Timesizing® Associates - HOMEPAGE

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Downsizings, June/2001
[Commentary] ©2001 Phil Hyde, The Timesizing Wire, Box 117, Harvard Square, Cambridge MA 02238 USA (617) 623-8080

6/30/2001  2 downsizings in NY Times (NYT) & Boston Globe (BG), totaling 4,000 jobcuts + unspecified (not counting 500 jobcuts or 50% of staff according to "Highwave Optical to cut workforce," Reuters 03:17 06-29-01 via AOLNews via RadioTony) -

1. Agere Systems to reduce its work force by 4,000, AP via NYT, B3.
   ...The semiconductor business recently spun off from Lucent Technologies, announced yesterday that it would cut an additional 4,000 jobs [24%] to cope with a downturn in the communications market. The move comes after the company said in April [4/25, #5] that it would cut 2,000 jobs. After the cuts are complete, the total work force will be about 12,500 employees. The company [is] based in Allentown, Pa.... Agere also announced that its revenues in the quarter would be about $920m, which is below the $950m [it] expected.

2. Etc. - Sipex Corp., Globe wire services via BG, C1.
   ...of Billerica [Mass.] plans to cut 15% of its work force, mostly manufacturing and administrative jobs, citing continued slowness in the semiconductor market, and will shut down its manufacturing operations for some period in its third quarter....

1. Deere & Co. to offer early retirement, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
   ...[A] manufacturer [of] agricultural equipment announced plans yesterday to cut 1,250 jobs by offering a voluntary early retirement program, a move the company said would save $90m annually. Deere, based in Moline, Ill., said the early retirement option - which would reduce its work force by about 8% - would be offered to about 2,500 salaried emloyees. Those who accept will leave the company between Oct. 31 and Dec. 31.
   [So we can make a rough estimate of the number of toasted jobs in an early retirement push by splitting the offer in half?]

2. DaimlerChrysler will trim work force at Freightliner, Reuters via NYT, C4.
   ...about 7% of the 15,800 jobs at its Freightliner truck unit in the United States, signaling that its problems are not yet over as it grapples with a costly revamping of its Chrysler unit. "We will cut 1,120 jobs at four plants in response to the continuing weakness in the truck market," a DaimlerChrysler spokesman said.... The layoffs were not part of a Freightliner revamping program that would be announced in late autumn. ...Sales for heavy heavy trucks in the U.S. market over all had slumped 45.7% for the year to date, while those of medium-size trucks had dropped 21.3% in that time.

3. Finland: Nokia plans job cuts, by Suzanne Kapner, NYT, W1.
   Nokia Oyj [will] cut as many as 1,000 jobs at its network unit, as demand for mobile equipment slows. The company is tightening spending after reducing its forecast for second-quarter sales growth by half, to less than 10%....

4. Dweck ad agency in NYC to shut doors after a 9-year run, by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C4.
   ...Michael Dweck, the chairman and creative director, said the closing, which affects 14 employees, was not related to the economic slowdown....

5. Estee Lauder will close stores and take a charge, Reuters via NYT, C4.
   The beauty products maker [will] close 86 in-store Tommy shops, revamp its supply chain and change how it sells its Jane cosmetics brand as it tries to bring new products to market faster and streamline its infrastructure....
   [Unspecified jobcuts.]

6. Online bank to be shut down, by Susan Stellin, NYT, C2.
   The Bank One Corp. [will] close its Internet bank, WingspanBank.com, and fold its 225,000 customers into the company's other online service, BankOne.com, this fall. By closing the two-year-old Internet-only venture, Bank One, based in Chicago, hopes to save on the cost of maintaining and marketing separate brands....
   [Unspecified jobcuts.]

1. Bridgestone/Firestone to close [Decatur, Ill.] tire plant at center of huge recall, by David Barboza, NYT, C1.
   ...About 1,500 employees, mostly union workers and many with more than 20 years of experience, will probably lose their jobs....

