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

10/31/2001 wed
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• Acterna Cp. of Ma. reduces workweek at some US & German plants to limit layoffs
• BMC Industries uses 3-wk shutdowns here & short workwks in Europe to cut cuts
• Calif.'s Cymer lasers expands upcoming holidays to draw line on downsizing
• Degussa chemicals in Germany cuts overtime & straight time to limit layoffs
+ glimmers of hope - 2 UPsizings (?? new jobs):
• Bcom3 agency in Chicago formed Pangea & Tapestry divs. for multicultural mkts
• Alkermes of Cambridge MA to build plant in Ohio to make schizophrenia drug
vs.  doom du jourtm
1 bankruptcy: • Pharming Group NV, bankrupt biotech in the Netherlands  
+ 1 homelessness item: • Seattle coughs up more $$ for homeless next year
+ 11 takeovers, worth $2.26B + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 9 downsizings, totaling 4076 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 40% workforce cut (2000 jobs lost) at its DuPont drug unit as Bristol-Myers Squibb plays the
cumulative-suicide game of takeover&downsize, instead of just trimming its workweek 40% for
the unit (16 hrs/wk cut), less of a cut if the whole company participates including top executives,
re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together,
working, earning & buying 60% or more as many pharmaceuticals as before
• 760 cuts by Fidelity  • 475 at Dexter Shoe  • 300 by CVS  • 240 by Alcoa  • 100 by Shearman &
Sterling  • 98 by Cymer  • 77 by Mercer Consulting  • 26 by Beacon Power 

10/30/2001 tue
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• Merrill Lynch offers 6-12 mon. leaves at 20% salary + full bennies to avoid layoffs
• Bro Dick Withers of Philly demoes the future - a 1-day workweek
• PSi Technologies does both leaves & shortened workweeks
+ glimmers of hope - 3 UPsizings (?? new jobs):
• UPS starts up its own UPS Consulting subsidiary
• MIT's Sloan School of Mgmt shells out $250m for 3 new bldgs
• ThyssenKrupp and Baosteel open $1.3B stainless mfg plant in Shanghai
vs.  doom du jourtm
portents: Japan in headlines for • weak output & gloomy forecast & • record 5.3% joblessness
+ 1 homelessness item: • Boston nsg home that took in homeless for decades folds
+ 2 takeovers, worth $1.04B, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 3 downsizings, totaling 1650 jobcuts + unspecified, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 20% workforce cut (1200 US jobs lost) as Vought Aircraft tails & wings self-amputates
in response to Boeing's self-fragging, instead of just trimming its workweek 20% (to four 8-hour
days for the whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-
targeted training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & flying 80% as much as usual
• 450 cuts by MTV Networks  • unspecified Boston cuts at Village Manor Nursing Home

10/28-29/2001
- catchup updates continue -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
record 15 TIMEsizing stories + 2 UPsizings (?? new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover ($??)
vs. doom de la semaine:  
• 48 downsizings, totaling over 69,263 lost jobs
• 16 takeovers reported this week, worth over $3.02B
{YTD: 293 timsiz+121 upsz(163267+=10%)+48 untk($103B+) vs 1172 dnsz(1663591 jbcts)+1220 takv($718B)+176 bkrp}
- hope du weekend (apologies to l'Académie Française) -
weekend glimmer of timesizing: • French gov't facilities, like the Louvre,
have yet to get serious about applying the French govt's own 35-hr workweek law
+ weekend glimmers of vaguer hope:
• Bush praises companies for no layoffs
• Warsh praises Roach, Samuelson & worst-case planning
• Roche & RadioTony have a few more slump-fighting suggestions
vs.  doom du weekend:  1 weekend takeover reported, worth $26B

