 prison story: • chief of new NY state prison busted for reaction to anonymous ridicule
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing: IntelCore plans new $25m plant in Mass. with 100 jobs
• 2 TIMEsizing items: - beginning of airline strike over low pay & unwanted hours increases
- end of food industry strike that began over low pay & unwanted hours reductions

8/16/2001 thu
- business isn't going anywhere till the wealthy spread their hoard more efficiently, & the
kind of investment that most builds markets is investment in employment, whether
more labor hours or, easier, more people sharing existing labor hours -
10 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $626m + $$undisclosed
+ record 13 downsizings, totaling 11,805 cuts +?? cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 3800 jobcuts at AOL Time Warner 
• 2.3% workforce cut (3400 lost jobs) as Motorola drops from 4th to 7th-place chipmaker
instead of just trimming its workweek by 2.3% (just 11 mins. a day for whole firm
including top execs), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted cross-training, &
keeping everyone employed, earning, & buying 97.7% as much computeriana as usual
• 1500 jobcuts in NYC Schools admin  • over 1000 cuts at Opel in Deutschland  • 1000 at
Clariant in Europe  • 455 at Egghead.com  • 400 at Schwab  • 120 at CSK Auto  • 80 at
Sina.com in China  • 40 at Commerce Gp  • 10 at Young & Rubicam's NYC office 
• unspecified cuts at Pursuit of Truth in China & • ACE Computer Camps in USA
+ 3 bankruptcy stories: • 41 asbestos defendants pushed into Chapter 11
• Egghead.com files for Ch. 11  • ACE Computer Camp files for Ch. 7
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing: Man Financial Gp hires 12 brokers
• reader nails reason for mediocrity of our elected "representatives," especially presidential
• 1 TIMEsizing item: Credence moves some employees to 4-day week to restrain headcount reductions

8/15/2001 wed
7 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $3.52B + $$undisclosed
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 1,416 jobcuts +?? reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 50% workforce cut (700 lost US jobs) as Midway Airlines reinforces 'calamitous drop in
business traffic' instead of just trimming its workweek by 50% (to 20-hour week for whole
firm including top execs), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted cross-training,
& keeping everyone together - employed, earning, & flying 50% as much as usual
• 600 US jobcuts at Razorfish  • 75 Alabama cuts as Eastman Chemical closes plant 
• 41 Ind. cuts as PCD Inc. closes plant  • unspecified cuts at Readers' Digest (US),
• Albriond Capital Mgmt (US) & • OSI Pharmaceuticals (US & UK)
+ 2 bankruptcy stories: • NC's Midway Airlines files for Chapter 11 
• South Korea picks 49 lucky winners out of 455 troubled firms - to liquidate
+ 1 prison story: • So. Carolina prison staff in dock for having sex with prisoners
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing in R.I., by Immunex 
• fatal work injuries down last year, but still average 16 a day
• 2 TIMEsizing items: - Mattson Tech again cuts company workweeks to avoid increased layoffs
- So. Korea's gov't & big firms to cut to 40-hr workweek next year because of too-high 4% joblessness

8/14/2001 tue
- the slide into ever deeper economic disaster continues before our eyes
& all because we don't share the vanishing work & spread the funnelling earnings -
4 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $545m
+ 5 downsizings, totaling 14,451 jobcuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 7800 jobcuts as Tyco chews up 58 factories, offices & other facilities 
• 1.4% workforce cut (3500 lost jobs) at Citigroup, instead of just trimming company
workweek by 1.4% (7 mins/day for whole firm including top execs), re-investing
overtime pay in overtime-targeted cross-training, & keeping everyone together -
employed, earning, & banking 98.6% as much as usual
• 1700 jobcuts at GenTek  • 1400 more cuts at AOL Time Warner 
• 51 cuts as Martin ad agency shuts San Francisco branch
vs. glimmers of TIMEsizing :
• Reuters fusses about 35-hr week, but Fitch gives France triple-A rating

8/12-13/2001
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 30 takeovers reported this week, worth over $7.54 billion
• 20 downsizings reported this week, costing over 16,977 lost jobs
• 1 bankruptcy  • 1 prison story 
vs. 3 TIMEsizing stories + 3 UPsizings (15+ new jobs) + 3 UNtakeovers ($??)
< YTD:811 dnsz (960626 jbcts) +997 takv($589B) +138 bkrp vs. 192 timsiz +86 upsz (44043+=5%) +41 untk ($103B+)>
1 weekend takeover, worth 88m
+ weekend omens: • tough times in high tech
+ 1 prison story: • Justice Dept. says 2,071,686 inmates
last Dec. 31, but state numbers have dropped a nanomicron
vs. weekend glimmers of hope:
• cell biologist started as creationist but got reluctantly convinced by evolution
• Connecticut has reduced its welfare rolls by 57% (but what happens
now that economy's slumping & federal $$ are drying up?)