2. British Internet directory trims ranks high and low, by Alan Cowell, NYT, W1.
   LONDON - ...Scoot.com, whose fortunes have skidded, said [yester]day that its top executives would quit and that it would cut 285 jobs as it struggles to survive with only three months of cash reserves in its coffers....

3. VA Linux [Systems] to quit hardware market, by Susan Stellin, NYT, C4.
   ...by the end of July to focus on application software and consulting services.... VA Linux, based in Fremont, Calif., sells servers and workstations designed for use with the Linux operating system. It also announced plans to lay off 35% [153] of its 436 employees. VA Linux [just] posted a third quarter loss of $110m on revenue of $20.3m [plans] to focus on technology that helps software developers collaborate on large projects....
   [Ah, the contradictions of using fewer and fewer people to produce tools for more and more productivity! When will our "intelligent" species realize that robots don't absorb productivity. We either start spreading the vanishing human work among all available humans, as thinly as it takes, or we continue to spread poverty among more and more humans, more and more thickly. Timesizing, vs. downsizing.]

4. Etc. - Hillsboro, Ore.-based RadiSys Corp., will close a digital design center in Newton [Mass.] as part of its restructuring plan that also includes eliminating 45 jobs and reducing salaries by as much as 10% to boost the computer-systems maker's profits....
   [Hey, at least they're doing something besides self-amputation, though they'd be smarter to do a percentage hourscut along with the percentage paycut and raise the percentage so they could rely on that method entirely. The fewer employers economy-wide, the smaller our markets economy-wide.]

5. Fallon layoffs in Minneapolis, by Bernard Stamler, NYT, C6.
   The Minneapolis office of Fallon Worldwide, part of the Publicis Groupe, is making its first layoffs ever, dismissing about 30 employees, or 6% of its staff of 500. "It was a last resort," said Julie Thompson, a spokeswoman at Fallon.
   [No it wasn't. Because they didn't trim hours before trimming jobs - they didn't timesize before downsizing. So they're worsening the downturn.]

6. Lucent and JDS Uniphase prepare for more job cuts - The ripple effects keep spreading in telecommunications, by Simon Romero, NYT, C4.
   ...JDS Uniphase, the maker of tiny lasers to send signals across fiber optic communications networks, expects to extend cuts beyond the 8,000 already announced [5000 on 4/25 #2, and 3000 on 2/28 #1], said Lori Goulet, a spokeswoman for the company, which is based in San Jose, Calif. JDS, which expects to have 20,000 employees after earlier rounds of cuts are completed, said the extent of the new cuts had not been determined....
   [Unspecified jobcuts.]
   The cutbacks...are part of a shakeout in the communications business..\..
   Lucent...may cut as many as 10,000 jobs in addition to the 10,000 layoffs announced earlier this year and the buyouts offered to 13,000 midlevel managers, people close to the company said.... People close to Lucent said the reductions would probably take place in weaker parts of the company, like units that sold to small communications companies.... Lucent...employs about 100,000 people worldwide.... The reductions...were reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal....
   [We've already reported 10,000 Lucent cuts three times (1/25/2001 #1, 12/22/2000 #1, and 11/09/2000 #1) and we suspect the maximum possible, even with all 13,000 buyouts (unlikely), is 33,000, so we're going to pass on Lucent this time.]

7. France: Dropping factories, by John Tagliabue, NYT, W1.
   Following a widening trend out of equipment manufacturing, Alcatel [will] cut the number of its factories to a dozen or less [10%] from the roughly 120 it operated last year year by selling some to contract manufacturers and closing others....
   [Unspecified jobcuts.]

1. France: Consultant's forecast - consulting firm Cap Gemini Ernst & Young will cut 2,700 jobs, mainly in US, UK and Scandinavia, by John Tagliabue, NYT, W1.

