Timesizing® Associates

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dooms du jour, Aug-July/1999
[Commentary] ©1998,1999 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Sq, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080

8/31/99 tue - 3 downsizings reported (total 630 +unspecified):  • 14% sales staff cut (500 salespeople) at the nation's largest computer retailer as CompUSA reorgs - should have done 14% hours cut (34.4-hour workweek!) & kept everyone employed, & selling  • 3½% workforce cut (130 jobs) as Sherwood Packaging closes a N.C. plant, instead of a 3½% workweek cut so everyone keeps working & spending  • unspecified cuts as the largest fast-seafood restaurant chain, Long John Silvers, closes 28 locations
+ 16 takeovers reported: • 1 in $Bs • 8 in $100Ms • 7 $?  (total $19B +$?)
+ 3 dark questions: • bankruptcy too socially acceptable? • inflation just as spot-specific as unemployment? • why all these killings/suicides in a "booming" economy? (now we have autoparts gunman & another killer nurse)
+ glimmers of hope:  1 UPsizing as People's Bank opens 30 branches in Conn.

8/29-30 - weekend roundup, per NYT (+BG):  11 more downsizings reported (11,000 jobs gone +unspecified) + 6 bankruptcies + 56 takeovers this week ($24½B involved +undisclosed),
vs. 0 upsizings (0 new jobs) & 1 untakeover ($?)
<<<½YTD reports:  91D (94,855 jobcuts +?) + 453T ($312.25B +$?)
vs. 11 upsz (27,575 +?) + 13 untk ($16.675B+?)>>>
+ 1 late-reported Fri takeover (included in this roundup) + 5 badnews zingers:  • 40% call their jobs very or extremely stressful  • Stress is straining out young lawyers  • No progress in 100 years in drawing boundaries on work  • Age bias lives - in high tech  • If this economy is so "booming," how come it's hard times for small theaters? + 4 glimmers of hope:  • 1 untakeover: regulators finally stop Banque Nationale de Paris  • UN finally nails us for torpedoing Russian economy  • Greenspan finally admits stock options inflate corporate earnings  • Lucent/Bell Labs advertises limited workweek to attract employees - "work here & still have time for your life'"

8/28 sat (on fri's events) - 2 more downsizings reported (total 1729):  • 1600 more layoffs in Singapore's electronics industry as world's biggest computer maker Compaq struggles to reverse losses by cutting jobs of its best customers, a few, a few more & a few more, instead of keeping everyone employed with hourscuts for all  • 129 jobs cut as BP Amoco engulfed in petrochemical industry's struggles and cuts some duplication from its giant merger in January + 1 bankruptcy mentioned - ICO follows Iridium into Chapter 11 as satellite mobile fones flop + 10 takeovers reported: • 4 in $100Ms • 4 in $10Ms • 2 $?  (total $2B +$?) + glimmers of hope:  At last, Greenspan links "inflation" & "stock market"!

8/27 fri - 2 more downsizings reported (total 2270):  • 2000 jobs to vanish as Swiss-based Sulzer struggles to prop plunging profits; but jobcuts munge morale, productivity & loyalty - as hourscuts, instead, would not  • 270 jobs cut (10% of workforce) as Autodesk software reacts to slower sales and new products by firing its best customers (its own employees), thus slowing sales further, instead of doing a 10% workweek cut (36-hr wk) to save the same money & get everyone more focused & prioritized + 8 takeovers reported: • 1 in $Bs • 3 in $100Ms • 3 in $10Ms • 1 $?  (total $2½B +$?) + 3 glimmers of hope:  • from top executive suite, 3 defections, the two women with very interesting comments  • from Fed's June decision to raise rates, a lone dissenter  • from German army expansion plans, 6000 fewer soldiers

