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

11/30/2001 fri
- caught up at last! - miss yesterday's? click here -
basic Timesizing in the news aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• some ad agencies plan Xtra-long Xmas to shun layoffs
+ headlines from heaven aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing - J.Jill clothing opens first Boston store
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • the most people in 19 years on unemployment in mid-Nov.
• 38,000 New York State families reach 5-year welfare cutoff during recession
+ 1 bankruptcy overview & 2 cases: • 25% more firms with twice the assets
of last year have already filed so far this year, and more are liquidating
• Malden Mills files for Chapter 11   • HomeLife bankruptcy mentioned
+ 1 prison story: • Ariz. saved $6½m in '99 by treating drug offenders instead of keeping locked up
+ 8 takeovers, totaling $993m + $??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 1007 lost jobs + unspecified, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 15% workforce cut (900 jobs lost) as Broadwing telecom services gets hysterical about
waning demand, instead of just trimming its workweek 15% (to five 6¾-hour days for whole
company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together working, earning & buying 85% of their usual telecom services
• 100 jobcuts by Federated Dep't Stores  • 5 by Quincy Patriot Ledger  • 2 by Brockton
Enterprise   • unspecified cuts by 'Infinite' Group, • Advertising Age, & • Adweek

11/29/2001 thu
- caught up at last! - miss yesterday's? click here -
basic Timesizing in the news aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• Japan starts to sense that high tech requires work-sharing so as to save markets
• Australian employers still don't get it
• Airbus is considering it to save jobs
+ headlines from heaven aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UNtakeover - Pharmacia to spin off its 85% of Monsanto
• Taliban defector reinvents self, wants learn English, computers
• Bush renews Internet tax ban for 2 more years
• Chile's joblessness drops (but just to 9.7%)
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell, for them: • Japan retail sales fall • Japan credit rating cut
and us: • campus recruiting collapses
+ 1 bankruptcy: • People's Pottery of Rochester NY
+ 6 takeovers, totaling $779m + $??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 2039 lost jobs + unspecified, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 0.375% workforce cut (1200 jobs lost) as IBM reacts nearsightedly to microprocessor slowdown,
instead of just trimming its workweek 0.375% (just 2 mins/day for the whole company including top
execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together
working, earning & making 99.625% of their usual computer purchases
• 450 jobcuts by Palm Inc. • 260 by Reuters  • 112 by MassMutual 
• 17 by Video Network  • unspecified by AOL Time Warner

11/28/2001 wed
- caught up at last! - miss yesterday's? click here -
basic Timesizing in the news aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• Marseilles dockers do apparently 'get it,' win 33-hour workweek!
• unpopular Brazil bill could cut workweek and weekly wages
+ headlines from heaven aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UNtakeover - Buy.com's founder buys it back for $24m
• Taliban defector reinvents self, wants learn English, computers
vs.  doom du jourtm
+ 1 prison story: • census (or pols?) misplaces many prisons & dorms
+ 2 takeovers, totaling $88m, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 2735 lost jobs, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 1650 UK jobcuts by BAE Systems  • 450 cuts by Ames Dept. Stores
• 21% workforce cut (415 jobs lost) as Kennecott Utah Copper closes an ore processing plant, instead of
just trimming its workweek 21% (to four nearly 8-hour days for the whole company including top execs),
re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together working,
earning & continuing to shop for metal goods at 79% their usual rate
• 220 jobcuts by San Francisco Chronicle

11/27/2001 tue
- caught up at last! - miss yesterday's? click here -
basic Timesizing in the news aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• B-schools & mgmt consultants start talking up hourscuts instead of paycuts
• gov't mint in Bordeaux doesn't seem to get the spirit of the 35-hour law
• ditto a refinery in Marseilles   • ditto the bakers of Pa-ree
+ headlines from heaven aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing (600 new 2-yr jobs) - Bank One is consolidating several cptr systems
• 2 UNtakeovers - China splits China Telecom
- Norob backs out of $35m deal for US Vision
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • inner-circle of biz-cycle economists finally pronounce Recession
• Danish researchers find that sleep deprivation seriously impairs surgeons
+ 1 prison story: • 560 Ark. inmates get early release cuz not enough cells
+ 8 takeovers, totaling $824m +$??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 3 downsizings, totaling 3556 lost jobs + unspecified, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 3300 jobcuts as Isuzu Motors' sales fall in struggle to compete with Toyota & Honda
• ½% workforce cut (256 jobs lost) as Baxter International blood treatments closes 2 suspect
plants, instead of just trimming its workweek ½% (to 2½ mins/day for whole company including
top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together working, earning & affording 99½% usual medical services
• unspecified jobcuts as independent TV-6 dissolved by politically tilted Moscow court