2. Losses posted for quarter by Palm Inc. and 3Com, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
   ...At 3Com, the CEO, Bruce Claflin, plans to eliminate 4,370 jobs, or 37% of the work force, and trim product lines this year to try to turn a profit in 2002. 3Com...based in Santa Clara CA, has suffered from the U.S. economic slump and a decline in spending by phone and Internet companies, investors say. The company's shares fell....
   [3Com planned to lay off 1,200 four months ago on 2/27/2001 #4 so let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the 1200 is included in today's 4,370 figure, giving us a still-uncounted 3470-1200= 2,270 layoffs to count now. If 4370 is 37%, then 2270 is 19%.]
   [Followup - ERROR - ye gods, looks like we should have said: "giving us a still-uncounted 4370-1200= 3,170 layoffs to count now." In other words, we metathesized the 4&3 to 34 without noticing it till now, nearly two years later, so we undercounted these cuts by 3170-2270= 900. On the other hand, if we were giving them the benefit of the doubt, we should have also subtracted the 3,000 cuts we counted on 5/08/2001 #2, which somehow we overlooked. This would give us an overcount of 3000-900= 2,100. And we also counted 500 on 1/16/2002 #3, but then there was an unspecified cut on 9/18/2001 #3 and an uncounted cut of 170 on 3/24/2001. Then we have this roundup article in 2003 -]
   3Com Corp., Dow Jones via 5/07/2003 WSJ, A12.
   ...A pioneer in computer networking that has stumbled in recent years [and the #4 maker of computer-networking equipment according to "Work force cuts," Bloomberg via 9/18/2001 BG, D9] is moving its HQ from Silicon Valley to Massachusetts. CEO Bruce Claflin and 6 other executive positions are being relocated from Santa Clara CA and Illinois to Marlborough MA, where most of 3Com's enterprise-networking business is based.... Founded in 1979, 3Com popularized Ethernet, which easily connected small networks of computers.... At one time, 3Com employed about 12,000 people worldwide...; it now has about 3,900 employees worldwide....
   [Meaning it's lost 12000-3900= 8,100 jobs overall. Well, in the melange mostly listed above, we counted a total of 2750(3/21/2000#1)+1200+3000+2270+500= 9,720  3Com cuts 2000-2001, indicating an overall overcount of only 9720-8100= 1,620 instead of 2100, so we'll leave it at that till the next stage in their death spiral.]

3. Feeling the slowdown, Olin will cut its work force [by more than 900 people, or] 14%, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.

4. Fedders to cut 800 jobs and close a plant in Md., Bloomberg via NYT, C9.

5. R. R. Donnelley to shut Connecticut plant within a year and lay off the 500 people who work there, Reuters via NYT, C4. [We'll assume these are additional to the 1737 cuts below on 6/13.]

6. Aether Systems, citing flat sales, to lay off 150, 11% of its workers, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.

7. Nasdaq lays off 140 people, or 11% of its 1,300 workers, Dow Jones via BG, C2.

8. Layoffs set at provider of services to auto insurers - CCC Information Services Group laid off 130 workers, less than 10% of the work force, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.

9. Maker of stainless steel, Carpenter Technology, to cut 100 jobs and take a charge, Reuters via NYT, C4.

10. Spain: Bank reorganization - BSCH, the merged form of Banco Santander and Central Hispano, will shut 1,000 of its 5,000 branches in Spain, by Emma Daly, NYT, W1.
    [Yielding unspecified jobcuts and another example of the lethal takeover-downsizing connection.]

1. International Paper to cut 3,000 U.S. jobs, Reuters via NYT, C4.
   ...or 10% of its domestic work force, as part of a restructuring program. The company...based in Stamford, Conn., said the majority of the job reductions would occur in the next 12 months through a streamlining of its staff support functions, as well as through organizational changes within several of its operating businesses. The company's shares fell....

2. Charter school firm cuts 40 jobs, by Scott Greenberger, BG, B1.
   Advantage Schools Inc., a for-profit company that has stumbled educationally and financially in running more than a dozen charter schools nationwide, yesterday fired 40 of the 80 workers [50%] at it Boston headquarters....

