hopes/dooms du jour, May/2002
[Commentary] ©2002 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080 - HOMEPAGE

5/31/2002 fri, the un-13th
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, aka glimmers of strategic hope:
• VeriSign avoids layoffs by trimming worktime
- asks employees to take days off, to cut costs without cutting jobs
• pilots go on 1-day strike as Aer Lingus tries to cut 2 hrs from between-flight rest period
vs.  doom du jourtm  
1 downsizing, totaling  46 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 46 Mass. cuts by Essex County newspapers - another case of the lethal takeover-downsizing connection
- book status report on Defining Time: tidied up & mothballed Chapter 8

5/30/2002 thu
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• 'complaint du jour' = employee lawsuits seeking overtime pay
• study blames 100s-1000s of deaths annually on nursing understaffing, overwork
• healthcare agencies in Midwest consider jobsharing to recruit young doctors who want a life
• pilots protest as Aer Lingus tries to reduce required rest between flights from 12 to 10 hours
• Masaru Hirose's death ruled 'karoshi' - first case where employment was this short (52 days)
vs.  doom du jourtm  
5 downsizings, totaling  6605+?? jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 7% workforce cut (3500 more jobcuts) as Nortel keeps over-reacting to no turnaround
in telecoms, instead of just trimming its workweek 7%  (34 mins/day for whole firm including
top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone
together, working, earning & purchasing 93% as many phone services as usual
• 2800 UK cuts by Barclays Bank   • 2000 cuts by Aer Lingus   • 300 cuts by El Paso Corp.   • 5 Vt. cuts by IBM
• unspecified UK cuts as the 150-year tradition of snob satire Punch ceases
- book status report on Defining Time: completed indexing of Chapter 7

5/29/2002 wed
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• UK Industry Secretary slams long-hours culture & links it to lagging productivity
• new German labor chairman will battle joblessness with shorter hours
vs.  doom du jourtm  
2 downsizings, totaling  22,028 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 9% workforce cut (22,000 net German jobcuts) as Deutsche Telekom cuts costs (& consumers),
instead of just trimming its workweek 9%  (to five 7hr17min days for whole firm including top execs),
re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together,
working, earning & purchasing 91% as many phone services as usual
• 28 net Boston cuts as Holland & Knight joins bloodbath in lawyering
+ 1 bankruptcy story: • more UK firms defaulting, filing or closing
- book status report on Defining Time: completed indexing of ½ of Chapter 7

5/28/2002 tue
- US holiday yesterday, so slow newsday today as US media assume nothing happened elsewhere -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• US shortage of nurses spurs bidding war - shows working poor the secret to getting their share
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• at last, tide turns against whaling - Japan is losing younger generation
& Mexico is creating whale sanctuary in all its 1m-sq-mi national waters
• tide also begins to turn against uncontrolled immigration - France & Germany sober up
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • Krugman skeptical about 'recovery'   • sales still falling in Japan
• 'non-profit' CEOs pull megabucks   • somebody's still defending nuclear plants (employees)
• foster parent shortage   • identity thief surplus   • and you know priest sex abuse is over the top
when 100 Kentucky men come forward
- book status report on Defining Time: completed indexing of Chapter 6

ending 5/26-27/2002
- late edition -
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 7 TIMEsizing stories (?? jobs saved)  • 7 UPsizings (?? new jobs)  
vs. doom of the week:
• 10 downsizings, totaling over 11,560 lost jobs   • 1 early retirement story
• 5 bankruptcies, totaling over $2.7B debt       • 4 homelessness items       • 1 prison story
‹‹YTD: 207 tmsz(440+ jobs)+59 upsz(28014+=6%) vs. 323 dnsz(495692+)+73 bkrp($38.7B+)+29 hmls+37 jail+16 suic››
- hope of the weekend -
timesizing news - glimmers of strategic hope:
• (4/22) Business Week takes a prolonged swing at France's 35-hour workweek
vs.  doom of the weekend -
headlines from hell: • US water shortages move east
• technology and our deteriorating management skills
• flaccid economy means job changers just tread water
• British group says world slavery growing, especially child slavery, esp. in Sudan
+ retirement omens: • more erosion of US pensions
+ another case vs. M&As: • Jupiter-Media Metrix - merger hastened downfall
+ 1 prison story:  • reader argues for all or nothing in defining victimless "crimes"
- bk status report on "Defining Time": completed tune-up & indexing of Chapter 5 -