11/25-26/2001
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 4 UPsizings (?? new jobs)  • 2 UNtakeovers
• record 22 TIMEsizing stories 
vs. doom de la semaine:
• 1 bankruptcy   • 5 homelessness stories   • 1 work-related suicide article
• 17 downsizings totaling 29,376 lost jobs  • 35 takeovers totaling over $102.55B, reported this week
{YTD: 354 timsiz+143 upsz(191467+=11%)+52 untk($103B+) vs 1291 dnsz(1780510 jbcts)+1325 takv($886B)+182 bkrp}
- hope du weekend -
• 1 weekend UPsizing - Bank of America hires 350 (after firing 990)
• Congress must abandon its "get tough" welfare & look for what works
(like France's shorter workweek)   • Europe plans its own GPS system, 'Galileo'
vs.  doom du weekend -
1 weekend takeover reported, worth $??
+ 1 weekend downsizing report, with 750 Euro jobcuts:
• 8% of workforce cut (750 lost jobs) at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young tech consultants, instead of just
trimming workweek by 8% (38 mins/day for whole company including top executives), implementing
overtime-targeted training & keeping everyone employed, earning & shopping 92% as much as usual

11/24/2001 sat (re fri biz)
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
basic Timesizing in the news aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• 35-hr workweek puts France ahead of bigger Germany in Euro growth
• with 40% youth unemployment, Poland needs work sharing à la timesizing
• incomplete news again obscures union rejection of timesizing - at Scania/Brazil
+ headlines from heaven aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing (?? new jobs) - Mitsubishi & Tenaska building 3 new US powerplants
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • some economists still fixated on when & if patient got sick
• Mexico - don't like Dad's 'free trade'? run to Mom!  • jobless/Brazil jumps to 6.6%
+ 2 takeovers, totaling $670m, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 2 downsizings, totaling 9657 lost jobs, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 20% workforce cut (9300 Dutch jobs lost) as Royal KPN phone co. self-amputates to cut
debt gained in takeover spree, instead of just trimming its workweek 20% (to four 8-hour days for the
whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together working, earning & buying 80% normal phone services
• 357 jobcuts as U.S. Mint mutilates self in response to lower coin demand

11/23/2001 fri
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
basic Timesizing in the news aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• Japan's big union & opposition party on verge of independently inventing timesizing
• timesizing, not downsizing, gives big old VW plant new lease on life in Brazil
+ headlines from heaven aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing (?? new jobs) - new chip plant opened in Shanghai
• Russia's economy improving (but at its depths, a little looks like a lot)
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • German exec sees no end of tunnel  • Japan bank problems spread  • NTT ousts
100,000 employees to lower-pay jobs at subsidiaries  • NJ small biz owners lowest since early 90s
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Taisei Fire & Marine Insurance in Japan, with $325m debt
+ 2 takeovers, totaling $726m, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 1 downsizing, costing 900 lost jobs, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 4½% additional workforce cut (900 jobs lost) as Alitalia strains to return to profitability over its
employees' dead jobs, instead of simply trimming its workweek 4½% (22 mins/day for the whole
company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together working, earning & flying 95½% as much as usual

11/22/2001 thu
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
basic Timesizing in the news aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• VW/Sao Bernardo employees vote for the 15% hrs&paycuts to save jobs
• GM idles Hamtramck plant next week to avoid layoffs  • Frontier Air used overtime (OT)
cuts & furloughs after 9/11  • Verizon phone co.'s been cutting OT  • Terra Networks is
requiring Xmas vacation or unpd timeoff  • Mesaba used furloughs to limit layoffs 
+ headlines from heaven aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing (?? new jobs) - new gas plant going up in Thailand (but vs. local opposition)
• 1 UNtakeover - Aussie's WMC nixes Alcoa's takeover bid, spins off alumina unit
• joblessness is down (but...)  • attack on ebola revved up  • what the hay
does 'Yankee' mean?  • US opens food trade with Cuba  • Grameen
Bank forges ahead  • pot cafe flourishes in Ol' Blighty
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • Japan service sector down  • another US pension down  • workplace bias claims up
• Ford cuts leadership training  • Michigan is too dumb to prize Jack Kevorkian
+ 1 homelessness item: • new phenomenon, homeless rebound
+ 7 takeovers, totaling $824m + $??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 3 downsizings, totaling 11,343 lost jobs, reported in N. Y. Times & Boston Globe:
• 4½% workforce cut (11,150 jobs lost) as Verizon phone co. strains to minimize layoffs with attrition,
overtime cuts, contractor cuts, and buyouts, instead of simply trimming its workweek 4½% (22 mins/day
for the whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together working, earning & buying 95½% as much phone service as usual
• 128 jobcuts as Eastman Kodak closes PictureVision  • 65 cuts by Goldman Sachs