8/26 thu - 2 downsizings reported (total 2680):  • 2200 people (24%) cut at Raychem, days after Tyco's takeover; a 30-hr workweek (24% hours cut) could have prevented this & preserved everyone's job  • 480 jobs cut (50% of US staff) as Komag diskdrives throws out the baby with the bathwater - cuts its markets as well as its costs - and moves manufacturing to Malaysia
+ new feature, frequently post-downsizing: 4 suicides reported
+ ‘pre-downsizings,’ 12 takeovers reported, totalling $9½B +$??
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned:  • Conxus Communications paging network  • ImmuLogic biotech
+ collapse trends: • American CEOs leave training to others despite "tight labor market" smokescreen • global "tight labor market" sees a million desperate, skilled Brazilians applying for 10,000 jobs, with no hope for the unskilled
+ glimmers of hope:  3rd-millennium economies will have pervasive, continuous training, retraining & cross-training - NY Times features futility of welfare reform without training on frontpage, Business section

8/25 wed - 4 downsizings reported (total 17,275):  • 13,000 people cut (100%!) at branches across the land, as Eaton's, Canada's most familiar & traditional department store, goes under  • 60% staff cut (2500 jobs) at Western Digital diskdrives in Singapore, vs. a 60% hours cut (16-hr wk) & everyone bails at their own pace  • 2½% workforce cut (1600 jobs) at Seagate diskdrives, also in Singapore, instead of 2½% workweek cut ( to 39 hrs/wk) & everyone keeps working...&shopping  • 5% workforce cut (175 employees) at Gartner Group in Stamford, instead of 5% workweek but (to 38 hrs/wk) & everyone stays employed
+ 1 huge bankruptcy:  Timothy Eaton Co. Ltd., Canada's Macy's, her oldest & dearest department store, a Canadian institution
+ subway suicides in Toronto - Eaton's layoff related?
+ downsizing preliminaries, 8 takeovers reported: • 3 in $100Ms • 4 in $10Ms • 1 $?  (total $1.36B +$?)
+ Ecuador in worst economic crisis since 1929 & (thanks, IMF!) under crushing $13B foreign debt load
+ glimmers of hope:  • Justice Dept. finally called to justice for millions of illegal unpaid overtime hours  • 1 untakeover as Surge drops plan to buy Orbit  • gun sales banned in county of new-Nazi's shoorting spree

8/24 tue - the "robust" deathwish economy - 2 downsizings reported for athletic shoe makers (total 70 +unspecified):  • 7-8% workforce cut (70 people) at Converse in NC, instead of 7-8% workweek cut (to 37 hrs/wk) & everyone keeps working...& shopping  • up to 25% staff cut at Reebok, vs. a 25% hours cut (30-hr wk) & everyone stays employed 
+ 2 bankruptcies mentioned:  • Filene's Basement  • Zenith Electronics
+ 17 takeovers reported: • 2 in $1Bs • 7 in $100Ms • 3 in $10Ms • 5 $?  (total $9.12B +$?)
+ glimmers of hope:  Letter pleads for shorter workweek (40 hrs?!) + Pooling ruling could settle down merger mania

8/22-23 - average full-time workweek now back up to 1920 level, 47 hrs/wk - weekend roundup, per NYT (+BG):  11 downsizings reported (7515 jobs gone +unspecified) + 2 bankruptcies
+ 38 takeovers this week ($27½B involved +undisclosed),
vs. 0 upsizings (0 new jobs) & 2 untakeovers ($??)
<<<½YTD reports:  80D (83,855 jobcuts +?) + 397T ($287.75B +$?)
vs. 11 upsz (27,575 +?) + 12 untk ($16.675B+?)>>>
+ if we confuse being important with being busy, no matter what we're doing, we go "Oops, I forgot to have a life"
+ glimmers of hope:  Some CEOs are looking for a better balance in their lives than workworkwork

