Bay Area, Silicon Valley executives expect more layoffs

Source: MercuryNews
Bay Area businesses are anticipating many more layoffs than hires in coming months, according to a new quarterly survey of 505 executives across the nine-county region that found business confidence at a record low.

"We clearly have not hit bottom," said Jim Wunderman, chief executive of the Bay Area Council, a business group that promotes the regional economy. Half of the executives said they expect economic conditions to be worse in six months, while only 21 percent said they expected improvement.

"Unfortunately, significantly more layoffs and business failures seem inevitable in every industry and every corner of our region," Wunderman said. "Indeed, some of our regular survey participants were unable to respond because their company was now gone."

The survey's business confidence index registered 31 on a 100-point scale, one point below its last reading in November.

Unlike previous surveys, this one found no part of the economy immune to layoffs. Overall, 42 percent of respondents said they expected to decrease their work forces, while only 10 percent plan to make increases. The latter figure was down from 13 percent in November.

Previous surveys have generally shown that Santa Clara County, the heart of greater Silicon Valley, was stronger economically than the region as a whole. But this survey showed little difference: 39 percent of Santa Clara County executives said they anticipate layoffs, while 11 percent predicted
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