10/27/2001 sat (re fri biz)
- perspective teaches that timesizing offers more fluid and market-responsive training &
more flexible and technology-responsive schedules and lifestyle; ...catchup continues...
today's timesizing news:
• Veeco Instruments restricts staff cuts by selective workweek reductions in the U.S.
• ICOS Vision Systems plans to restrict headcount reductions with shortened workweeks
vs. doom du jourtm
symptoms: • a mire of headlines - more corporate welfare in US,
more deflation in Japan, US new-home sales down
+ 1 takeover, worth $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 2 downsizings, totaling 4100 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 2600 cuts by Europe's No. 2 travel company, Thomas Cook, in Germany 
• 1.2% workforce cut (1500 US & LatAm jobs lost) as Kraft Foods digests
Nabisco acquistion, instead of just trimming its workweek 1.2% (6 minutes a day
for the whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-
targeted training, & keeping everyone together, earning & food-shopping 98.8% as much as usual

10/26/2001 fri
- en route back across Pacific Ocean, timesizing appears to simply offer
more flexible & market-oriented training & scheduling; ...catchup continues...
today's timesizing news:
• California Micro uses 4-day week at AZ facility to constrain workforce reduction
• Lufthansa proposes 4-day workweek but no agreement yet reached with employees
• big German union official pushes 4-day week to prevent slowing of economic growth
• Hynix Semiconductor cuts workyear to 11 months for 14,000 employees in South Korea
+ general glimmers of hope:
• 2 UPsizings, ?? new jobs: - Flarion, NJ startup, gets financing
- InterGen gets financing for new power plant in Okla. in mid-2003
• new bank CEO talks 95 of his 100 investment bankers into significant paycuts
vs. doom du jourtm
symptoms: • smorgasbord of headlines - orders down, joblessness up, home sales down,
CEOs admit recession, WTO sees flat trade, econ data see 'slow recovery',
dismal news but 'solid' shares(?), employment crisis
+ 5 takeovers, totaling $637m, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 11 downsizings, totaling 33,161 jobcuts + ??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 15% workforce cut (10,000 Singapore jobs lost) as Flextronics International electronics mfg
copes with slowing demand by slowing it further, instead of just trimming its workweek 15% (to five
6¾-hr days for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-
targeted training, & keeping everyone together, earning & buying 85% as much electronics as usual
• 9700 cuts by HVB Group in Germany  • 7400 by Ericsson in Sweden  • 2400 by Goodrich in USA 
• 1750 by Northrop Grumman  • 750 by Level 3 Communications  • 700 by Tyco Electronics 
• 420 by Art Technology  • 41 by MCET  • unspecified cuts by Skechers U.S.A. and
• Medtox Scientific

10/25/2001 thu
- from trans-Pacific perspective, timesizing simply offers
a more flexible & market-oriented economic design; ...catchup continues...
today's timesizing news:
• Amkor Technology semiconductors of Ariz. avoids further
reductions in its worldwide workforce with shortened factory workweeks
• R. R. Donnelley & Sons communications of Chicago avoids additional reductions
in total workforce by reducing work hours to adjust capacity to current activity levels
vs. doom du jourtm
4 takeovers, totaling $875m + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 13 downsizings, totaling 17,126 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 22% salaried workforce cut (4900 US jobs lost) as Sears Roebuck department stores enters
race-to-the-bottom with Wal-Mart and Target, instead of just trimming its workweek 22% (to
five 6¼-hour days for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in
overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, earning & shopping 78% as much as usual
• 4800 cuts by Volvo  • 4000 by Kodak  • 990 by Bank of America  • 760 by Thermo Electron 
• 459 by General Mills  • 400 by Hershey  • 330 by Brooks and PRI  • 230 by Allied Holdings 
• 127 by Ennovate Networks  • 100 by Friendly Ice Cream  • 16 by Napster  • 14 by Bitstream