8/11/2001 sat (re fri biz)
+ 4 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $545m
+ 3 downsizings, totaling 784 jobcuts reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 700 Ohio jobcuts (75%) as Rhythms NetConnections goes Chapter 11 
• 10% workforce cut (80 Ma. lost jobs) as never-profitable Hologic medical
devices reorgs & seeks lower costs, instead of just trimming its workweek by
10% (48 mins/day for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime
pay in overtime-targeted cross-training, & keeping everyone together -
employed, earning, & spending 90% as much as usual on their health
• Archer-Daniels revamps board to shrink by 4 members
+ omens: • Japan down further & • Singapore's renewed recession add to yesterday's woes
vs. glimmers of hope: • 1 UPsizing, at Avon 
• 2 UNtakeovers, as Liberty Media and Dictaphone spin off
• Colombian cattle moove into void left by foot&mouth-infected Europe, Brazil & Argentina

8/10/2001 fri
- cellfones, beepers, robotic 411: technology as self-torture -
+ 6 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $697m + $$undisclosed
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 7265 jobcuts +??, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 1800 German jobcuts at Bayer 
• 10% staff cut (1600 lost jobs) as Sabena Belgian airlines cuts flights in final effort to
avoid collapse, instead of just trimming its workweek by 10% (48 mins/day for whole firm
including top execs), re-investing overtime pay in overtime-targeted cross-training, &
keeping everyone together, earning, employed & flying 90% as much as usual
• 1300 worldwide cuts at Exide  • 1300 July cuts at the Gap  • 1250 cuts at Iomega  • 15
S.F. cuts at McCann-Erickson  • unspecified cuts at Reed Elsevier & • Flooz.com
+ 1 prison story: • Mass. governor moves toward Alabama-scale prison problem
vs. glimmers of hope: • workers (still with jobs) gain raises despite slump
• Erie nuns defy Vatican gag order

8/09/2001 thu
- hey, this could be the Big One -
omens: • mfg slide spreads to almost all sectors
• reader squawks about Times' facile handling of layoffs
+ 5 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $1.56B + $$undisclosed
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 3,720 jobcuts +??, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 1500 U.K. jobcuts at Boc Group  • 1370 mostly Tex. cuts at United Services Auto
• 4% staff cut (850 Irish jobs lost) as Gateway direct PC sales strains to return to
profitability by clobbering its own best markets, instead of just trimming its workweek by
4% (20 mins/day for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime pay in OT-
targeted X-training, & keeping everyone employed & spending 96% as much as usual
• unspecified US cuts as Union Planters bank scrunches mgmt & back office
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UNtakeover: Thermo Electron spins off 'Kadant'  • auto sales counter economic slump
• time-out on uncontrolled immigration begins to get media  • Daschle goes after Bush on Star Wars
• 1 TIMEsizing item: Dutch have only cleared way for shorter workweek but already have
slump-proof boomlet (but near-sighted employers still complain!)

8/8/2001 wed
10 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $2.02B
+ 3 downsizings, totaling 5,135 jobcuts, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 4900 job cuts at Sumitomo Mitsui bank in Japan
• 25% staff cut (140 US jobs lost) as Innoveda electronic-design software weakens
the weaker demand it's spooked about, instead of merely trimming its workweek
by 25% (to five 6-hour days for whole firm including top execs), re-investing
overtime pay in overtime-targeted crosstraining, and keeping everyone
together employed, earning & spending 75% as much as usual
• 95 job cuts (30%) as Giant Step & Novo ad agencies merge
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Covad Communications Group
+ qik takes along the route of our March of Folly:
• output is up despite slump, but wait, unsold output defines "slump" 
• slow growth in New England, but helpless little economists screech "no,
NOT a recession!"  • sluggish Germany drags down Europe - or v.v? 
• Brazil plans to slash its wrists so it can get IMF transfusion
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 2 UPsizings: - Microsoft starts Cal. research lab, 15 new jobs  - Blockbuster opens in Central America
• GM's fuel cells  • S. Korea's 'buy domestic'  • NYC subway's boom  • labor's sweatshop fight (but...)
• 1 TIMEsizing item: West Coast columnist vents torrents of praise for French shorter workweek

8/07/2001 tue
- sharing the vanishing work spreads the funneling income & glutted spending -
4 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $2.63B
+ 2 downsizings, totaling 73 jobcuts, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 40% staff cut (65 US jobs lost) as Gensym software self-amputates for profitability,
instead of merely trimming its workweek by 40% (to five 4hr,48min days for whole firm
including top execs), re-investing pay from overtime hours in OT-targeted crosstraining -
keeping everyone together employed, earning & shopping 60% as much as usual
• 13 job cuts (3.8%) at Mullen ad agency in Wenham, Mass.
+ omens: • Brazil energy crisis triggers industrial slowdown
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• Globe columnist presents coherent history of the
last 30 yrs in the American economy - blaming summers & presidents