8/21 sat (on fri's events) - 2 downsizings reported (totalling 930 +unspecified): 
• 13% staff cut (800 jobs) at Quantum diskdrives "to compete better," instead of a 13% hours cut (35-hr wk) & everyone keeps working...& buying
• 130 layoffs + 150 jobs "moved" as Nortel Networks closes an R&D unit near Montréal
+ bad omen: • Timothy Eaton Co. Ltd., Canada's oldest dept store, closes all 9 Québec stores
+ 10 takeovers reported: • 1 in $b's • 2 in $100m's • 4 in $10m's • 3 $?  (total $2.63b +$?)
+ glimmers of hope - Conservatism, in the dumb sense, in decline

8/20 fri - 1 downsizing reported:  2% staff cut (1,000 jobs) at British Airways after worst Q in 7 yrs, instead of a 2% hours cut (39-hr wk) & everyone keeps working - & flying
+ 9 takeovers reported: • 1 in $b's • 2 in $100m's • 2 in $10m's • 4 $?  (total $6.86b +$?)
+ record $24.6b trade deficit discloses braindeath beneath free trade fixation
+ glimmers of hope - At least one big nation smart enough to send "Typhoid Mary" packing? - Brazil snubs next infusion of killer cash from the black widow of world finance, the IMF

8/19 thu - 3 downsizings reported (totalling at least 1,360):  • 33% staff cut (1,110 jobs) at Contifinancial in NYC, instead of a 33% hours cut (27-hr wk) & everyone keeps their job
• 200 more jobcuts in Lexington as Raytheon breaks its 'job-keeping for taxbreaks' contract with Massachusetts taxpayers yet again
• 17% staff cut (50 Americans) as Collins & Aikman auto carpet moves from Mich. to Mexico, when they could do a 17% hours cut (33-hr wk) & keep everyone working & using their car rugs
+ 10 takeovers reported: • 3 in $b's • 2 in $100m's • 1 in $10m's • 4 $?  (total $6.8b +$?)
+ the World Trade Organization is beginning to be recognized for what it is:
an insidious, standards-blanking autocracy driving all nations into a race to the bottom
+ glimmers of hope - At least one big nation is hip to the danger of DEPRESSION - fearing deflation (=big depression symptom), China is setting limits on new factories

8/18 wed - growing population needs jobs, but we use technology to cut jobs & markets instead of work & stress - 1 downsizing reported + 2 bankruptcies mentioned: • Planet Hollywood to file Ch.11 • Kiwi Air to file Ch.7 in 5 days unless... + 12 takeovers reported: • 5 in $100m's • 1 in $10m's • 6 $?  (total $1.53b +$?) + gov't spending $90m to create 63,000 jobs vs. decade's worst recession in Chile + glimmers of hope - E*Trade joins push into after-hours trading - trend forces clearer distinction between business hours and shifts, between "per-job" and "per-person" variables

8/17 tue - - a big day for jobcutting, paycutting(!) and constipating, sorry, we mean consolidating - 2 more downsizings reported (total 1,675 +unspecified):  • 15% staff cut (1400 consumers) at Union Bank in Cal., instead of 15% hours cut (to 34 hr/wk) & everyone keeps working & shopping • 275 jobs burped & evaporated in Conn. & NJ as BF Goodrich digests its $2.2 billion buyout of Coltec Industries (when they could just trim hours and keep all their people together)
+ 15 takeovers reported: • 3 in $b's • 5 in $100m's • 6 in $10m's • 1 $? (total $9.87b +$?)
+ scientists find the exact metaphor for our present economic stupidity: matter pulled into black hole
+ glimmers of hope: • Bucky Fuller's dream of cheap lightweight battery substitutes comes closer
• 1 PAYsizing, not downsizing! - World Airways will cut salaries above $25K by 10% & may compensate with stock (but not shorter hours - hey, it's better than jobcuts!) - will it include top execs??