10/24/2001 wed
- on this day in 1940, the 40-hour workweek went into effect in the U.S. -
(home from the 2nd-largest economy, Japan - catchup updates now begin...)
today's timesizing news:
• Disney offers a 32-hour, four-day workweek
• survey finds paid time off the most effective absenteeism control program
vs. doom du jourtm
2 takeovers, totaling $671m, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 2866 jobcuts +??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 1400 Arizona & New Mexico cuts at Phelps Dodge copper producers
• 9% workforce cut (500 US jobs lost) as AXA insurance of France cuts 10% of its costs
(& part of its US market), instead of just trimming its workweek 9% (43 mins/day for whole
company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 91% as much insurance as usual
• 450 global cuts by MedTronic stents  • 300 Ala. cuts by Bowater newsprint 
• 176 Ma. cuts by Rich Products  • unspecified NYC cuts at Bowne & Co.

10/23/2001 tue
- the 2nd-largest economy beckons - check back for catchup updates in early Nov. -
today's timesizing stories:
• every factory in NY's garment district has cut jobs or reduced hours
• Gov. Jane Swift of Mass. activates state-subsidized work-sharing program
+ glimmers of hope:
• 1 UNtakeover: Terayon Communication Systems spins off Imedia Semiconductors
vs. doom du jourtm
symptoms: • Japan's trade surplus falls for 15th straight month
• Japan's treating part-timers badly, but women are starting to squawk about it
+ 2 takeovers, totaling $832m +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 13 downsizings, totaling 11,965 jobcuts +??, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 10% workforce cut (4000 US jobs lost) as Emerson Electric strengthens the downturn,
instead of just trimming its workweek 10% (to five 7hr.,12min. days for whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning & spending 90% as much as usual
• 3000 cuts at SBC Communications  • 1900 at MetLife  • 1600 at Lexmark  • 415 at Advanced Energy 
• 200 at Net2000  • 200 at Allegheny Technologies  • 200 at Noranda  • 155 at 148 Lafayette 
• 60 at Antares Sportswear  • 33 at U.S. News & World Report  • 2 at Stanley Pleating 
• unspecified cuts at Eastman Chemical

10/21-22/2001
- every 60-70 yrs, we need to remember strong markets require strong employment -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
7 UPsizings (12+ new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover ($??)
+ record 16 TIMEsizing stories
vs. doom de la semaine:  
• 2 bankruptcies mentioned this week
• 43 downsizings, totaling over 73,562 lost jobs
• 24 takeovers reported this week, worth over $7B
{YTD: 278 timsiz+119 upsz(163267+=10%)+47 untk($103B+) vs 1124 dnsz(1594328 jbcts)+1204 takv($715B)+176 bkrp}
hope du jour - 2 weekend glimmers of timesizing:
• Lufthansa still intent on avoiding layoffs by introducing shorter worktime
• even Republican-dominated US Congress cuts workweek - due to anthrax scare
vs. doom du jour:  
3 weekend downsizing reports, totaling 45 jobcuts:
• 2.5% of workforce cut (20 lost US jobs) as TBWA/Chiat/Day advertising
clobbers its own morale, instead of just trimming its workweek by 2.5% (1 hour a
week for whole firm including top executives), implementing overtime-targeted training
& keeping everyone together, employed, earning & shopping 97.5% as much as usual
• 15 US jobcuts at Panoramic Communications     • 10 US cuts at Kirshenbaum Bond
+ weekend symptoms:
• 'impartial' US survey firm strains to simultaneously celebrate US productivity and US overwork

10/20/2001 sat (re fri biz)
today's timesizing stories:
• Lufthansa confronts unions with choice of jobs cut or hours cut
• why trim workweek, not workmonth? because furloughs turn all too easily into layoffs
+ glimmers of hope:
• Holland follows Canada in legalizing medical marijuana
vs. doom du jourtm
symptoms: • 3 large Japanese chains have closed in last year & a half
+ 1 bankruptcy: • American Classic Voyages cruises with $415m debt 
+ 2 takeovers, totaling $1.58B +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 10,850 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 11% workforce cut (5000 UK jobs lost) as Rolls-Royce jet engines prepares for a negative
self-fulfilling prophecy, instead of just trimming its workweek 11% (to five 7hr.,7min. days for
whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning & flying 89% as much as usual
• 5000 cuts at Valeo  • 500 at SPX  • 350 at Polycom