8/05-06/2001
weekend roundup per the NY Times and the Boston Globe:
• 43 takeovers reported this week, worth over $26.38 billion
• 32 downsizings reported this week, costing over 20,957 lost jobs
• 3 bankruptcies  • 1 homelessness item &  • 2 prison stories 
vs. 6 more TIMEsizing stories + 5 UPsizings (209+ new jobs) + 0 UNtakeovers ($0)
< YTD:791 dnsz (943649 jbcts) +967 takv($589B) +137 bkrp vs. 189 timsiz +83 upsz (44028+=5%) +38 untk ($103B+)>
1 weekend takeover, worth 88m
+ ominous weekend qikis: • bull mkt profits not as hot as we thot  • with training neglected, some skills still in demand, duh  • France's weak spot, nuclear energy  • gov't housing programs shift from renting to owning, hurt poor, & still micromanage  • Bush bombs on Soc Sec
vs. weekend glimmers of hope:
• wind energy resurgent  • Census Bureau says our living standard is rising (but...)
• 1 timesizing item: Parade ragmag includes find-the-time article, bucks the cram-your-life trend

8/04/2001 sat (re fri biz)
2 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $15.2B
+ 5 downsizings, totaling 2,381 jobcuts, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 1800 Ohio jobcuts (100%) as Mosler security systems liquidates  • 421 Calif. cuts (71%)
as Metricom sinks into its July bankruptcy  • 100 Ill. cuts at Uniplast Films  • 60 NYC cuts
at Theglobe.com  • unspecified cuts as Casual Male lounges into its May bankruptcy
+ 1 bankruptcy/liquidation: • Mosler security systems shuts down
+ omens: • U.S. still losing jobs
vs. glimmers of TIMEsizing:
• French employers slam backlogs of orders
= desperate for something to complain about in their shorter-workweek-borne boomlet?

8/03/2001 fri
9 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $374m + $$undisclosed
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 297 jobcuts, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 170 French jobcuts at Société Générale  • 66 California cuts at NetZero
• 3% workforce cut (30 US jobs lost) as Arnold Worldwide joins ad-agency lemmings,
instead of merely trimming its workweek by 3% (14 mins/day for whole firm includ-
ing top execs), re-investing pay from overtime hours in OT-targeted crosstraining -
keeping everyone together employed, earning & shopping 97% as much as usual
• 12 S.F. cuts at Arnold Ingalls Moranville  • 8 at TBWA/Chiat/Day's NYC office  • 8 Ca.
cuts at Robaire & Hogshead  • 3 cuts as Citigroup's Philippine brokerage unit closes
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Rhythms NetConnections, a high-speed ISP
+ omens: • another market failure - Dell ends Linux offering
vs. glimmers of TIMEsizing :
• Kimball International still operating with shorter workweeks to avoid more jobcuts

8/02/2001 thu
4 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $1.14B + $$undisclosed
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 11,665 jobcuts + ??, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 4000 jobcuts at Air Canada 
• 15% workforce cut (2500 US jobs lost) as ADC Telecoms gets self-destructive after a
costly takeover, instead of just trimming its workweek by 15% (to five 6hr-48min days
for whole firm including top execs), re-investing pay from overtime hours in OT-targeted
crosstraining - keeping everyone employed, earning & buying 85% as much as usual
• 2000 jobcuts at SPX  • 2000 also at Global Crossing  • 925 at Pricewaterhouse
Consulting  • 140 at Avid   • 100 at FiberMark  • unspecified cuts at Daiwa Bank
+ 1 prison story: • ex-officer turned inmate snuffed as suspected spy
vs. glimmers of intelligence:
• at last, a tiny article on world population (& more 'optimistic' - due to AIDS?)

8/01/2001 wed
12 takeovers reported in NY Times (NYT) & BG, totaling $1.35B + $$undisclosed
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 6,546 jobcuts, reported in NYT & Boston Globe (BG):
• 4000 Japan jobcuts at NEC  • 1100 Boeing jobs 'moving' from Cal. to Tex. & Fla.
• 10% workforce cut (450 mostly US & Canada jobs) as Nordson machinery over-reacts
to slower orders, instead of just trimming its workweek by 10% (to five 7hr-12min days
for whole firm including top execs), re-investing pay from overtime hours in OT-targeted
crosstraining - keeping everyone employed, earning & spending 90% as much as usual
• 300 jobcuts at IXL  • 300 cuts at Sun Microsystems 
• 200 at Engelhard  • 126 at NaviSite  • 70 at Analogic
+ 1 homelessness item: • record-breaking number of homeless families in America
+ 1 prison story: • small-town America grasps for new prisons to put it on map
+ ominous words: • 'severe US slowdown starting to impact LatAm & Europe'
vs. glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: Navistar calls back 189 of its 1300 Canada layoffees of last Aug.
• 4 TIMEsizing items: - analysts in France start to "get it," shorter workweek strengthens job growth
- Michelin still doesn't "get it," still whines re costs of workweek cut, despite stronger markets
- German management also clueless about function of workweek reduction
- German unions "get it," push for phased-in 28.5-hour workweek