5/25/2002 sat (re fri biz)
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• officially acknowledged karoshi (death by overwork) rises in Japan
while Health Ministry lamely sets targets on fewer working hours per year
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing - unspecified new jobs as American International Assurance opens 4 offices in China
vs.  doom du jourtm  
1 downsizing, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 5500 Japan jobcuts by GM-controlled Isuzu Motors after $344m loss
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Nextel's NII Holdings, international wireless unit, files with $2.02B debt
+ 2 homelessness stories: • in 8 years, HomeStart of Boston MA has helped 1400 homeless buy homes (avg 175/yr), yet shelters even more crowded   • Shelter Inc. to hold birdhouse auction next Thurs. to raise $$
+ 1 prison story: • inmate escapes thru same hole in same fence from same Memphis jail as 11 yrs ago
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of 511/512 of Chapter 5

5/24/2002 fri
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• So. Korean bank employees cut from 5½-6 day to 5-day workweek
• Cendant Mobility unit of Cendant Corp. offers flexible work options like job-sharing
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing - unspecified new jobs as Ethan Allen Interiors opens first of 4 stores in Europe
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • more bad news on environment - in 30-yr frame
• above-the-law Bush does it again - keeping US exempt from world court
• Ellen Goodman nails GOP for wanting moms to stay home - unless poor & single
+ 3 downsizings, totaling  2060 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 1300 Japan jobcuts by Snow Brand Milk   • 700 US cuts by IBM   • 60 net cuts by Avon Products
+ 1 bankruptcy: • KPNQwest, Dutch-US venture, denied credit line, will file for protection
+ homeless front: • dangers underlined by murder of 1 man & critical hit&run injury of another
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of 255/256 of Chapter 5

5/23/2002 thu
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• Japan Labor Ministry to flex up subsidies for work sharing
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing - unspecified new jobs as Ethan Allen Interiors opens first of 4 stores in Europe
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • more bad news on environment - in 30-yr frame
• above-the-law Bush does it again - keeping US exempt from world court
• Ellen Goodman nails GOP for wanting moms to stay home - unless poor & single
+3 downsizings, totaling  3500 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 6.7% workforce cut (2000 mostly German jobcuts) as Siemens electronics & engineering saves a ½B euros & further dampens consumer demand, instead of just trimming its workweek 6.7%  (32 mins/day for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & shopping 93.3% as much as usual
• 1300 jobcuts by Bayer   • 200 Calif. cuts by Guidant
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of 255/256 of Chapter 5

5/22/2002 wed
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• good - AP story talks up job-sharing   • bad - major timesizer Nucor catches takeover virus
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 2 UPsizings - unspecified new jobs as Kohl's in US, and
• Marks & Spencer in UK open stores
vs.  doom du jourtm  
1 downsizing, totaling  500 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 71% workforce cut (500 jobcuts) as Fairchild Dornier regional jets guts its US unit and further nicks global consumption, instead of just trimming its workweek 71%  (to four 3-hour days for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together, working, earning & shopping 29% as much as usual
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Fairchild Dornier/US, - German parent (4/03) had $670m debt
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of 127/128 of Chapter 5