11/21/2001 wed
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's glimmers of strategic hope aka basic Timesizing in the news:
• Ma. Med Soc'y calls for shorter hours (80/wk??) for young doctors
• Lufthansa starts cutting working hours for cabin crew to forestall layoffs
+ headline from heaven aka glimmer of diffuse hope: • regs tightened on NY nukes
vs.  doom du jourtm
headline from hell: • big economies near standstill
+ 9 takeovers, totaling $10.81B + $??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 2 downsizings, totaling 2575 jobcuts, reported in N. Y. Times & Boston Globe:
• 2500 jobcuts as Japan-based NSK autoparts closes 1 factory in Nippon & 4 in Europe 
• 75 cuts as Japan-based Softbank closes 8 overseas offices 

11/20/2001 tue
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of strategic hope dba basic Timesizing in practice:
• Japan's avg workweek is declining - as you'd expect in hily automated
economy - so need turn 'avg' into 'actual' to restore consumer demand
• Korean Air plans one-month furlough without pay to avert more layoffs
• labor leader zapped VW/Brazil's hitherto secret workforce replacement plan -
now back to four-day workweek plan
+ today's glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing (?? new jobs) - Red Rabbit Leo Burnett opens in Hamburg
• 1 UNtakeover - Brit Telecom spins off mmO2 (we're not making this up)
• leash tightens on America's pit bull in the Mideast, "Caliban" Sharon
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • hate crimes multiplying, says FBI
• fastest growing group coming to food banks is working families
+ 1 homelessness item: • San Fran has 36% more homeless than last year
+ 14 takeovers, totaling $49.62B + $??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 4 countable downsizings, totaling 4758 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 4½% workforce cut (6500 jobs lost) as Alcoa grasps destructively for more
profits, instead of just trimming its workweek 4½% (22 mins/day for the whole
company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 95½% as much investment as usual
• 4500 jobcuts by ChevronTexaco  • 215 by Simon Worldwide  (•) 80 by the
Guggenheim (event counted 11/09)  • unspecified cuts by 12 Entrepreneuring

11/18-19/2001
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 13 TIMEsizing stories (at least 1000 jobs saved) 
• 4 UPsizings (28,200+ new jobs)  • 0 UNtakeovers
vs. doom de la semaine:
• 35 downsizings totaling over 52,168 lost jobs
• 3 bankruptcies  • 26 takeovers totaling over $1.73B, reported this week
{YTD: 332 timsiz+139 upsz(191467+=11%)+50 untk($103B+) vs 1274 dnsz(1751134 jbcts)+1290 takv($783B)+181 bkrp}
- hope du weekend -
weekend glimmers of timesizing:
• Tillotson Healthcare avoids layoffs by cutting workweek (to 6 days!)
• South Korean 'AFL' demands workweek reduction (to 5 day/week!)
• German 'AFL' renews calls for shorter weeks & action vs. overtime
• Kuwaitis enjoy 3-hour day (10-1), but their guest workers??
vs.  doom du weekend -
+ 1 work-related suicide story:
• Japan male suicide rate beats post-war peak
+ 3 weekend homelessness stories:
• murder among homeless in Harvard Sq   • background
• time for Mass. to move beyond housing homeless in motels?
+ 1 weekend takeover reported, worth $35 billion
+ 5 weekend downsizing reports, totaling 143 mostly NYC jobcuts:
• 10% of workforce cut (60 lost Chicago jobs) at Foote Cone & Belding ad agency, instead of just
trimming workweek by 10% (48 mins/day for whole company including top execs), implementing
overtime-targeted training & keeping everyone employed, earning & buying 90% as much as usual
• 30 jobcuts by Ogilvy & Mather  • 25 by Deutsch  • 20 by DDB Worldwide  • 8 by J. Walter Thompson