10/19/2001 fri
today's timesizing stories:
• GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler idle plants on Mon. for 1-2 wks
• Kimball International furniture cuts workweek to avoid further layoffs
• CorVel healthcare services ditto ditto  • Philippines electronics ditto ditto
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: bankrupt eToys.com is open again under new ownership
• now both Wash. state & Calif. have legalized the morning-after pill
vs. doom du jourtm
symptoms: • fewer jobs for graduates
+ 6 takeovers, totaling $3.53B +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 3 downsizings, totaling 4070 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 3% workforce cut (3000 US jobs lost) as BellSouth tries to raise its absentee-owner shares while
lowering its employment sharing, instead of just trimming its workweek 3% (less than 15 minutes a day
for whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning & making 97% as many phonecalls as usual
• 830 cuts at Bear Stearns  • 240 at Sycamore Networks

10/18/2001 thu
today's timesizing stories:
• Plimoth Plantation trims 7 employees from "full" to part time to avoid more layoffs
• Louisiana Pacific halts production for 2 weeks at some US &
Canada lumbermills to avoid deeper job cuts
• half UK family doctors want reduced hours
• AFL-CIO wants provide for people with reduced
hours, but still clueless re hourscuts as power lever
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 2 UPsizings, 12 + unspecified new jobs:
- Partners & Simons hires 12 from Holland Mark (†)
- The Downeaster rides again = Boston-Portland train
• 1 UNtakeover: Titan Corp. spins off SureBeam
• Sen. Lugar wants means-test agro subsidies
vs. doom du jourtm
2 takeovers, totaling $580m, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ record 15 downsizings, totaling 29,864 jobcuts +??, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 15% workforce cut (11,250 US jobs lost) as Dana autoparts worsens slowdown in auto
industry, instead of just trimming its workweek 15% (to five 6¾-hr days for whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 85% as many car parts as usual
• 7500 cuts at Sprint  • 4000 at EMC  • 3600 at Alcan  • 1000 at i2 Technologies  • 800 at Aer Lingus 
• 730 at Michelin  • 700 at McDonald's  • 190 at Louisiana-Pacific  • 70 at Sony  • 24 at Plimoth Plantat'n
• unspecified cuts at DoubleClick, • Lingua Franca, • Cox Newspapers, & • the Kremlin
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Vectour Inc. charter transportation 

10/17/2001 wed
today's timesizing stories:
• now Disney World & Universal Orlando cut to 32-hr week in Fla.
• Continental Tire, & Teve, units/North America also cut workweek
• lessons of the Depression - be frugal, conservative (and reduce hours)
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 4 UPsizings: - Ethan Allen & MFI Furniture open 5 stores in UK
- first British manure-fired power plant starts next year in Devon
- MSNBC starts Arabic site at www.go4msnbc.com in Cairo
- CNN creates Arabic site CNNarabic.com in Dubai
• an unusual Palestinian argues for flexibility
vs. doom du jourtm
5 takeovers, totaling $310m +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 9 downsizings, totaling 12,494 jobcuts +??, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 8½% workforce cut (5000 mostly US jobs lost) as United Technologies ensures a short life for its currently
rising profits, instead of just trimming its workweek 8½% (41 minutes a day for whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together, working, earning & shopping 91½% as much as usual
• 2400 more cuts at TRW  • 2300 at Concert  • 1000 at American Standard  • 600 more at GM Europe 
• 500 at Reuters  • 500 at Tucker Anthony Sutro  • 194 at Boston Coach  • ?? at Superior Bank