5/21/2002 tue
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• ColTech student suggests 'phased retirements' to ease
supposed skill shortage in aerospace = shorter hours at good pay
for 'excess' Americans, vs. higher visa quotas for long-hours poor-pay immigrants
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • bogus-accounting & options have raised CEO pay in US
to 458 times that of ordinary employees, far exceeding anywhere else in
'global economy' and starving consumer markets & economic growth
+ 1 early retirement horror story: • 13 firms (22% of the 60 audited)
have cheated early retirees of $17 million in pension benefits
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Metromedia Fiber Network
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of 63/64 of Chapter 5

ending 5/19-20/2002
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
• only 9 TIMEsizing stories (130+ new and saved jobs)  • 1 UPsizing (50+ new jobs)  
vs. doom of the week:
• 12 downsizings, totaling over 10,767 lost jobs  
• 4 bankruptcies, totaling over $7.7B debt       • 1 homelessness item       • 1 work-linked suicide
‹‹YTD: 200 tmsz(440+ jobs)+52 upsz(28014+=6%) vs. 313 dnsz(484132+)+68 bkrp($36.0B+)+25 hmls+36 jail+16 suic››
- hope of the weekend -
timesizing news - glimmers of strategic hope: • fiiinaaallly, Accreditation Council
for US Graduate Medical Education threatens to decertify Yale unless it quits the
100-hr workweeks - UMass and Brigham&Women's plan to cut surgeon training hours
+ glimmers of vaguer hope: • 2 UPsizings, ?? new jobs - Polychromix  - Lycos Enterprise unit
• some economywide upsizing (per cheerleaders)   • welcome, East Timor, to nationhood
vs.  doom of the weekend -
2 downsizings, totaling unspecified jobcuts:
• unspecified jobcuts as online art galleries, Art.com and • Eyestorm.com, crash & burn
+ 1 bankruptcy: • online gallery Eyestorm.com insolvent in England - people want to see art
- bk status report on "Defining Time": completed tune-up & indexing of 31/32 of Chapter 5 -

5/18/2002 sat (re fri biz)
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• (5/04) City of Atlanta institutes 5-day furlough & cuts overtime to avoid layoffs
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • Japan's debt now exceeds GDP by 40%
- Moody's mulls downgrading Japan's credit rating to Botswana level!
+ 2 downsizings, totaling  5000+?? jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 6% workforce cut (40 Ma. jobcuts) as BellSouth trims some of its markets along with costs as it continues its over-reaction to recession & competition, instead of just trimming its workweek 6%  (29 mins/day for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together, working, earning & buying 94% as many telephone services as usual
• unspecified Ma. cuts as doubled rent shuts Walker's Riding Apparel after 70 yrs in downtown Boston
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of 15/16 of Chapter 5

5/17/2002 fri
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• good news - USAir CEO tries preserve jobs with hourscuts instead of jobcuts
• bad news - House passes, by 229 to 197, longer workweek for workfare mothers
vs.  doom du jourtm  
2 downsizings, totaling  60 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 31% workforce cut (40 Ma. jobcuts) as Variagenics medical R&D tries to conserve cash by wasting
human capital, instead of just trimming its workweek 31%  (to four 6.9-hour days for whole firm
including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
everyone together, working, earning & buying 69% as many medical products as usual
• 20 jobcuts by Hynix  
+ 1 bankruptcy story: • filings by individual US consumers continue to break records
+ 1 work-related suicide: • another accused priest 'cheats the hangman'
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of 7/8 of Chapter 5

5/16/2002 thu
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• timesizing via a high respect for part-time work, the Netherlands turned into
one of the best-performing economies in Europe with one of the lowest jobless rates
vs.  doom du jourtm  
1 downsizing, totaling  950 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 59% workforce cut (950 US-Can.jobcuts) as Teleglobe telecomms gets spooked by competition, files for bankruptcy
& cuts payroll (and its own markets), instead of just trimming its workweek 59%  (to four 4.1-hour days
for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, &
keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 41% as much telecom service as usual
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Teleglobe to declare bankruptcy in Canada, a cool $7.7B in the hole
+ 1 homelessness story: • 1968 tackle for the NY Jets dies homeless in Memphis
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of ¾ Chapter 5