3. Etc. - NMS Communications, wire services, BG, D8.
   ...the Framingham MA maker of telecom hardware and software...is closing its Internet protocol services management division in Tustin, Calif.
   [Unspecified lost jobs.]

1. Alcoa will close magnesium smelter in Addy, Washington and lay off 300 of 325 workers there (92%) because of high production costs and poor market conditions, Reuters via NYT, B3.
2. Midway Games Inc., Chicago, will cut its work force by about 60 employees, NYT, B3.

1. Maxtor to cut 1,500 jobs (14.3%) in US & Singapore over 6 mons. as a result of weakness & uncertainty in PC market, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
2. GAP plans to eliminate up to 700 administrative jobs to offset recent losses, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
3. Advertising - In the economic slump, Madison Avenue carries on - Deals, new campaigns and layoffs - E.g., Digitas in Boston in April let go 65 employees (unreported then), by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C2. [BG reported 180 layoffs on 6/13 below which presumably includes the 130 also mentioned here.]
4. Advertising - In...slump, Madison Avenue...deals...and layoffs - E.g., Mullen/LHC in NC is dismissing about 30 people, or 20%, by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C2.
5. Advertising...layoffs - E.g., Euro RSCG McConnaughy Tatham in Chicago is dismissing 12 employees, or 4.8%, by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C2.

1. Millipore lowers outlook for 2d quarter - in April cut 400 jobs [unreported then], Bloomberg via BG, C10.
2. ABN AMRO Holding plans to merge its Michigan National and Standard Federal Banks in U.S., closing 59 branches and cutting up to 10% of staff, NYT, C4.

1. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, based in Purchase NY, will cut 200+105= 305 jobs and take a charge because of drop in demand, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.

2. Teradyne expects loss, plans 180 more layoffs - 1st red ink seen in over decade; cuts to total 12% of staff for year, by Jeffrey Krasner, BG, D1.
   Let's see, Teradyne laid off 650 permanent employees and 1400 temps on 3/21 and a further 400 permanent employees on 5/25 (below). They apparently get the 12% figure from just the permanent employees: 650+400+180= 1230 /10,000= 12.3%. But including the temporary jobs lost, we get 1230+1400= 2630 /11,400= 23% so far this year. So before this additional 180 layoffs, Teradyne was down to 11,400-1400-1230= 8770 total workforce, and this 180 will be 2% of that new diminished total.]

3. Bluefly cuts staff by one-third, by Marcin Skomial, NYT, C2.
   The online seller of discounted designer apparel [will] eliminate 32 jobs...as part of a plan to reach profitability in the fourth quarter of 2002....

1. Level 3 Communications long-haul network cutting 1,400 jobs, nearly 25% of its [5,900 - 6/27, C4] workforce, based in Col., as it struggles with steep sales declines, by Simon Romero, NYT, C5.
2. PurchasePro halves work force - will cut staff by 300, by Andrew Zipern, NYT, C5.
3. 193 accept Globe's buyout package, BG, D7.
4. PricewaterhouseCoopers closing or selling 10 offices, by Jonathan Glater, NYT, C4.
5. Snap-On, maker of auto repair tools, warns on profit, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.

1. Law offices in California make cutbacks - e.g., Brobeck Phleger & Harrison dismissed 19 this year (2.5%), by Jonathan Glater, NYT, C1.
   [All but one (Venture Law) of these law firms have an interesting sickness. According to the NY Times, they try to disguise their downturn-motivated layoffs as performance-based terminations for fear it will hamper their recruiting efforts. Tower C. Snow Jr. - we are not making up this name - chairman of Brobeck in San Francisco, even embellishes this snow job -]
   ..."We have too many people for this economy," said...Snow.... Still, he said, Brobeck will not lay off any lawyers. "When law firms lay off talented people, the message they send is that the most important thing in this law firm is partner income," he said. [So, duh...] "That's a very unattractive, ugly message."
   [If so, doing it and trying to cover it up is even uglier.]
   "If there's an economic hit due to the economy, which there may well be, the partners will take the hit," he continued. [But then...] Of roughly 750 associates, he said, Brobeck had dismissed approximately 19 this year, compared with approximately 17 last year.
   ["Associates" doesn't sound much like "partners," but then, we're in the presence of towering "snow." Hey Tower, wouldn't a simple Timesizing be a lot easier that this combination downsizing&snowjob? For more flexibility and less obfuscation, Timesizing, not downsizing!]

