Caterpillar leads a grim day by cutting 20,000, but a merged Pfizer and Wyeth will equal that. Others sharply reducing employment include Sprint Nextel, Home Depot, and GM.
Several large international companies have announced mass redundancies as a result of the worldwide financial crisis. A total of 70,000 job losses were announced on Monday.
The biggest number of jobs to go is at US bulldozer and digger manufacturer Catepillar where 20,000 people will lose their jobs. US telecom giant Sprint Nexel is planning to sack 8,000 people. Japan's large car manufacturers say they are going to scrap 25,000 jobs in the first quarter of this year.
Dutch companies also joined the wave of job cuts. Seven thousand jobs across the globe are due to go at ING Bank. Electrical goods manufacturer Philips is making 6,000 employees redundant. And at the Anglo-Dutch steel works Corus, 3,500 jobs will be cut. Stagnation in the economy is given as the main reason for the reorganisations.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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Not thousands, we recruit in lakhs: LIC Chairman
The size does matter when it comes to employment generation at a time when companies are wielding axe on jobs, as insurance giant LIC today said it would employ 11 lakh more agents by March 2011 to double its field workforce.
"They (private insurers) are talking about 30,000. We are talking about 11-12 lakh and that is the difference. (In) three years, we want to double the number of agents," LIC Chairman T S Vijayan told PTI on comparison with private sector competitors in terms of hiring plans.
"We don't talk about thousands. We talk about lakhs. Last year, we ended with 11 lakh plus agents and we would like to increase it by a minimum 25 per cent by March, 2009. This is a target we have taken ourselves and I think we will be able to do it," he said.
During the current year, the country's largest insurer recruited about two lakh insurance agents across the length and breadth of the country.
This excludes hiring plans for development officers, he clarified, saying that during the current financial year alone, LIC has recruited 4,500 officers and the next year the number could go up by up to 5,000.
Currently, LIC has about 24,000 development officers across the country.
To compete with LIC, private life insurers are also recruiting agents to expand their businesses and reach, but the numbers are much less than the largest player.
For example, Reliance Life is in the process of adding 90,000 agents and 2,500 managers, while Metlife and Max New York Life would increase advisors' strength by 30,000 agents by the end of the current fiscal.
"They (private insurers) are talking about 30,000. We are talking about 11-12 lakh and that is the difference. (In) three years, we want to double the number of agents," LIC Chairman T S Vijayan told PTI on comparison with private sector competitors in terms of hiring plans.
"We don't talk about thousands. We talk about lakhs. Last year, we ended with 11 lakh plus agents and we would like to increase it by a minimum 25 per cent by March, 2009. This is a target we have taken ourselves and I think we will be able to do it," he said.
During the current year, the country's largest insurer recruited about two lakh insurance agents across the length and breadth of the country.
This excludes hiring plans for development officers, he clarified, saying that during the current financial year alone, LIC has recruited 4,500 officers and the next year the number could go up by up to 5,000.
Currently, LIC has about 24,000 development officers across the country.
To compete with LIC, private life insurers are also recruiting agents to expand their businesses and reach, but the numbers are much less than the largest player.
For example, Reliance Life is in the process of adding 90,000 agents and 2,500 managers, while Metlife and Max New York Life would increase advisors' strength by 30,000 agents by the end of the current fiscal.
cognizant, CTS, H1-B, Layoffs in USA, NRIs
US Senator asks Microsoft to layoff H1-B employees
Microsoft H-1B workers may be first to lose jobs??
With plans to lay off 5,000 employees in the face of the global credit crisis, there have been calls to Microsoft asking workers on the H1B visa to be the first to go. In a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Republican Senator, Chuck Grassley personally requested H1B employees be the first up for redundancy.
"During a layoff, companies should not be retaining H-1B or other work visa programme employees over qualified American workers," Grassley said.
A majority of the 60,000 H-1B visas issued every year go to India skilled professionals, with Microsoft being one of the major recipients.