11/17/2001 sat (re fri biz)
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of strategic hope dba basic Timesizing in practice:
• community service employees in Australia cut to 38-hour workweek
• 32-hr wkwk still possible as Brazil labor leader wheedles in Wolfsburg
+ today's glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing (28,000 new jobs) - U.S. seeks air passenger screeners
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • 3 fund mgrs for "nonprofit" Harvard U pull nearly $40m
+ 1 takeover, worth $undisclosed, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 5 downsizings, totaling 4758 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 3.9% workforce cut (2600 jobs lost) as Merrill Lynch offers buyouts to trim
expenses (& mkts), instead of just trimming its workweek 3.9% (19 mins/day for the
whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted
training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & doing 96.1% as much investment as usual
• 1000 jobcuts by Bristol-Myers Squibb  • 1000 by Tellabs  • 120 by Kerr-McGee in Belgium 
• 38 by Red Herring Comunications in Frisco

11/16/2001 fri
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beam of strategic hope dba basic Timesizing in practice:
• current average workweek continues to decline in Philly-region mfg sector
+ today's glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing (?? new jobs) - SpeechWorks opens Tokyo unit
• CEO slashes own pay to $1  • Indonesia pulls off 3½% growth
vs.  doom du jourtm
headlines from hell: • big job losses add to NYC econogloom
• US starwars test plans go ahead in violation of ABM Treaty
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Burlington Industries files, once world's biggest textile mfr
+ 4 takeovers, totaling $135m + $??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 5 downsizings, totaling 8,180 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 6,000 jobs cut by Cendant 
• 19% workforce cut (1400 jobs lost) as Novell network s/w gets hysterical & self-destructive to 'become
profitable again' despite already having done so, instead of just trimming its workweek 19% (to five
6¼-hour days for the whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in
overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone earning & buying 81% as much hitech stuff as usual
• 350 jobs cut by Kennametal  • 300 by Yahoo  • 130 by Société Générale

11/15/2001 thu
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of strategic hope dba basic Timesizing in practice:
• Lufthansa still considering 4-day workweek to avoid layoffs
• Oilgear Co. has cut jobs to the bone & must now, drat! cut hours
• Brazil labor leader shuns job&hr cuts, 'goes upstairs' to VW/Germany to get own way
+ today's glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 2 UPsizings (200 +?? new jobs) - Saturn hires 200 temps to assemble new SUV
- Toys 'R' Us opens megastore in Times Sq. this Sat.
vs.  doom du jourtm
omens: • Brit joblessness up  • Europe-in-general down
+ 1 bankruptcy: • International Total Services air passenger screening
+ 6 takeovers, totaling $167m + $??, reported in the NYT & Boston Globe
+ 15 downsizings, totaling 37,349 jobcuts + unspecified, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 13,000 jobs cut by VF Corp.  • 7700 by American Express  • 5100 by Citigroup  • 2500 by Iberian
Airlines  • 2000 by Qantas Airways  • 1500 by Geneva Steel  • 1200 by Global Crossing  • 1090 by Eaton
• 1000 by Ames Dept. Stores  • 816 by Cable & Wireless Optus  • 700 by Providian Financial  • 600 by
Weyerhaeuser  • 80 by Hologic  • 63 by Pioneer Investment Mgmt  • ?? cuts by Vodafone Australia

11/14/2001 wed
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of hope dba elementary TIMEsizing in practice:
• Indianapolis-based Amtran airways has it together with reduced workwks & no layoffs
• Minneapolis-based August Tech is doing selective workweek cuts to contain layoffs
• Axcelis tries temporary plant shutdowns & furloughs but drops back to layoffs
• French PM trumpets taxcuts and 35-hour workweek in new election brochure
• Singapore wants firms to try shorter wks before wage cuts & layoffs - or does it?
vs.  doom du jourtm
1 bankruptcy: • ANC Rentals, parent of Alamo & National, files Ch. 11
+ 8 takeovers, totaling $769m + $??, reported in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 6 downsizings, totaling 825 jobcuts +??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 20% workforce cut (450 US jobs lost) as Axcelis Technologies drops its timesizing experiments
too soon, instead of just trimming its workweek 20% (to five 6-hour days for the whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 80% as much stuff as usual
• 115 jobs cut by IPC Media  • 100 by Morgan Stanley Nippon Securities  • 100
by Lightbridge  • 60 by Fallon Worldwide  • unspecifed cuts by ANC Rental