2. Law offices...make cutbacks - e.g., Thelen Reid & Priest's NY office dismissed 10 lawyers (7%) this year "based on performance reviews", by Jonathan Glater, NYT, C1.
   ..."That's not anything out of the ordinary"..\..said Jonathan Siegfried, managing partner.... However, other lawyers at the firm said it was unusual to dismiss anyone while summer interns are around, because word gets back to law school campuses. They also pointed to the departure of several partners, which the firm [however] also said was not unusual....

3. Law offices in California make cutbacks - e.g., Venture Law Group last week openly announced layoffs of 9 - or nearly 10% - of its lawyers, by Jonathan Glater, NYT, C1.
   [If you want an honest firm, Venture Law is the only one in this bunch.]

4. Law offices in California make cutbacks - e.g., Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati asked several people to leave, by Jonathan Glater, NYT, C1.
   ...Several associates said that Lawrence W. Sonsini, a partner in the firm, told them at a meeting that the partners had decided to try to keep the firm's size constant. Because the firm, which employs more than 800 lawyers, will absorb approximately 80 new hires in the fall, the associates said they were worried that an equal number would be dismissed. [Whoa, this apparently calls for a display of mitigating bon-mot mechanics -] "We have not done layoffs. It is not our intention to do layoffs," said Donna Petkanics, managing director for operations. "We have done performance-based terminations as we always have in the past." Ms. Petkanics did not provide the number of dismissals this year [because it might be too close to 80?] or in previous years, but said the total number of departing associates this year is smaller than last year. But associates said last year's higher [overall] number was a result of more [genuinely] voluntary departures [last year than this year].
   [Many lawyers are so used to lying, you have to wonder if they themselves still know the truth.]

• Phone gear maker in Canada expects huge loss - Nortel report shows dot-com woes are starting [just "starting"??] to spread - Nortel also plans to cut 10,000 more jobs (12.5% of surviving workforce) than the 20,000 already eliminated this year [see 4/20/2001 etc.], by Simon Romero, NYT, front page. [Of this new 30,000 figure, 23,000 layoffs will have been carried out a month from now according to "Nortel posts a huge loss [$19.4B] for the quarter," by Bernard Simon, 7/20/2001 NYT, C2.]
• Etc. - Bath Iron Works will lay off 185 workers later this month because of lack of work, Globe wire services, BG, F1.
• SmartMouth.com to shut - Laid off most of its 18 employees this week, by Stephanie Stoughton, BG, F1.

1. Tribune Co. sets job cuts, buyouts involving 1,500 jobs [6%], AP via BG, E2.
2. Britain: Drug maker cuts jobs - GlaxoSmithKline will cut 1,455 jobs, mainly in Britain & Ireland, by Alan Cowell via NYT, W1.
3. Xerox quits line, to lay off 1,050 [1.2%] - Drops small-office equipment business, AP via BG, E2.
   ["Xerox to cut 1,500 jobs" Bloomberg via NYT, C4, loses to the scribal principle of "legius difficilior potest" (the more difficult reading prevails). Plus the Times goes to press earlier and may not have the latest.]
4. iWant.com calls it quits - A rare failure for VC firm Matrix - 25 employees were working there last month, by Beth Healy, NYT, E2.
5. Thanks, all - it was a blast - So, downsized but not downhearted, I take my leave, by David Nyhan, BG, A27. [Columnist David Nyhan downsized (via buyout?) from the Boston Globe after 32 years?!?]

