California's unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent in February, its highest in nearly 26 years, as most industries in the most populous U.S. state slashed payrolls.
California's high-technology companies, for instance, felt the brunt of job losses earlier this decade after the implosion of dot.com companies.
The increase underscores how the U.S. financial crisis and slump in consumer spending it prompted is battering California's economy, the world's eighth largest, and compounding troubles brought on by its prolonged housing downturn.
At 10.5 percent, California's unemployment rate is at its highest level since April 1983 and has increased for 11 consecutive months, economist Steve Levy of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy said on Friday after officials reported on the state's labor market.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Layoffs in USA
Boeing handing out another 900 layoff notices
Boeing Co. is handing out another 900 layoff notices, 650 of those to Commercial Airplane workers in the Puget Sound area.
Spokesman Tim Healy says the 60-day warnings sent out Friday will take effect May 22 or later. He says they are part of the planned 10,000 job cuts this year that Boeing announced in January.
About 1,100 layoff notices that were handed out in February will take effect April 24. Boeing has said it hopes many of the cuts will be handled by not filling the jobs of people who retire or leave for other reasons. Healy says Boeing is meeting Friday with the Machinists union to discuss the notices.
Spokesman Tim Healy says the 60-day warnings sent out Friday will take effect May 22 or later. He says they are part of the planned 10,000 job cuts this year that Boeing announced in January.
About 1,100 layoff notices that were handed out in February will take effect April 24. Boeing has said it hopes many of the cuts will be handled by not filling the jobs of people who retire or leave for other reasons. Healy says Boeing is meeting Friday with the Machinists union to discuss the notices.
Friday, March 20, 2009
IBM
IBM's bid to acquire Sun might cost jobs
Source: denverpost.com
A reported negotiation to purchase Sun Microsystems could mean layoffs for two of the region's largest employers.
Boulder's largest private-sector employer, IBM Corp., reportedly is in talks to purchase Sun Microsystems Inc., Broomfield's biggest, in a move that has analysts pondering corporate culture clashes and possible job losses.
Several published reports Wednesday citing unnamed sources said IBM is offering at least $6.5 billion in cash to acquire longtime rival Sun.
Neither company commented on the reports.
Analysts said a combination of Armonk, N.Y.- based IBM and Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun likely would produce job cuts.
IBM employs about 3,400 at its campus in north Boulder. Sun Microsystems has an estimated 2,500 workers at its facility in Broomfield's Interlocken business park.
"It's certainly always a concern when you have a merger or an acquisition and there is duplication in job functions," said Don Dunshee, president and chief executive of the Broomfield Economic Development Corp. "We'd hate to see any adjustments to their employment numbers."
IBM would benefit from acquiring Sun's large share in the computer-server market and gaining access to Sun's customer base in finance, telecommunications and government, analysts said.
But the deal would create strange bedfellows, said University of Colorado economist Gary Horvath.
"You've got a West Coast company and an East Coast company with distinctly different corporate cultures," he said.
Former Sun chief executive Scott McNealy "has been quite an IBM basher over the years," said technology analyst Frank Gillett of Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. "It would be very curious to see them combine."
Gillett said Sun is known for having "a lot of cool technology but not much recognition in the market for it."
Reports of IBM's possible purchase sent Sun shares soaring $3.92 Wednesday to $8.89, a gain of 79 percent. IBM was down 96 cents, or 1 percent, to $91.95.
Until Wednesday, Sun's stock had fallen about 70 percent over the past year as restructuring efforts and thousands of layoffs failed to prevent two straight quarterly losses with prospects for a third, according to analysts' estimates.
Sun said in November that it would cut up to 6,000 jobs, 18 percent of its global workforce, after terminating 7,000 positions in the previous three years. Sun does not disclose regional employment totals, but economists have estimated that its Colorado workforce has dropped from about 3,500 in 2007 to 2,500 now.
A reported negotiation to purchase Sun Microsystems could mean layoffs for two of the region's largest employers.
Boulder's largest private-sector employer, IBM Corp., reportedly is in talks to purchase Sun Microsystems Inc., Broomfield's biggest, in a move that has analysts pondering corporate culture clashes and possible job losses.