5/15/2002 wed
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• Saitama Prefecture to implement work sharing in September,
cutting overtime to spread work & overtime budget to finance 130 new jobs
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • national debt pushing $6 trillion
+ 3 downsizings, totaling  438 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 20% workforce cut (377 jobcuts) as Allmerica Financial insurance cuts its insurance agents
(and its own marketing & markets), instead of just trimming its workweek 20%  (four 8-hr/days
for whole firm including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training,
& keeping everyone together, working, earning & buying 80% as much insurance as normally
• 60 jobs going away as Daewoo America goes bust with no cars to sell  
• 1 "layoff" by The Pilot R.C. newspaper in Boston, Mass.
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Daewooo America to go Chapter 11
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of ½ Chapter 5

5/14/2002 tue
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• Hewitt Assocs. survey optimistically finds 28% of US firms offer job-sharing
• reader, a third-year US med student, underlines idiocy of 100-hour workweeks
• AP reporter underlines contrast with Germany - 35-hour weeks & 6-week vacations
vs.  doom du jourtm  
3 downsizings, totaling  1319 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 1000 jobcuts by IBM in Burlington, Vermont   • 305 cuts by AXA - 300 in UK, 5 in US  
• 5.3% workforce cut (14 jobcuts) as Harvard Business School Publishing carries out long-term strategic planning (and nicks its own market), instead of just trimming its workweek 5.3%  (25 mins/day for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping people together, working, earning & subscribing to 94.7% as many biz reviews as usual
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Polymer Group of North Charleston in South Carolina files for Chapter 11
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of ¼ Chapter 5

5/12-13/2002
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 12 more TIMEsizing stories (?? new and saved jobs)  • 2 UPsizings (1000+ new jobs)  
vs. doom of the week:
• 10 downsizings totaling over 27,420 lost jobs   • 3 bankruptcies, totaling $6.642B debt      
‹‹YTD: 191 tmsz(310+ jobs)+51 upsz(27964+=6%) vs. 301 dnsz(473365+)+64 bkrp($28.3B+)+24 hmls+36 jail+15 suic››
- hope of the weekend -
timesizing news: • China orders limits on overtime at airports after streak of plane crashes
+ glimmers of vaguer hope: • 1 UPsizing report - 50 new jobs as Red Hat opens office in Westford MA
vs.  doom of the weekend -
1 downsizing, totaling 3000 jobcuts: • 1.5% of workforce cut (3000 lost jobs) as SBC telecoms freaks
over posting its first loss in 5 yrs, instead of just trimming its workweek by 1.5% (12 minutes a day
for whole firm including top executives), implementing overtime-targeted training and keeping
everyone together working, earning & buying 98.5% as many telecom services as usual
- bk status report on "Defining Time": completed tune-up & indexing of Chapter 4 -

5/11/2002 sat (re fri biz)
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• Boston panel at 1 pm today on why US leads world in more hours worked each year
• German unions get shorter hours for themselves but not for others
vs.  doom du jourtm  
1 downsizing, costing  60 jobs, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 3% workforce cut (60 jobcuts) as Aspen Technology takes over rival Hyprotech and cuts costs (and markets), instead of just trimming its workweek 3%  (15 mins/day for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping people together, working, earning & buying 97% as much technology as usual
+ 1 bankruptcy: • LifeFX of Newton MA files
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of half Chapter 4

5/10/2002 fri
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• Scots RR engineers refused to work overtime during 4-month labor dispute
vs.  doom du jourtm  
- 'slow and steady' wrecks the economy -
2 downsizings, totaling  13,400 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 5.6% workforce cut (9000 mostly US jobcuts) as IBM betrays its distant past & its current employees with
an annual 'resource allocation exercise,' instead of just trimming its workweek 5.6%  (45 mins/day for whole
company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping
people together, working, earning & buying 94.4% as many computerphanalia as usual
• 4400 jobcuts as Louisiana-Pacific closes up to half its 60 mills in Oregon
+ 1 bankruptcy: • Provell direct marketing files with $42.4m debt
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of Chapter 3