8/15-16 - weekend roundup, per NYT (+BG):  13 downsizings reported (16,700 jobs gone)
+ 38 takeovers ($15¼B involved),
vs. 1 upsizing (75 new jobs) & 0 untakeovers ($0)
///½YTD reports:  69D (76,340 jobcuts +?) + 359T ($260.25B +$?)
vs. 11 upsz (27,575 +?) + 10 untk ($16.675B+?)///
+ 1 weekend takeover 'tween two French banques + 1 downsizing to count next week - break out the black bunting: these 550 jobcuts trash America's most forward-looking firm of the '30s as Kellogg Cereals shuts most of hometown plant in Battle Creek, Mich. nearly 69 years after pioneering America's first 30-hour corporate workweek and creating livelihoods for 300 more Battle Creek heads of household + The West's guilty secret: Russia's a mess thanks to 'shock therapy' & 'reform'-labelled greed licensing + glimmers of hope:  Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly fights 2 utility mergers for trying to charge to consumers merger payouts for stockholders & Wall Street bankers

8/14 sat (on fri's events) - a quiet day on America's glidepath to The Great Depression II - no downsizings; only one bankruptcy, tho' a high-tech one: Iridium, satellite fone firm, files for Chap.11 + only 9 takeovers reported:  • 1 in $b's • 4 in $100m's • 1 in $10m's • 3 $? (total $4.68b +$?) + forget the annual 6 weeks off that Europeans have had for decades, now an American book says, "Gee, there's this historically recent fluke called 'vacation'!"
+ glimmers of hope - new mother at Zoo New England, trained by humans, bears baby close relative of ours

8/13 fri - today our CEOs are back in the groove, inducing depression with staff cuts, not hours cuts - * however, New Feature - we start tracking stock buybacks as positive, merger resistance *
5 more downsizings reported (total 2,597 new +unspecified):  • 10% workforce cut (2500 consumers) at Texaco, instead of 10% workweek cut (to 36 hrs) & everyone keeps working & keeps shopping • 4% jobs (1500 people) cut 1 week after Liberty Mutual denied they'd cut 800, when they could avoid cutting any by cutting hours 4% for a 38.4-hr workweek • 6% workforce cut (469 people) as Superior Telecomm closes 3 plants instead of 6% workweek cut • 328 jobs cut as biggest fertilizer maker shuts 5 plants instead of cutting hours & keeping jobs • unspecified cuts at Wang HQ in Billerica, Mass. as new owner Getronics gets rough + 4 takeovers reported:  • 4 in $100m's • 1 $? (total $959m +$?) + havens for wealthy bankrupts offered by legislation in Florida and Texas
+ glimmers of hope:  good news for Canucks, Canadian BUTTERTARTS (or close) have arrived in the USA (Boston area)

8/12 thu - - a relatively slow day for progress-retardant corporate strategists - 8 takeovers reported:  • 1 in $B's • 3 in $100M's • 1 in $10M's • 3 $? (total $2.92B +$?) + 1 looming bankruptcy in St. Louis
+ Japan jolts from job security to job hopping & Kansas schools drop back to Dark Ages by deleting evolution + glimmers of hope:  75 new jobs in Fall River, Mass. as Travelers Property Casualty expands

8/11 wed - Losses? downsize!  Profits? downsize!  Eventual result? CEO-induced depression - 5 downsizings reported (total 12,820):  • up to 6000 jobcuts as Pratt & Whitney moves 3000 jobs from Fla. to Conn. & drops 3000 people in Conn. (avoidable by cutting workweek, not workforce)  • 4500 more cuts this year (total 14,500) as BP Amoco, with profits up 14%, lemmingly "cuts costs"  • up to 15% staffcuts (1500 jobs, 3rd reorg in 3 years) at Silicon Graphics in Calif. instead of 15% hourscuts (to a 34-hr workweek) & continued employment for all  • 695 cuts as Oakwood Homes mfrd hsg retailer deactivates 3 plants  • 5% cut (125 jobs) at Stride Rite, instead of cutting hours by 5% to 38 per week for all & keeping everyone employed...& spending
+ 4 "words to the wise":  • 2300 more seniors "downsized" from HMO coverage  • Survey reveals new health risk: 1 in 4 angry at work  • Gunman downs 5 at LA daycamp  • One American returning from long absence asks "What happened to America while I was away?"
+ 10 takeovers reported:  • 1 in $B's • 2 in $100M's • 3 in $10M's • 5 $?? (total $4.74B +$??)
+ glimmers of hope:  • Holland does it more honestly - legalizes mercy killing & assisted suicide • At least one person's trying - Janet Reno has ideas to check inmate recidivism