10/16/2001 tue
- imagine how vibrant and secure our economy would be if we shared the
vanishing work (i.e., timesizing) and spread the funneling spending power -
2 timesizing stories today:
• now Canada's 2d-largest airline, 'Canada 3000', cuts hours not jobs
• our first African example, a main bakery chain in Zimbabwe cuts hours
not jobs to survive Mugabe's disastrous return to socialist price controls
vs. doom du jourtm
9 takeovers, totaling an even $1B +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 12 downsizings, totaling 16,284 jobcuts +??, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 1½% workforce cut (7000 global jobs lost) as Siemens engineering spurs the death spiral,
instead of just trimming its workweek 1½% ( 7 minutes a day for whole company including
top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, and keeping
everyone together, working, earning and doing 98½% as much spending as usual
• 3400 cuts at Commerzbank  • 3000 at Unisys  • 1300 at Commerce One  • 1100 at TRW 
• 311 at Peace Corps   • 80 at Tenzing Communications   • 55 at Holland Mark Advertising 
• 38 at Brill's Content  • unspecified cuts at Inside.com, • Contentville, & • Cantor Fitzgerald
+ 1 bankruptcy: • the 25th US steel firm to go bust since 1998, Bethlehem Steel, the big one 

10/14-15/2001
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
6 UPsizings (79000 new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover ($??)
+ record 14 TIMEsizing stories
vs. doom de la semaine:  
• 4 bankruptcies mentioned this week
• 29 downsizings, totaling over 36,569 lost jobs
• 14 takeovers reported this week, worth over $11.4B
{YTD: 262 timsiz+112 upsz(163255+=11%)+47 untk($103B+) vs 1081 dnsz(1520766 jbcts)+1180 takv($708B)+174 bkrp}
2 weekend glimmers of timesizing:
• Lufthansa mulls 4-day workweek to avoid layoffs & facilitate fast recovery
• strikers vs. shorter-hours-without-comp-hiring coordinate with Euro RR strike
vs. weekend symptoms:
• Americans work 42.2 hrs/wk avg for enough weeks to give them most hrs/yr in developed world

10/13/2001 sat (re fri biz)
6 timesizing stories today:
• hospitality industry holds at 1-3m jobcuts by going to 24-16 hr workweeks
• half hotel industry's 2m employees either cut to 16-8 hr wks or laid off
• GM and • Ford cut single weeks out of workmonth to save jobs
• collateral complexity of 35-hr wk roils tourist traps in Paris
• N/E Brazil implements 4-day week to save energy
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: Florida creates 30,000 new jobs (but = makework)
• teen pregnancy in Ore. down for fifth yr in row, following national trend
vs. doom du jour:
1 takeover, totaling $157m, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 3199 jobcuts +??, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 19% workforce cut (2700 jobs lost) as truckmaker Freightliner deepens a drop in demand instead
of just trimming its workweek 19% (to four 8-hour,6-min. days for whole company including
top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, and keeping
everyone together, working, earning and buying 81% as many trucks as usual
• 300 cuts at Vignette  • 199 at Viant  • unspecified cuts at Lechter's
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned: • Polaroid Corp., a great American tragedy   • Lechters Inc.
+ symptoms: • Brit foresees major social & economic crisis in 1-3m layoffs in US hospitality industry

10/12/2001 fri
3 timesizing stories today:
• gov't is squeezing Air Canada into cutting hours
• French gov't: 'do as I say & not as I do' on wkwk
• Brazil labor bill opens way for shortened workweeks
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: Peru creates 49,000 new jobs (but makework)
• 1 UNtakeover: Thermo Electron spins off Viasys Healthcare
• Greenspan rejects inflation targets (& high-jobless targets too?)
• simple formula for happiness in America
vs. doom du jour:
1 takeover, totaling $2B, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 5 downsizings, totaling 1794 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 5% workforce cut (900 jobs lost) as Computer Assocs. reacts disastrously to slowing technology
spending, instead of just trimming its workweek 5% (24 mins./day for whole company including top
executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, and keeping everyone together,
working, earning and doing 95% as much technology spending as usual
• 535 cuts at Aztec Tech  • 250 at Sotheby's  • 88 at MobileStar Network  • 21 at Christie's
+ symptoms: • "when will they ever learn?" dept. - as earnings plunge, stocks' P/E ratio sets record
• what does it take to get some people to loosen up? Cantor execs are going to give their survivors
only 25% of their unspendably wealthy partners' entitlement