5/09/2002 thu
- late edition -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• 100s of nurses trigger alarmclocks in front of US Capitol to protest forced overtime
& push for passage of Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • for those who still think growth alone
'raises all ships' - income gap widens despite growth in Washington State
+ 2 downsizings, totaling  8600 +?? jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 45% workforce cut (8600 Baltic jobcuts) as the Russian Navy slashes costs (& slams Russian economy),
instead of just trimming its workweek 45%  (to five 4hr24min days for whole service including
top brass), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping shipmates
together, working, earning & spending 55% as many roubles as usual
• unspecified Ma. cuts as Biotransplant ekes out diminishing cash reserves
+ 1 bankruptcy: • NTL goes for record corporate bond default with $6.6B debt
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of Chapter 2

5/08/2002 wed
- late edition -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• big striking German union already has what Americans only dream about -
a 35-hr week, 6 weeks' vacation, annual bonuses & seats on corporate boards
• new French finance minister quibbled when 35-hr workweek law came in but
seized the chance to flex up hours & push training into personal time
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 2 UPsizings - 1000 new jobs as Novartis moves world research HQ to Cambridge MA &
- unspecified new jobs as Taiwan Semi plans plant in China
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • EU exceeds authority, 'requires' worldwide VAT on Internet sales
• economic dominoes start in South America - Argentina down, Uruguay falling
• Indonesia wants democracy chump (US of A) to be democracy champ
• Ashcroft sneaks in flipflop of official government guns policy
+ 2 downsizings, totaling  60 jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 44 jobcuts as Northland Cranberries closes plant in NY & moves its operations to Wisc.
• 14% workforce cut (16 DC jobcuts) as Arnold Worldwide ad agency freaks over losing big client,
instead of just trimming its workweek 14%  (to five 6hr53min days for whole company including
top execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone
together, working, earning & buying 86% as much advertised stuff as usual
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of Chapter 1

5/07/2002 tue
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• 2d-biggest union in world's 3d-biggest economy won 35-hr week for
members in western Germany 7 years ago by calling for even shorter workweek
• spreading work & pay with 35-hr week is boosting demand and • powering growth in France
• Chirac wants flex up 35-hr week - to ineffectualize? - and • his PM pick, Raffarin, wants to also
• Raffarin wants let small business opt out of 35-hr week via more overtime
• US medical students sue over 100-hour workweeks
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • now it comes out - Enron caused California energy crisis
+ 3 downsizings, totaling  5300+?? jobcuts, cited in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 5300 jobcuts as Winn-Dixie Stores closes 71 locations in Texas & 5 locations in Oklahoma  
• unspecified cuts as United States Open University and • Marycrest Int'l University shut down
- book status report on Defining Time: completed tune-up & indexing of the Introduction

5/5-6/2002
weekend roundup per the NY Times & Boston Globe:
• 12 TIMEsizing stories (?? new and saved jobs)  • 4 UPsizings (1300+ new jobs)  
vs. doom of the week:
• 18 downsizings totaling over 25,472 lost jobs   • 1 makework story
• 1 bankruptcy       • 1 homelessness item       • 1 work-linked suicide
‹‹YTD: 179 tmsz(310+ jobs)+49 upsz(26964+=6%) vs. 291 dnsz(445945+)+61 bkrp($21.7B+)+24 hmls+36 jail+15 suic››
- hope of the weekend - timesizing news:
• members of Germany's biggest industrial union, IG Metall, get six (6) weeks of paid vacation
vs.  doom of the weekend -
headlines from hell: • US talks the global talk, but pulls out of another treaty
- bk status report: completed tune-up & indexing of Preface of Defining Time -