1. Exelon Corp. to cut 1,978 jobs by Oct. 2002, Bloomberg via BG, C2.
   ...Chicago-based..\..4th-largest US electricity producer and largest US nuclear power generator [Exelon Nuclear based in Warrenville, Ill.]...said in March [unreported] that it would fire about 2,900 people [total?], or 9% of its work force..\..to reduce costs following the merger that created the company...in October when Peco Energy bought Unicom Corp. for $9.77B [this merger was announced at $16B on 9/24/99 but maybe not completed till 10/00]....
   [Again the lethal takeover-downsizing connection. And doncha just love it when a nuke cuts jobs? Never mind the instant incentive for mega sabotage, contemplate for a moment the meeting of overloaded employees and human error!... And how stupid does a management team have to be to lose money on a POWER COMPANY amid today's nationwide power shortages?!! If ever there was an industry that needed Timesizing for maintaining morale and leveraging gray matter, it's nuclear power!]
2. Polaroid to cut 2,000 more jobs; instant-photo woes are cited, by Claudia Deutsch via NYT, C4.
3. Envelope maker, Mail-Well, cuts 1,200 jobs (7.5%) and closes 9 plants, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
4. Chip maker Integrated Device Technology cuts staff by 18% = 900 jobs mostly in Malaysia and the Philippines, by Marcin Skomial, NYT, C10.
5. Georgia-Pacific, citing slow demand for wallboard, cuts 500 jobs (1%), AP via NYT, C4.
6. Etc. - Hyannis MA-based Infinium Software plans to cut about 120 jobs, Globe wire services, BG, C9.
7. Etc. - Thoratec Corp., a Calif. maker of medical devices, will cut about 88 jobs at 2 Mass. plants, Globe wire services, BG, C9.
8. KGA Advertising shuts its doors after a 22-year run - At its height had over 40 employees, by Allison Fass, NYT, C11.

1. Printer R.R. Donnelley & Sons warns of lower yearly earnings and cuts 1,737 jobs [5%] this year, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
2. Advertising - Three more agencies tell of problems they are having because of the slowdown in the economy - e.g., Cordiant Communications Group dismissed est. 400 employees in a number of their businesses to help improve margins and insure profitability growth, by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C5.
3. Firepond Inc. software firing 190 employees (30%) to cut costs & help company break even, Bloomberg via BG, D9.
4. Digitas Inc. marketing of Boston lays off 180; eyes revenue drop, Globe wire services, BG, D9.
5. Advertising - Three more agencies tell of problems - e.g., Modem Media is Norwalk, Conn., dismissed 76 employees (10%) in Conn., Toronto, London, Paris, & Hong Kong, by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C5.
6. Etc. - Equipe Communications of Acton MA voice/data switches laid off 15 of its 157 employees (9.6%) to control costs & help get 3d round of venture capital, Globe staff & wire services, BG, D9.
7. CMGI closing ad software unit AdForce, by Saul Hansell, NYT, C4. [Unspecified job loss.]
8. Germany: banking consolidation - HypoVereinsbank , Germany's 2d-biggest, might close up to 90 branches to cut costs after earnings dropped, Bloomberg via NYT, W1. [Unspecified job loss.]
9. Loews Cineplex Entertainment shedding theaters - Shut down or planned to close 108 theaters nationally, by Terry Pristin, NYT, C17. [Unspecified job loss.]
10. State Farm Indemnity, NJ's largest auto insurer, to close shop in state and stop insuring motorists there, by David Halbfinger, NYT, C17. [Unspecified job loss.]
11. Officials close hiring site in Farmingdale NY that sparked tensions over Latino Day laborers, by Al Baker, NYT, C18. [Unspecified job loss.]