11/13/2001 tue
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beam of hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• at VW/Brazil, small plant saves 14% of jobs with 12% hours&pay cut,
but big plant snubs similar offer & now 16,000 strike over
inevitable 3,000 layoffs, blaming VW for global downturn
vs.  doom du jourtm
+ 5 takeovers, totaling $584m + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 3 downsizings, totaling 1050 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 16% nonunion workforce cut (400 US jobs lost) as Bethlehem Steel continues death spiral, instead of
just trimming its workweek 16% (to five 6¾-hour days for the whole nonunion workforce including
executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together,
working, earning & buying 84% as much steel stuff as usual
• 380 jobs cut by Ciena  • 235 by Hayes Lemmerz

11/11-12/2001
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 10 TIMEsizing stories  • 4 UPsizings (?? new jobs)  • 2 UNtakeover ($??)
vs. doom de la semaine:  
• 35 downsizings, totaling over 36,389 lost jobs
• 15 takeovers reported this week, worth over $29.04B
• 1 bankruptcy mentioned this week  • 2 prison stories  • 1 homelessness item
{YTD: 319 timsiz+135 upsz(163267+=10%)+50 untk($103B+) vs 1239 dnsz(1698966 jbcts)+1264 takv($781B)+178 bkrp}
- hope du weekend -
weekend glimmer of timesizing: • South Korean unions demand shorter working hours
+ glimmer of fuzzier hope: • recall Stephen Hawking? - hitech offsets handicaps
vs.  doom du weekend -
omen: • secret's out - Sharon has the bomb
+ 2 weekend takeover reports, totaling $79m
+ 1 weekend downsizing report, totaling 6 jobcuts:
• 6% of workforce cut (6 lost US jobs) as CBS executives 'ask' 60 Minutes show to
ax producers to cut costs of Afghan coverage, instead of just trimming workweek by 6%
(29 mins/day for whole company including top execs), implementing overtime-targeted training
& keeping everyone together, employed, earning & buying 94% as much sponsors' stuff as usual

11/10/2001 sat (re fri biz)
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beam of strategic hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• bkgd on VW/Brazil's offer to cut 15% hours&pay & union that didn't "get" it
+ today's glimmers of fuzzier hope:
• 1 UNtakeover - Adelphia Communications spins off Adelphia Business Solutions
vs.  doom du jourtm
omens: • wholesale prices collapse 
• Taiwan, now in WTO, eligible to have its economy reamed
+ 1 homelessness item: • center for Sept. 11's jobless, homeless, bereaved closes in 2 wks
+ 1 prison story: • 123 military call-ups so far worsen 3348 shortage of Texas prison guards
+ 2 takeovers, totaling $24.1B, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 9399 jobcuts +??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 5000 jobs up in air as Canada 3000, nation's 2nd biggest airline, ceases operations 
• 6.7% workforce cut (2300 Swedish jobs lost) as Sandvik mining&tools worsens waning
demand, instead of just trimming its workweek 6.7% (half an hour a day for the whole company
including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together, working, earning & buying 93.3% as many tools & metal stuff as usual
• 2000 jobs cut by General Mills  • 40 by Saucony  • 39 by World Wrestling Federation 
• 20 by Arnold Worldwide  • unspecified NYC cuts by Family Assistance Center on Pier 94

11/09/2001 fri
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• MacDermid Inc. of CT has avoided layoffs for mos. with shortened workwks
• VW/Brazil: 1 plant saves 14% of their jobs with 12% hours&pay cut, but another strikes
• Rep. John Conyers intros another worktime bill - shorter hours (80???) for med students
+ today's glimmers of paler hope:
• 2 UPsizings (?? new jobs) - IPG Photonics opens HQ in Oxford, Ma.
- Wal-Mart pumps $25m into 5 new tentacles, oops, stores in China
• 1 UNtakeover - Service Industries spins off its 2 biggest units as 'L&C Spinco'
• federal judge blocks Ashcroft's attempt to overturn Ore.'s Death with Dignity law
• Ma. gov. wants Hold on salestax to help retail  • executives not getting quite as big
raises this year   • Wa. state eases workfare's impact slightly
vs.  doom du jourtm
1 prison story: • SD closes its youth prison to save $$
+ 5 takeovers, totaling $2.92B + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 4,181 jobcuts +??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 11% workforce cut (3000 jobs lost) as Volkswagen/Brazil's offer to cut hours instead of jobs is rejected
by blockheaded union, instead of accepting VW's offer to trim its workweek 15% (to 34 hours for the
whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 85% as many VW bugs as usual
• 700 Japan jobs cut at Rohm  • 300 US cuts by Salomon Smith Barney  • 140 Ont. cuts by
Graham Packaging  • 30 Ma. cuts by L.S. Starrett  • 11 S.F. cuts by Pillsbury Winthrop 
• unspecified NYC cuts by the Guggenheim, &  • SD youth prison