8/10 tue - the jobless economy extends its tentacles - So far this year 36% more layoffs than last year's record, highest in decade (WCRB Boston 8 am news) + 3 downsizings reported (total 1281 +unspecified):  • 730 jobcuts (10%) as Rust-Oleum, in record profit, closes 23 plants (avoidable by cutting hours 10% for all to a 36-hr corporate workweek) • 551 cuts at Mass. Mutual Life (11.5%) in Springfield & Hartford, vs. chopping hours 11.5% to 35-a-week for all & keeping everyone employed (& spending)  • unspecified cuts at Data General as EMC engulfs it, maybe offset by 1500 new EMC jobs (but "let's generate anxiety to bar raises" & spending & markets = Market as new Ocean of Infinite Exploitability) + 7 more takeovers reported:  • 1 in $B's • 2 in $100M's • 2 in $10M's • 2 $?? (total $1.98B +$??) + glimmers of hope:  • Boston venture capitalist Chris Grace wants state ballot question on Internet access • Concord Coalition's Bob Bixby wants "surplus" to pay down $5.5T national debt

8/8-9 - weekend roundup, per NYT (+BG):  12 downsizings reported (10,440 jobs gone) + 72 takeovers ($66B involved),
vs. 4 upsizings (1100 new jobs +??) & 2 untakeovers ($?)
<<½YTD reports:  56D (60,640 jobcuts +?) + 321T ($245B +$?)
vs. 10 upsizings (27,500 new jobs + unspecified) + 10 untakeovers ($16.675B+?)>>
+ glimmers of hope:  2 population reasons for referendum democracy - • debating immigration: racism! vs. ecology! vs. simply determining if & when we're getting "too much of a good thing"• 1st long-term study of crime & tax savings in the '90s from legalizing reproductive choice in '73

8/07 sat (on fri's events) - 2 downsizings reported (total 3200):  • 2900 jobcuts (40%) planned by Placer Dome in their Jo-burg mines, avoidable by cutting hours (not people) 40% in this dangerous work to a 24-hr workweek for all • 300 cuts at Cahners Business Info (7% nationwide), instead of chopping hours 7% to 37.2 a wk for all & keeping everyone employed (& spending)
+ 7 takeovers reported:  • 2 in $b's • 3 in $100m's • 2 $?? (total $19.27b +$??)
+ glimmers of hope:  • Town citizens fight appalling conditions in juvenile prison • 1 upsizing: 1000 new jobs as Providian Financial opens new ops center in Louisville • FHA to set new limit on overtime for truckers

8/06 fri - 2 downsizings reported (total 1000):  • 800 jobcuts, already started, denied by Liberty Mutual in Boston • 200 cuts (8%) as Sterling Commerce web software reorgs, thus pounding productivity by munging morale & lowering loyalty, all avoidable by cutting workweek, not workforce, 8% to 36.8 hrs/wk & keeping everyone employed (& spending) + 11 takeovers reported: • 5 in $100m's • 2 in $10m's • 4 $?? (total $2.07b +$??) + another workplace shooting leaves 3 dead in "Alabam" + glimmers of hope:  • 2 upsizings: 100 new jobs at PNC Bank in Pa. & unspecified new jobs as Calpine plans a new power plant in Calif. • 2 untakeovers: cancel LSME Holding's takeover of Lucent's small-business sales unit & lengthen odds on Central European Media's merger with SBS Broadcasting