5/04/2002 sat (re fri biz)
- miss yesterday's? see Features below -
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• construction unions seek shorter workweek in Germany and • Australia
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• another book besides Michael Moore's, shunned by the media, sells big - by Chomsky  
• mortgage lenders experiment with extended payment schedules as alternative to foreclosures
vs.  doom du jourtm  
headlines from hell_tm • US joblessness - up to 8-yr high of 6%   • US ecodoom - Bush lets
mining industry fill in streams & valleys   • US freedoms - Hawaii squelches death with dignity
+ 2 downsizings, totaling  1800+?? jobcuts, reported in New York Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 1800 cuts by May Department Stores   • unspecified cuts as Conoco and Phillips Petroleum merge
- book status report on Defining Time: indexed to p. xvii

5/03/2002 fri
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• Brit analyst strains for complaints against France's 35-hour workweek
• New England colleges cave to workaholism of surrounding culture, drop 4-day week
+ today's headlines from heaven^tm aka glimmers of vaguer hope:
• 1 UPsizing - ?? new jobs as Eli Lilly plans biotech research center in Ind. & insulin plant in Va.
vs.  doom du jourtm  
5 downsizings, totaling  2507 jobcuts, reported in New York Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 30% workforce cut (1200 jobcuts) as Genuity ISP spooks over weak results, instead of just trimming its
workweek 30%  (to four 7-hour days for whole company including top execs), re-investing overtime savings
in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone together, earning & Web-surfing 70% as much as before
• 1000 cuts by AT&T Canada   • 204 by Aurora Foods   • 100 by J. P. Morgan Chase   • 3 by Goldman Sachs
- book status report on Time Gap: retitled Defining Time -

5/02/2002 thu
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• Dutch introduced worksharing in 1982 & cut joblessness from 12% then to 3% last yr
• 100,000s of Koreans hold May Day rallies to demand 5-day workweek
• Aussies have 35-hr workweek, at least in Northern Territory
• Brits working longer, producing less
vs.  doom du jourtm  
4 downsizings, totaling  370 +?? jobcuts, reported in New York Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 10% workforce cut (230 jobcuts) as Holland & Knight barristers chops itself up post-merger,
instead of just trimming its workweek 10%  (48 mins/day for whole company including top
execs), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-targeted training, & keeping everyone
together, working, earning & suing one another 90% as much as before
• 80 cuts by Tiburon Networks   • 60 by Lehman Brothers Holdings  
• unspecified cuts as Maine Daily News shuts down
+ 1 bankruptcy story: • publicly traded companies start year on track for another record
- book status report on Time Gap: tuned up preface -

5/01/2002 wed
timesizing in the news, alias glimmers of strategic hope:
• timesizing France creeps back up to 9.1% unemployment (UE) - needs further hours cuts?!
• Greece joins France focus on worktime, not workforce, adjustment (+ EU wage roundup)
• aim of hourscut didn't get to Calais - still 13% UE & swamped with illegals clawing to UK
vs.  doom du jourtm  
4 downsizings, totaling  18,399 +?? jobcuts, reported in New York Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG):
• 15% workforce cut (17,556 Spanish & LatAm jobcuts) as Banco Santander Central Hispano goes into
post-merger cost-cutting (& market-cutting) mode, instead of just trimming its workweek 15%  (to five
6¾-hr days for whole company including top executivos), re-investing overtime savings in overtime-
targeted training, & keeping everyone together, working, earning & banking 85% as much as before
• 620 Ma. cuts by Deutsche Bank at Scudder   • 223 Vt. cuts by Ethan Allen Interiors  
• unspecified Minn. cuts by Jesse Ventura at Governor's mansion
+ 1 homelessness story: • 4 Massachusetts shelters are over 140% of capacity, one is 300% over 1999 limit
- book status report on Time Gap: added fuzzy Krauss ref to preface -