10/11/2001 thu
2 timesizing stories today:
• Air New Zealand cuts overtime and more
• Baikal quake gives Irkutskians a glimpse of timesizing
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 2 UPsizings: - alone among airlines, Southwest is hiring
- new venture, Amicore, automates doctors' offices
• first woman elected to US House leadership
• Cal. builders must prove water sufficiency
• US bombers drop peanut-butter & jelly
vs. doom du jour:
3 takeovers, totaling $684m + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 6360 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 3% workforce cut (3000 more jobs lost) as Motorola continues its death spiral, in-
stead of just trimming its workweek 3% (less than 15 mins./days for whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
and keeping everyone together, working, earning and shopping 97% as much as usual
• 2400 cuts at Quebecor World  • 350 at Cable & Wireless Optus  • 225 at Maytag 
• 180 at Massport  • 160 at Belo Corp.  • 45 at Edelman Public Relations

10/10/2001 wed
1 timesizing story today:
• NYT Co. offers shortened workweeks, e.g., for working mothers
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: - E*Trade opens 22 minibrokerages in Target stores
- Fallon ad agency opens offices in Hong Kong, Singapore & Sao Paulo
• US Customs Service switches priority from 'drug war' to blocking terrorism
vs. doom du jour:
3 takeovers, totaling $2.1B + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 7235 jobcuts +??, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 10% workforce cut (2500 jobs lost) as Mitsubishi Materials fuels the slump in demand it
complains about, instead of trimming its workweek 10% (to four nearly 7-hr days for whole
company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
and keeping everyone together, working, earning and flying 90% as much as usual
• 2000 cuts at CSFB  • 1400 at Goodyear  • 1225 at Terex  • 80 at Temerlin
McClain  • 30 at Wieden & Kennedy  • unspecified cuts at Xchange

10/09/2001 tue
1 timesizing story today:
• Oneida silverware in upstate NY trims to 4-day workweek for 11.6%
(500 employees) to avoid cutting manufacturing jobs (but 1.5% cut in other depts.)
+ several glimmers of hope:
• 1 UPsizing: Best Buy starts music site on Web
• altered passenger attitudes change world for would-be hijackers
vs. doom du jour:
6 takeovers, totaling $6.49B, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 9973 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 13% workforce cut (9000 jobs lost) as Swissair gets reamed by its bankers,
instead of trimming its workweek 13% (to four nearly 7-hr days for whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning and flying 87% as much as usual
• 500 cuts at Spherion  • 320 at Travelocity.com  • 153 at Onyx Software
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned: • Aztec Technology, with $40m debt  • Andre & Cie

10/07-08/2001
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
12 TIMEsizing stories + 3 UPsizings (?? new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover ($??)
vs.   • 23 takeovers reported this week, worth over $4.16B
• record 40 downsizings, totaling over 55,528 lost jobs
• 5 bankruptcies  • 1 prison story  • 1 work-related suicide
< YTD: 248 timsiz+106 upsz(84255+=6%)+46 untk($103B+) vs 1052 dnsz(1484197 jbcts)+1166 takv($697B)+168 bkrp >
the weekend's glimmer of timesizing:
• elegant Carlyle Hotel staff in NYC, totaling over 400 people, volunteer
to save one another's jobs in downturn by cutting to four 8-hour days
vs. doom du jour:   2 weekend downsizing reports, totaling 8008 jobcuts:
• 67% of workforce cut (8000 lost Serbian jobs) as the Yugo auto's Zastava plant displays
a suicidal defeatism and self-mutilation, instead of just trimming its workweek by 67% (to
four 3.3-hour days for whole firm including top executives), implementing overtime-targeted
training & keeping everyone together, employed, earning & shopping 33% as much as usual
• 8 US jobcuts at Silicon Alley Reporter mag