"We care about all our employees, so we are providing services and support to try to help every affected worker, whether they are US workers or foreign nationals working in this country on a visa," said a Microsoft spokesperson.
The company has been a major supporter of the US visa service which allows overseas employees in specialty occupations to work in the US for up to six years.
With plans to lay off 5,000 employees in the face of the global credit crisis, there have been calls to Microsoft asking workers on the H1B visa to be the first to go. In a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Republican Senator, Chuck Grassley personally requested H1B employees be the first up for redundancy.
"During a layoff, companies should not be retaining H-1B or other work visa programme employees over qualified American workers," Grassley said.
A majority of the 60,000 H-1B visas issued every year go to India skilled professionals, with Microsoft being one of the major recipients.
"We care about all our employees, so we are providing services and support to try to help every affected worker, whether they are US workers or foreign nationals working in this country on a visa," said a Microsoft spokesperson.
The company has been a major supporter of the US visa service which allows overseas employees in specialty occupations to work in the US for up to six years.
IBM, Layoffs in USA
IBM quietly lays off North American staff
IBM has been quietly laying off workers in its North American offices since Wednesday, according to numerous reports online. IBM has not made any formal announcements yet, but IBM Director of Corporate Media Relations Doug Shelton confirmed to CNET News on Saturday that some employees were notified on January 21 that their jobs were being cut. The company would not say how many people had been laid off or in what facilities or departments those cuts were made.
Speculation about those details are rampant online. So far, more than 2,800 employees have been laid off from IBM's software, and sales and distribution divisions, according to Alliance@IBM, a Communications Workers of America affiliate attempting to organize IBM workers into a union. Comments on the Alliance@IBM Web site indicate that cuts have already been made in Toronto. And a spokesman for IBM Canada confirmed on Friday that IBM is in the process of laying off employees, some of whom were in the Canadian offices, according to ComputerWorld Canada.
Speculation about those details are rampant online. So far, more than 2,800 employees have been laid off from IBM's software, and sales and distribution divisions, according to Alliance@IBM, a Communications Workers of America affiliate attempting to organize IBM workers into a union. Comments on the Alliance@IBM Web site indicate that cuts have already been made in Toronto. And a spokesman for IBM Canada confirmed on Friday that IBM is in the process of laying off employees, some of whom were in the Canadian offices, according to ComputerWorld Canada.
Layoffs in USA
Layoffs in USA: More than 40,000 layoffs announced on Monday
Philips to cut 6,000 jobs
Royal Philips Electronics plans to cut 6,000 jobs. Those cuts could include layoffs at a Latham[,NY] operation. “I know that cuts across all sectors and all geographies,” said Ian Race, a spokesman for Holland-based Philips. Philips has 500 employees in Latham.
Sprint to lay off 8,000 by April
Sprint Nextel Corp. today said that it will lay off about 8,000 workers by April within “all levels” of the company. The carrier also said it will suspend the 401(k) matches for workers for 2009 and extend a freeze on annual salary increases started in 2008 through 2009. A tuition-reimbursement program was also suspended.
ING Group to layoff 7,000 employees
With a second successive quarterly loss on the cards for ING Group NV, the company plans to layoff 7,000 employees, and appoint Jan Hommen - the present chairman of the ING board, and the former chief financial officer of Philips Electronics - as its new CEO in the place of the current chief executive Michel Tilmant. ING - the biggest Dutch financial-services company - is likely to post a net loss of about 1 billion euros for the full 2008 year; the loss resulting partly from ending its Argentina pension operations, and from the cost incurred by disposing off an insurance business in Taiwan.
Home Depot cutting 7,000 jobs
“Home Depot, the No. 1 home improvement retailer, announced Monday that it is shutting down its high-end EXPO business and shrinking its support staff, with both moves resulting in a reduction of 7,000 jobs.”