1. Maker of rail cars, Greenbrier Companies, warns of losses and over 1,500 layoffs [40%] so far this year, Reuters via NYT, C5.
2. LTV asks bankruptcy court to eliminate some retiree benefits - Will cut about 800 jobs to avoid closing operations, Bloomberg via NYT, C5.
3. Maker of chip tools warns on revenue - Varian Semiconductor Equipment reduced its work force by about 20% or about 440 employees, Reuters via NYT, C7.
4. Women's Wear Daily site, WWD.com, dismisses 13, by Alex Kuczynski, NYT, C7.
5. Deutsch Inc. to close office in Boston & will try to place the 9 employees at its NY HQ, by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C6.
6. 2 Interpublic ad agencies are reorganizing, e.g., Weber Shandwick Worldwide is merging 3 of its technology PR practices in the DC area & 5 employees will be laid off, by Stuart Elliott, NYT, C6.
7. More changes at Space.com - Laying off unspecified number of employees in 3rd round of layoffs since 1999 startup, NYT, C7.

1. 6/11 2 long-running Internet magazines, Feed and Suck, shut down on Fri. - Total of 19 people laid off, by Amy Harmon, NYT, C7. [Names suggest they won't be missed.]
2. 6/10 AutoZone to close 30-60 of its over 3,000 parts stores throughout USA to boost profit, Bloomberg via BG, E3. [= more of the most downturn-deepening downsizing - downsizing despite profit.]
3. 6/11 U.S. cutbacks in Yemen - State Dept. reduced unspecified personnel at embassy in Sana citing increased threat since last Oct.'s attack on US Navy ship in Aden, NYT, A7.
   [8 months later? Took'em long enuf.]

• NY Post's new editor dismisses 5 key staff members [2%] - Amid firings at the newspaper, talk of new directions, by Barringer & Blair, NYT, A15.
  
  • ...2 of the newspaper's 3 managing editors...
  • ...2 metropolitan desk editors...
  • ...1 of NYC's most distinctive liberal voices [Jack Newfield]...
  ...The abrupt dismissals staggered The Post's newsroom, where several staffers wept, according to people who were there. Many of the approximately 280 journalists at The Post have had little contact with..\..the [new top] editor, Col Allan...since his arrival from Sydney, Australia, six weeks ago.... The firings took the air out of a newsroom that had been exhilarated by its current confrontation with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who has threatened to sue The Post for its reports claiming that he used the St. Regis Hotel for getaways with Judith Nathan, his friend..\..
  [There goes morale, and esprit de corps, and productivity, and growth. As if key employees aren't flexible and versatile.]
  The Post is owned by the News Corp., whose chairman is Rupert Murdoch. The newspaper is supervised by his oldest son, Lachlan, the News Corp.'s deputy chief operating officer....
  [If Murdoch & son start this kind of crappy treatment of media employees in America, they're going to make Australians like spit in America and evoke a movement to wrest control of American media out of the hands of foreigners - or be boycotted into bankruptcy.]

1. Rockwell International to cut 1,000 jobs as earnings forecast falls, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
2. More cutbacks by consultants as Accenture [nee Anderson Consulting] trims its payroll by 600 employees [1%, mainly in the U.S.], mainly support staff, by Jonathan Glater, NYT, C5.
   [Weren't these the same people who used to waltz in and advise layoffs? Any chance they'll "put one and one together" this time?]
3. Ethan Allen Interiors to cut 350 jobs (3%) and consolidate 3 plants in Vt., NY & NC, Reuters via NYT, C4.
4. Etc... Westborough MA-based EPresence Inc. will fire 60-80 employees [say 70] or 15-20% of its workforce because customers are spending less on technology, Globe staff & wire services via BG, C7.
5. Saks Holdings says it will restructure and cut 50 jobs between June & Feb., Reuters via NYT, C4.
6. Winthrop man told to shut his company, Taurus Capital Investment Group by Mass. Securities Division, by Beth Healy, BG, C7.
7. Canton MA-based SLI Inc. is shutting factories in Texas & Mexico because of weak economic conditions & poor prices, Globe staff & wire services via BG, C7.