10/06/2001 sat (re fri biz)
1 glimmer of timesizing today:
• Chile reduces workweek in mining from 48 to 45 hours
+ several glimmers of hope:
• reader adds a Martin Luther King quote to Gandhi's
• US finally rebukes violent Israeli prime minister
vs. doom du jour:
2 takeovers, totaling $2.01B, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 17,800 jobcuts + unspecified, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 20% workforce cut (8800 Japan jobs lost) as TDK computer components abreacts to a sales drop
by worsening it, instead of trimming its workweek 20% (to four 8-hour days for whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together, working, earning and buying 80% as much as computerphernalia
• 3900 cuts at Sun Microsystems  • 3700 at Cookson Group  • 1200 at Dollar Thrifty
• 200 upon merger of British Airways Regional and CitiExpress  • ?? cuts at Komatsu

10/05/2001 fri
today's timesizing news:
• NH-based Vicor cuts to 32-hour week to avoid layoffs
+ glimmers of intelligence:
• 2 UPsizings: - Borgwarner adds 70 new jobs in Cortland NY
- Starbucks, having homogenized America, targets Europe for boredom
• many skip work yesterday to relish the perfect day in the˙wake of disaster
• an insight from Gandhi over a full-page ad of hopeful books for mourners
vs. doom du jour:
2 takeovers, totaling $800m +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 9 downsizings, totaling 3402 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 2500 jobcuts at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines 
• 20% workforce cut (232 US jobs lost) as WebLink Wireless sinks deeper into
bankruptcy, instead of trimming its workweek 20% (to four 8-hour days for whole
company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted
training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning and phoning 80% as much as usual
• 200 cuts at Provant  • 150 at Sonus Networks  • 120 at Stride Rite   • 100 at Citizens Financial 
• 100 at MatrixOne  • unspecified cuts at Netegrity and • Knight Trading Group
+ 1 bankruptcy reported: • Reliance Insurance nears liquidation with $10B debt

10/04/2001 thu
today's timesizing news:
• DaimlerChrysler in US & Canada and
• Fujitsu and NEC in Japan practice reduced work-months to avoid layoffs
• NYT reader recommends an extra week of paid vacation to spur economy
• Australian workplace editor strains for positive spin on Aussies' worktime situation
+ glimmers of intelligence:
• last month's M&As down to lowest level in 13 years
• Boston Globe editors have a BGO (blinding glimpse of the obvious)
vs. doom du jour:
5 takeovers, totaling $370m +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ record-breaking 13 downsizings, totaling 14,863 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 13% workforce cut (4000 US jobs lost) as General Electric Aircraft Engines practices some negative
self-fulfilling prophecy, instead of just trimming its workweek 13% (to five nearly 7-hour days for whole
company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning and flying 87% as much as usual
• 4000 cuts at Corning  • 3038 at Alcatel  • 1600 at Nordstrom  • 1200 at Havas Advertising  • 760 at
CSFB  • 180 at Massport  • 43 at Segue Software  • 20 at Adams Harkness & Hill  • 15 at Mullen/LHC
• 7 at Peak Organization  • unspecified cuts at Kenneth Cole Productions and • Lowe Lintas & Partners
+ 1 bankruptcy reported: • "the other shoe drops" - Sabena nosedives