11/08/2001 thu
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beam of hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• Vanguard Airlines of Kansas City calls back its furloughed pilots
+ today's glimmers of hope
- 2 UPsizings (?? new jobs):
• Stop & Shop opens energy-efficient store in Foxboro, Mass.
• Motorola pours $6.6B into doubling its telecom output in China
vs.  doom du jourtm
omens: • UN says 4B will be living in hunger by 2050
• layoff practices linked to brand damage 
1 bankruptcy: • House2Home Inc. "2" Chapter 11 
+ 2 takeovers, worth $$undisclosed, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 7 downsizings, totaling 3,579 jobcuts +??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 25% workforce cut (1500 jobs lost) as Hexcel Corp. plane parts abreacts to waning
demand by spurring it, instead of just trimming its workweek 25% (to five 6-hour days
for the whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-
targeted training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & flying 75% as much as usual
• 1400 Irish jobs cut at Waterford Wedgwood  • 360 US cuts by Lockheed Martin  • 170 by Pfizer 
• 130 by Spike Broadband  • 19 by Dominion Resources  • unspecified cuts by Aon Corp.

11/07/2001 wed
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• even a US exporter, Cuisine Solutions, is benefiting from France's shorter workweek
• French temp agencies jumped 20% in 2000 thanks to shorter workweek
• French firms credit 35-hr wk for continued hiring
• rare case: labor nixes timesizing in Brazil
vs.  doom du jourtm
omens: • 10th rate cut this year  • U.S. acts to stop assisted suicides
+ 4 takeovers, worth $1.99B + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 17,951 jobcuts +??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 15,000 jobs slipping away as Sabena Airlines shuts down  • 2500 jobcuts by Scandinavian Airlines
• 20% workforce cut (230 jobs lost worldwide) as Medica health insurance cuts expenses (& markets),
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 & buying 80% as much health insurance as usual
• 100 jobcuts at Taiheiyo  • 61 by Mercer Mgmt Cnsltg  • 60 by Rayovac
• unspecified cuts by MCK &   • American Tower

11/06/2001 tue
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beam of hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• Lonely Planet travel guides offers employees 4-day work weeks,
9-day fortnights, & part-paid leaves
vs.  doom du jourtm
portents: • US nonmfg biz slumps  • UK output drops
+ 2 takeovers, worth $33m + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 1252 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 14% workforce cut (600 jobs lost worldwide) as Polymer Group specialized fabrics trims its overhead
(& its customers' customers) instead of just trimming its workweek 14% (to five 7-hour days for the
whole company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted
training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & shopping 86% as much as usual
• 500 jobcuts at Taiheiyo, Japan's last coal mine  • 77 US & Swiss cuts by Mercer Mgmt Consulting 
• 75 US cuts by Ziff Davis Media

11/04-05/2001
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
record 16 TIMEsizing stories + record 10 UPsizings (?? new jobs) + 1 UNtakeover ($??)
vs. doom de la semaine:  
• 32 downsizings, totaling over 28,986 lost jobs
• 29 takeovers reported this week, worth over $33.6B
• 1 bankruptcy mentioned this week & • 1 homelessness item
{YTD: 309 timsiz+131 upsz(163267+=10%)+49 untk($103B+) vs 1204 dnsz(1662577 jbcts)+1249 takv($752B)+177 bkrp}
- hope du weekend (apologies to French language police) -
+ weekend glimmers of hope:
• CEO turnover accelerating - perhaps waking some up to downside of downsizing
• Massachusetts will fight fed cave-in to MicroSoft
vs.  doom du weekend -  1 weekend downsizing report, totaling 27 jobcuts:
• 12% of workforce cut (27 lost US jobs) as Corning's Canton NY chip-component plant
overreacts to the slump & gives it a little push, instead of just trimming its workweek by 12%
(to five 7-hr days for whole plant including top executives), implementing overtime-targeted training
& keeping everyone together, employed, earning & buying 88% as much computerphernalia as usual
+ weekend portents: • Syre & Stein ask 'when will they ever learn' - without learning themselves
• NYT bemoans the slump-deferred quest for efficiency, without ever realizing
that its application to trimming jobs, not workhours, caused the slump