Several published reports Wednesday citing unnamed sources said IBM is offering at least $6.5 billion in cash to acquire longtime rival Sun.
Neither company commented on the reports.
Analysts said a combination of Armonk, N.Y.- based IBM and Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun likely would produce job cuts.
IBM employs about 3,400 at its campus in north Boulder. Sun Microsystems has an estimated 2,500 workers at its facility in Broomfield's Interlocken business park.
"It's certainly always a concern when you have a merger or an acquisition and there is duplication in job functions," said Don Dunshee, president and chief executive of the Broomfield Economic Development Corp. "We'd hate to see any adjustments to their employment numbers."
IBM would benefit from acquiring Sun's large share in the computer-server market and gaining access to Sun's customer base in finance, telecommunications and government, analysts said.
But the deal would create strange bedfellows, said University of Colorado economist Gary Horvath.
"You've got a West Coast company and an East Coast company with distinctly different corporate cultures," he said.
Former Sun chief executive Scott McNealy "has been quite an IBM basher over the years," said technology analyst Frank Gillett of Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. "It would be very curious to see them combine."
Gillett said Sun is known for having "a lot of cool technology but not much recognition in the market for it."
Reports of IBM's possible purchase sent Sun shares soaring $3.92 Wednesday to $8.89, a gain of 79 percent. IBM was down 96 cents, or 1 percent, to $91.95.
Until Wednesday, Sun's stock had fallen about 70 percent over the past year as restructuring efforts and thousands of layoffs failed to prevent two straight quarterly losses with prospects for a third, according to analysts' estimates.
Sun said in November that it would cut up to 6,000 jobs, 18 percent of its global workforce, after terminating 7,000 positions in the previous three years. Sun does not disclose regional employment totals, but economists have estimated that its Colorado workforce has dropped from about 3,500 in 2007 to 2,500 now.
IBM
IBM's workforce in U.S. declines in '08 but grows overseas
Company's overall workforce increased slightly last year
The number of workers that IBM employs in the U.S. declined by about 5% last year, but the company's overall head count is increasing because of overseas hiring.
IBM finished 2008 with 115,000 U.S. employees, down from the 121,000 it reported at the end of 2007, according to its most recent annual report released this month. Overall, IBM finished 2008 with 398,455 employees worldwide, an increase of nearly 12,000, or about 3%.
In 2007, IBM said it had 98,000 employees in Brazil, China, India and Russia, but that number increased by 15% to 113,000 last year. Most of those employees are in India.
IBM continues to cite the U.S. as the country with its largest workforce, but it is not providing a breakout of head count for India, which may well be the second-largest country for employment. In 2007, IBM said it had 74,000 workers in India.
IBM's head count could change substantially if it buys Sun Microsystems Inc. or another company this year.
Sun employed 34,900 worldwide last year, but recently announced reductions of as many as 6,000 employees. Both companies are reportedly in merger talks. The two companies have neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
IBM recently instituted a program for employees in the U.S. to take jobs overseas, but if they choose to go, these employees would be paid at local rates, not at U.S. wage levels.
IBM has had about 4,000 layoffs in the U.S. this year, according to the union Alliance at IBM.
The number of workers that IBM employs in the U.S. declined by about 5% last year, but the company's overall head count is increasing because of overseas hiring.
IBM finished 2008 with 115,000 U.S. employees, down from the 121,000 it reported at the end of 2007, according to its most recent annual report released this month. Overall, IBM finished 2008 with 398,455 employees worldwide, an increase of nearly 12,000, or about 3%.
In 2007, IBM said it had 98,000 employees in Brazil, China, India and Russia, but that number increased by 15% to 113,000 last year. Most of those employees are in India.
IBM continues to cite the U.S. as the country with its largest workforce, but it is not providing a breakout of head count for India, which may well be the second-largest country for employment. In 2007, IBM said it had 74,000 workers in India.
IBM's head count could change substantially if it buys Sun Microsystems Inc. or another company this year.