10/03/2001 wed
- there is a conflict in "efficiency" between cutting costs in payroll & maintaining
markets, & the only resolution of that conflict is cutting hours, not jobs -
today's timesizing news:
• Wyndham International hotels has 20% of its 27,000
employees on reduced hours to avoid more layoffs than 1600
+ glimmers of intelligence:
• 1 UNtakeover: GE & Honeywell officially end $45B merger˙thanks to EU block
• Fed cuts rates for ninth time this year, but even NYT editors realize the
effect is dwindling, but that begs Big Question: What is effective?
• US House committee calls for cultural revolution in CIA & FBI
vs. doom du jour:
6 takeovers, totaling $246m +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 10 downsizings, totaling 16,770 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 15% workforce cut (10,000 Canadian jobs lost) as Nortel Networks continues
its death spiral, instead of just trimming its workweek 15% (to five 7¾-hour days for
whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted
training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning and phoning 85% as much as usual
• 2650 cuts at Swissair  • 1600 at Wyndham hotels  • 1000 at Xerox  • 1000 at WorldCom
• 195 at Jupiter Media Matrix  • 125 at Monster.com  • 70 at Student Advantage
• 65 at Stanley Works  • 65 at Celox

10/02/2001 tue
today's timesizing news:
• Vegas' Imperial Palace will cut to 4-day, 32-hour workweek to avoid jobcuts
• union and Air Canada agree to ask gov't for 20% cut in form of 32-hr week
• VW in Brazil wants 4-day week - GM and Fiat do temporary shutdowns
• France's Renault has 1-4 day plant shutdowns to avoid cuts & furloughs
• thousands of Hawaiians have reduced work hours but still have work
+ glimmers of intelligence: • on this, Gandhi's birthday, we need his methods
• a job is the best social policy & government is right to reinforce that
(but wrong in micromanaging instead of just cutting the workweek)
vs. doom du jour:
8 takeovers, totaling $734m +??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe (BG)
+ 2 downsizings, totaling 2693 jobcuts, reported in New York Times & BG:
• 2600 cuts at Ikon Office Solutions  • 93 jobs tossed up as Mademoiselle mag shuts down
+ 3 bankruptcies reported: • many Swissair units are seeking bankruptcy protection, with $10.5B debt
• asbestos-firm takeover ruins Federal-Mogul   • Assisted Living Concepts files Chapter 11
+ 1 prison story: • inmate violence & weapons trigger cell-by-cell search at Mass. prison

9/30-10/01/2001
- in true contrarian fashion, now that even economists
have declared 'RECESSION,' we front the good news -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
< YTD: 236 timsiz+103 upsz(84255+=6%)+45 untk($103B+) vs 1012 dnsz(1428669 jbcts)+1143 takv($693B)+163 bkrp >
8 TIMEsizing stories + 7 UPsizings (2300+ new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover ($??)
vs.   • 5 bankruptcies    • 33 downsizings, netting 57,204+ lost jobs (61,704 gross)
• 15 takeovers reported this week, worth over $7.84B
weekend glimmers of hope:
• 1 weekend UPsizing - ?? new German jobs at zeppelin co.
• insight - working overtime to escape tragedy can backfire 
• 1 timesizing item: metalworkers union in Brazil will strike unless Embraer does 17%
workweek cut (from 43½ hrs to 36) instead of 14% workforce cut (1800 lost jobs)
vs. doom du jour:
7 weekend downsizing reports, totaling 825 +?? jobcuts:
• 525 US ad-agency jobcuts spread across Campbell Mithun,
• Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, • iXL, • Media Passage, and • Modem Media
• 3% of workforce cut (300 lost London jobs) as Cordiant ad agency fuels its own drop in profitability,
instead of just trimming its workweek by 3% (less than 15 mins/day for whole firm including its top
executives) & keeping everyone together, employed, earning & shopping 97% their usual amount
• ?? cuts as falling insurance repay & rising red tape closes Greenery Rehab Ctr in Brighton, Ma.
+ 1 work-related suicide story: • chief of struggling Tokai Construction hara-kiri's in Tokyo
+ symptoms: • foreclosures to soar by year's end