11/03/2001 sat (re fri biz)
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of focused hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• Japanese labor eases on megahrs & chooses work&pay sharing vs. joblessness
• Disney World cut back wkwk for hrly employees & gave option to salaried people
• Ford Motors cut workmonth to 3 weeks at Atlanta plant for 2100 employees
+ today's glimmers of vaguer hope - 2 UPsizings (?? new jobs):
• White Mtns Ins. starts new co. to take advantage of rising rates
• Tiffany to open in lobby of Beijing's Palace Hotel
vs.  doom du jourtm
portents: • joblessness up to 5.4% in US, • 7.3% Canada, • 3.9% Ireland
• Quebec ignores France's success with shorter workweek
& goes back to bogus Keynesian cosmetics (gov't spending)
• Argentine bond default poised to ripple thru LatAm via Brazil
+ 5 takeovers, worth $1.52B + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 4 downsizings, totaling 3250 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 2100 jobcuts by Prudential in Britain 
• 5¼% workforce cut (700 jobs lost worldwide) as KPMG Consulting demoes the 'blind leading
the blind,' instead of just trimming its workweek 5¼% (25 minutes a day for the whole company
including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together, working, earning & using 94¾% as much consulting as usual
• 450 jobcuts by Alcoa  • 300 cuts by Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical 

11/02/2001 fri
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of focused hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• Atlanta's AirTran Airways resumes 40-hr schedules after several wks of shorter hours
• Steinway & Sons pianos practices periodic plant shutdowns to avoid layoffs
• NEC asks 6600 employees in Japan to take 1-6 days off by year's end
+ today's glimmers of vaguer hope - 3 UPsizings (?? new jobs):
• US Air Force is blowing $50 million of our dough on a recruiting campaign
• Calpine is building 3 powerplants with $800m from Borg-like Tyco International
• work begins next wk on 8-storey, 188-room Marriott Courtyard in Brookline, Ma.
• plus glimmer of gray matter - reader rants vs. GOP "stimulus" bill - "whose reps?!"
vs.  doom du jourtm
portents: • NYPD slams city with nearly $2 billion in overtime so far this year = key to recession
• the much-puffed Fleet-BankBoston merger has turned out a disaster for regional mortgages
• our only hope now to break the Microsoft stranglehold is 18 state attorneys general
+ 3 takeovers, worth $1.3B + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 7203 jobcuts +??, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 4.4% workforce cut (4500 German jobs lost) as Deutsche Bank violates European job (& market)
maintenance, instead of just trimming its workweek 4.4% (21 minutes a day for the whole company
including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together, working, earning & doing 95.6% as much banking as usual
• 990 cuts by Genuity  • 550 at Weirton Steel  • 383 by Swank  • 330 by BEA Systems 
• 300 by Robertson Stephens  • 150 by ADC Telecomms  • unspecified cuts by Priceline.com 

11/01/2001 thu
- catchup updates continue - miss yesterday's? click here -
today's beams of focused hope dba primitive TIMEsizing in practice:
• EMC's 1600 Irish employees innoculate selves vs. layoffs with preXmas leave
• average US workweek slips from 34.1 hours in Sept. to 33.8 in Oct.
- we can't stop average wkwk slippage so let's even it out & enjoy it!
+ today's glimmers of vaguer hope - 1 UNtakeover:
• Elan spins off Athena Diagnostics after buying it in '96
vs.  doom du jourtm
+ 7 takeovers, worth $476m + $??, cited in NYT & Boston Globe
+ 8 downsizings, totaling 12,807 jobcuts, reported in NY Times & BG:
• 11½% workforce cut (another 10,000 jobs lost) as Alcatel telecom slashes itself down to a round 70%
of its former glory, instead of just trimming its workweek 11½% (to five 7-hour days for the whole
company including top executives), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 88½% as much telecom stuff as usual
• 1853 cuts by ACT Mfg  • 400 at Incyte  • 231 by Georgia-Pacific  • 225 by Samuels Jewelers 
• 50 by Leo Burnett USA  • 36 by Kirshenbaum Bond Creative  • 12 by Young & Rubicam Advertising