8/05 thu - 2 downsizings reported (totalling 2500):  • 2000 jobcuts (3.9%) as Dow Chemical "dissolves" Union Carbide, vs. cutting to 38-hr workweek • 500 jobcuts as Hutchinson Technology cuts workforce 6¼% to hike productivity by cutting costs - thus hitting productivity by bashing loyalty & morale, all avoidable by cutting workweek, not workforce, 6¼% to 37½ hrs/wk & keeping everyone employed (& spending) + 15 takeovers reported: • 1 in $b's • 4 in $100m's • 4 in $10m's • 6 $?? (total $10.94b +$??)
+ glimmers of real solution:  Britain lines up with EU & cuts the workyear for new parents

8/04 wed - 3 downsizings:  • 1,910 jobcuts (21%) & 3 closed factories after Jones Apparel's $1½B takeover of NineWest, instead of 31.6-hr workweek for all (or just no takeover in 1st place)
• 1,000 cuts (7.4%) at St. Paul insurance in Minn. instead of 37-hr workweek & all keep jobs
• 150 cuts, 20% of golf-gear makers at Fortune Brands & 3 of 6 locations closed - should have cut 20% of workweek instead = four 8-hour days! & kept everyone employed (& spending!) + 22 takeovers reported: • 6 in $b's • 6 in $100m's• 7 in $10m's • 1 in $1m's • 2 $?? (total $31b +$??) + glimmers of hope:  J. Jill Group opening two stores, planning 8-10 more

8/03 tue - 1 downsizing, maybe:  House cuts could force 10% layoff at SEC + 16 takeovers reported: • 6 in $100m's • 5 in $10m's • 5 $?? (total $2.73b +$??) + Bill Gates denies plan to give it all away + glimmers of hope:  2.1% Boston job growth (but still 18th in US despite hi tech)

8/01-02 - weekend roundup, per NYT (+BG):  12 downsizings (25,000 jobs gone) + 88 takeovers ($96B involved), vs. 2 upsizings (10,400 new jobs) & 0 untakeovers ($0)
<<½YTD reports:  44D (50,200 jobcuts +?) + 249T ($179B +$?)
vs. 6 upsizings (26,400 new jobs) + 8 untakeovers ($16.675B+$?)>>
+ 2 weekend downsizings reported (counted next wk): • 680 jobcuts at Sears HQ in Illinois (10% HQ) • unspecified jobcuts at Daewoo Motor Co (30% of worldwide execs & mgrs) + 2 weekend takeovers: • Jarvis Hotels buys London's Regents Park Hotel from Hilton for $113M • 2 Houston ad agencies: Fogarty Klein gulps Taylor Speier for $?? + glimmers of hope:  Bill Gates plans to give it all ($100B) away (or does he?)

7/31 sat (on fri's news) - lemming-brained execs grope on toward cliffs - 1 downsizing:  4600 "maybe" US jobcuts as GE "may" shift production to Mexico + 10 takeovers reported: • 2 in $b's • 4 in $100m's • 2 in $10m's • 1 for $0! • 1 $?? (total $4.62b+$??) + 2 collapse inducers:  • Russia depopulates - they asked of us a fish, we gave them a serpent • transferring risk from Wall Street to consumers
+ glimmers of hope:  • Ford timesizing on a week-by-week basis due to parts shortage
• Teamsters press UPS to deliver 10,000 new contract-required jobs

7/30 fri - "death by a thousand cuts" - 4 more downsizings:  • 520 jobcuts as Kodak closes film plant in China  • 200 at Lubrizol in Ohio  • 200 at Respironics in Pa.  • unspecified cuts as Boston ad firm CC&D shuts its doors + 15 takeovers reported: • 3 in $100m's • 5 in $10m's • 7 $undisclosed (total $878m+undisclosed) + 2 tragedies of stress: • employers hike stress & invade family time with overtime • day trader freaks & slays 9 at brokerages in Atlanta
+ glimmers of hope:  • Ford actually planning to add training programs! • 400 new jobs at Bell Atlantic & 15-wk training program (but still just a drop in the bucket) • 6000 new jobs in Detroit (but in casinos??)

7/29 thu -