1. PC distributor Ingram Micro based in Santa Ana, Cal., cuts 1,000 jobs to save $30-40m annually in response to slowing demand & closes 4 facilities in Cal. & Fla., by Laurie Flynn, NYT, C5.
2. Russell Corp., expecting earnings shortfall, cuts 800 jobs, Reuters via NYT, C4. [=Self-fulfilling Prophecy Dept.]
3. Artesyn Technologies Inc. shares fall after it predicts a loss & plans 600 layoffs, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
4. Gillette to cut 600 more jobs worldwide this year, by Chris Reidy, BG, C1.
5. Raytheon plans to cut 470 more jobs at commercial-aircraft unit in Kansas because of lower-than-expected deliveries of Beechjet and King Air planes, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
6. Heinz is buying some brands made in NJ & Ill. plants from Borden Foods - Borden said Heinz would offer jobs to plants' 350 employees [but the Borden jobs are disappearing anyway & the offer isn't their call], AP via NYT, C4.

1. America West Airlines to take $18.5m charge covering return of 7 jets & elimination of 300 jobs, Bloomberg via NYT, C4.
2. U.S. official to hold talks on Comair pilots' strike - Since it began Mar. 26, Comair has laid off or dismissed more than 2,700 workers (50%), Bloomberg via NYT, C4. [And we've already counted 400 (5/17), 2000 and 200 (4/28 & 4/17), so all we have to count now are 2700-2600=100 more.]
3. Chip maker cuts forecast - Elantic Semiconductor will also cut 56 jobs (15%), Reuters via NYT, C6.
4. Liquidation of One.Tel of Australia is outlined - To shut down by June 26, by Becky Gaylord, NYT, W1. [Affecting an unspecified number of jobs.]

1. Marketing Specialists Corp. fires most of its 5,700 workers [say, 90% = 5,130], by Ross Kerber, BG, D2.
2. Furniture Brands International company to cut more than 1,000 jobs, merge its 2 main units & shut 3 down factories, AP via NYT, C4.
3. Entrust Technologies, struggling Internet security firm, to cut 400 jobs [30%], close some offices & drop "Technologies" in name, AP via NYT, C4.
4. Payless Cashways files for Chapter 11 protection after company's decision last month to lay off hundreds of employees and close 19 stores, AP via NYT, C4.
   [Say there are only an average of 12 employees per store. 19x12= 228 jobs lost.]
5. The Sciences, a magazine, is shut down, affecting 6 staff members, by Alex Kuczynski, NYT, C6.

1. Alcatel plans 900 layoffs, by Peter Howe, BG, C1.
   French telecomms giant Alcatel SA...is laying off 125 workers at an Andover MA product-development lab as part of a companywide 900-job cutback. Alcatel, whose plans to merge with Lucent collapsed Tuesday...expects a $2.6B loss this quarter. Alcatel will also shutter a 480-person Portland, Ore. underwater optical cable factory and move work to France and Australia, and close a 300-person lab in Milipitas, Cal....
   [Let's see. 125+480+300= 905 layoffs, not just 900.]

2. 235 Layoffs at Weyerhauser in Wa. & Or. due to 12% less demand for paper & 7% less for boxes, Bloomberg via NYT, B14.

3. Palm plans undisclosed cuts even as product makes gains - already cut 50 more than previously announced (3/28/2001), Reuters via NYT, B3.

4. Ireland: One for the road - Unreported jobs lost as Guinness closes packaging plant in Dundalk, by Brian Lavery, NYT, B2.

5. Etc. - Artificial Life Inc. software fired all but a few of its workers in US & abroad, Globe staff and wire services, BG, C1.

1. Britain: 8,500 job cuts (10%) at Invensys factory controls due to global downturn, by Alan Cowell, NYT, W1.
2. Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) online unit to cut 180 more jobs (14%) in U.S., Reuters via NYT, C4.
3. William A. Mercer, an HR consulting firm, will lay off 159 U.S. workers (3.3%), by Jonathan Glater, NYT, C4.

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