Sun employed 34,900 worldwide last year, but recently announced reductions of as many as 6,000 employees. Both companies are reportedly in merger talks. The two companies have neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
IBM recently instituted a program for employees in the U.S. to take jobs overseas, but if they choose to go, these employees would be paid at local rates, not at U.S. wage levels.
IBM has had about 4,000 layoffs in the U.S. this year, according to the union Alliance at IBM.
IBM
Five great products IBM would get by buying Sun
Courtesy: computerworld
1. VirtualBox. Sun acquired German-based Innotek in 2008. This is a really innovative desktop virtualization product that despite having more than four million downloads needs more visibility. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9062319
2. Q-layer. Sun acquired this company in January. The company, based in Belgium, manages and automates deployment of public and private clouds.
3. MySQL. We all know the Swedes make great companies. MySQL is a next gen database company who will find a welcome home at IBM which loves all things database.
4.Neogent. Sun acquired this identity management company in 2006. This company was really an identity management database building tool. This is increasingly important as database security systems get built, combined and must remain secure themselves.
5. Kealia. I saved the best for last. Andy Bechtolsheim was a Sun Micrososystems founder. He also is about the smartest guy around in networks (He essentially built Cisco's Catalyst 4000 family). While IBM has been moving away from hardware, Andy could be the catalyst for the next gen unified storage,computing, network platform.
1. VirtualBox. Sun acquired German-based Innotek in 2008. This is a really innovative desktop virtualization product that despite having more than four million downloads needs more visibility. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9062319
2. Q-layer. Sun acquired this company in January. The company, based in Belgium, manages and automates deployment of public and private clouds.
3. MySQL. We all know the Swedes make great companies. MySQL is a next gen database company who will find a welcome home at IBM which loves all things database.
4.Neogent. Sun acquired this identity management company in 2006. This company was really an identity management database building tool. This is increasingly important as database security systems get built, combined and must remain secure themselves.
5. Kealia. I saved the best for last. Andy Bechtolsheim was a Sun Micrososystems founder. He also is about the smartest guy around in networks (He essentially built Cisco's Catalyst 4000 family). While IBM has been moving away from hardware, Andy could be the catalyst for the next gen unified storage,computing, network platform.
Is computer science the one smart major in a recession?
Source:ZDNet
A number of outlets are reporting on the rise in computer science majors at American universities. For years, the number of graduates with a computer science degree has been falling as the comp sci boom of the 90s left some pretty poor job prospects for graduates.
Now, however, the recession has made one thing clear. No matter how much the economy stinks, we need computers and we need them to work better, more efficiently, and in ways that make people more productive. There is no doubt that the tech sector is getting hit by the recession. Everyone from Sun to Microsoft seems to be laying off workers are avoiding contract renewals.
On the other hand, as an article on VNUNet points out,
[Figures released by the US Department of Labor predict that IT jobs will see some of the strongest growth of any profession in the US by 2010. Demand for applications programmers is expected to grow by more than 100 per cent, and overall the IT sector is forecast to expand by over a third.]
Essentially, once the recovery begins, IT will be the first to flourish and computer science grads will be the first to benefit.
[“Competitive advantage, driven by innovation, has never been more important, ” said Daniel Reed, current chairman of the CRA.]
A number of outlets are reporting on the rise in computer science majors at American universities. For years, the number of graduates with a computer science degree has been falling as the comp sci boom of the 90s left some pretty poor job prospects for graduates.
Now, however, the recession has made one thing clear. No matter how much the economy stinks, we need computers and we need them to work better, more efficiently, and in ways that make people more productive. There is no doubt that the tech sector is getting hit by the recession. Everyone from Sun to Microsoft seems to be laying off workers are avoiding contract renewals.
On the other hand, as an article on VNUNet points out,
[Figures released by the US Department of Labor predict that IT jobs will see some of the strongest growth of any profession in the US by 2010. Demand for applications programmers is expected to grow by more than 100 per cent, and overall the IT sector is forecast to expand by over a third.]
Essentially, once the recovery begins, IT will be the first to flourish and computer science grads will be the first to benefit.
[“Competitive advantage, driven by innovation, has never been more important, ” said Daniel Reed, current chairman of the CRA.]
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