Pfizer to lay off tens of thousands
Pfizer announced Monday that it has signed a deal to acquire the smaller drugmaker Wyeth for $68 billion, and tens of thousands of job cuts will follow. Pfizer spokesman Ray Kerins said that two waves of job cuts would occur in 2009. In the first, Pfizer said it would cut 10% of its 81,900 staff - about 8,000 jobs. Kerins said that Pfizer will launch the second round of job cuts once its merger with Wyeth and its 50,000 workers is completed in the third or fourth quarter. At that time, Kerins said Pfizer will cut 15% of the combined company’s 120,000 or so workers - about 18,000 more job cuts.
Caterpillar to lay off 20,000
Caterpillar, seeing sales for its bulldozers and other heavy equipment sinking in a worldwide economic mire, said Monday that its business was “whipsawed” during the fourth quarter and that it would eliminate 20,000 jobs in the face of a “very tough” 2009. Caterpillar announced the staff reductions as part of its fourth quarter earnings report, released Monday morning. The company said that while its revenue and profit for full-year 2008 were strong, its business ran head first into the worldwide recession in the fourth quarter.
Royal Philips Electronics plans to cut 6,000 jobs. Those cuts could include layoffs at a Latham[,NY] operation. “I know that cuts across all sectors and all geographies,” said Ian Race, a spokesman for Holland-based Philips. Philips has 500 employees in Latham.
Sprint to lay off 8,000 by April
Sprint Nextel Corp. today said that it will lay off about 8,000 workers by April within “all levels” of the company. The carrier also said it will suspend the 401(k) matches for workers for 2009 and extend a freeze on annual salary increases started in 2008 through 2009. A tuition-reimbursement program was also suspended.
ING Group to layoff 7,000 employees
With a second successive quarterly loss on the cards for ING Group NV, the company plans to layoff 7,000 employees, and appoint Jan Hommen - the present chairman of the ING board, and the former chief financial officer of Philips Electronics - as its new CEO in the place of the current chief executive Michel Tilmant. ING - the biggest Dutch financial-services company - is likely to post a net loss of about 1 billion euros for the full 2008 year; the loss resulting partly from ending its Argentina pension operations, and from the cost incurred by disposing off an insurance business in Taiwan.
Home Depot cutting 7,000 jobs
“Home Depot, the No. 1 home improvement retailer, announced Monday that it is shutting down its high-end EXPO business and shrinking its support staff, with both moves resulting in a reduction of 7,000 jobs.”
Pfizer to lay off tens of thousands
Pfizer announced Monday that it has signed a deal to acquire the smaller drugmaker Wyeth for $68 billion, and tens of thousands of job cuts will follow. Pfizer spokesman Ray Kerins said that two waves of job cuts would occur in 2009. In the first, Pfizer said it would cut 10% of its 81,900 staff - about 8,000 jobs. Kerins said that Pfizer will launch the second round of job cuts once its merger with Wyeth and its 50,000 workers is completed in the third or fourth quarter. At that time, Kerins said Pfizer will cut 15% of the combined company’s 120,000 or so workers - about 18,000 more job cuts.
Caterpillar to lay off 20,000
Caterpillar, seeing sales for its bulldozers and other heavy equipment sinking in a worldwide economic mire, said Monday that its business was “whipsawed” during the fourth quarter and that it would eliminate 20,000 jobs in the face of a “very tough” 2009. Caterpillar announced the staff reductions as part of its fourth quarter earnings report, released Monday morning. The company said that while its revenue and profit for full-year 2008 were strong, its business ran head first into the worldwide recession in the fourth quarter.
Layoffs in USA, Recession
Deeply disappointing the gaming community, Microsoft Corp has shut down ACES Studios, its wholly-owned subsidiary that produced Flight Simulator, Microsoft's longest-running and perhaps most popular game. This follows on the heels of the Redmond, Michigan-based company's earlier announcement that it is axing 5000 jobs.
Microsoft closes Flight Simulator unit news
Deeply disappointing the gaming community, Microsoft Corp has shut down ACES Studios, its wholly-owned subsidiary that produced Flight Simulator, Microsoft's longest-running and perhaps most popular game. This follows on the heels of the Redmond, Michigan-based company's earlier announcement that it is axing 5000 jobs.
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