Add in Kodak’s 4,500 job cuts and the Wired Layoff Tracker showed as of Thursday that 176, 595 workers have been lost to the economic downturn.
And there are some not included on this site, such as Symantec’s silent cuts disclosed on a conference call last night.
The question is whether the federal government’s stimulus package will help and whether the Republican’s will ever see the urgency to passing it.
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computers, economy, hardware, news, software, web 2.0 | Tagged: Layoffs, Tech Economy, Technology, Wired Layoff Tracker | 
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Posted by Mark Boslet
Microsoft said this morning it would cut 5,000 jobs as it slashes costs to compensate for slower revenue growth.
The positions will come from marketing, sales, R&D, finance, legal, human relations and IT at the 91,000-employee company. The jobs of 1,400 people will be eliminated on Thursday with the remainder disappearing during the next 18 months.
But that isn’t the whole story. The software giant plans to cut the cord to even more outside contractors – perhaps 15 percent of all it employs.
And it intends to hire several thousand people to fill new positions in businesses where it sees attractive opportunities, such as online search.
That means the total cuts to Microsoft’s staff will be more like 2,000 to 3,000 jobs, said CEO Steve Ballmer.
“We are in the midst of a once in a lifetime set of economic conditions,” said CEO Steve Ballmer on a conference call discussing the company’s disappointing second-quarter results. “The economic is resetting to a lower level of business and consumer spending.”
So at Microsoft, “we’re really putting the brakes on,” Ballmer said.
But the company is focused as well on gaining market share in markets it sees as ripe for growth. That includes: search; gaming, where is fields the Xbox 360 console; and cellular phones, where it sells Windows Mobile.
Ballmer also sees market share opportunities in Microsoft’s Office business.
“We have a lot of opportunities to work on market share,” Ballmer said.
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Posted by Mark Boslet
Yahoo said that layoffs among its U.S. staff began on Wednesday, supplementing cuts that have been underway in other spots around the world.
Speculation is that the online portal will shed 1,500 jobs as it battles Google and Microsoft for online traffic and deals with a broad worldwide economic slowdown in advertising.
In a letter to workers, CEO Jerry Yang said the cuts were unavoidable to better balance costs and revenue. It is “something businesses in virtually every sector are also having to do” to perform in “today’s turbulent global economy,” he wrote.
Yang said Yahoo needed to focus on the long-term health of its business. “You will be missed,” he wrote.
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Posted by Mark Boslet
Wall Street analyst Trip Chowdhry said Google cut about 30 percent of its 10,000 contact workers and 300 full-time employees to cut costs.
Is there more open space at the Googleplex?
Chowdhry, of Global Equities Research, said in a research note that as of the end of the third quarter, 3,000 contract employees were let go. Google also closed regional offices in Michigan and Colorado, he said.
The story was reported on the Barron’s Tech Trader Daily blog.
1 Comment | economy, news, web 2.0 | Tagged: Contract Workers, economy, Full Time Employees, Google, Layoffs | Permalink
Posted by Mark Boslet
Fighting the tide of a slowing economy, Dell cut 2,200 jobs, trimmed costs and transferred production to contract manufacturers to post improved third-quarter margins and earnings per share Thursday.
Dell cutting manufacturing costs
The Round Rock, Texas, computer maker said it anticipates continued weak demand for the “foreseeable future” and vowed to respond with additional “aggressive” cost reductions. This includes a hiring freeze for all but key positions.
The company’s cautious earnings report contrasts noticeably with more diversified competitor Hewlett-Packard’s more upbeat financial update earlier this week.
“We expect a relatively challenging environment to continue,” said Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden on a conference call.
The company’s revenue fell 3 percent, but grew 10 percent in the consumer business it is trying to nurture, especially in stronger emerging markets overseas.
“Clearly we are making some progress” in consumer with improved products and lower costs, said CEO Michael Dell.
But overall demand deteriorated during the third quarter both in the U.S. and Europe, pressuring the company to approach costs with a hatchet.
“We’re going to be very aggressive with costs” in the fourth quarter, said Gladden. That will likely include more layoffs, he said,
Dell posted net income of $727 million that fell 5 percent, but earnings per share that rose 9 percent to 37 cents.
Leave a Comment » | computers, economy, news | Tagged: Brian Gladden, computers, Dell, Earnings, economy, Hewlett-Packard, Layoffs, Margins, Michael Dell, Profitabiity, Weak Sales | Permalink
Posted by Mark Boslet
This year’s volatile downturn in the world’s semiconductor markets appears to have deepened.
Bellwethers Intel and Applied Materials projected on Tuesday deep slumps in sales and orders, and Applied, indicating there is no time to wait, triggered a layoff of 12 percent of its work force.
It is unknown how deep the setback will go, says George Davis
The dual dose of bad news came as the financial markets plummeted again with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 411.30 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down a comparatively greater 81.69 points. The watch word in technology markets was uncertainty.
“It’s really not known how deep this economic setback will go,” said Applied CFO George Davis on a conference call with analysts.
In a press release, Intel said fourth-quarter sales would be $900 billion, plus or minus $300 million, or well short of the $10.1 billion to $10.9 billion the chip maker projected last month.
Demand weakened in all geographies and all markets, the company said. Intel plans to lower spending modestly in the quarter to $2.8 billion from $2.9 billion.
Applied rejected such tepid measures. The supplier of manufacturing equipment to semiconductor makers said it would restructure operations in the present quarter by cutting 1,800 jobs, or 12 percent of workers, and slashing annual expenses by $400 million.
There has been a “rapid slowdown at many of our customers,” Davis said. Applied, which reported steady fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, said first quarter products orders are expected to fall a substantial 30 percent and revenue will decrease 25 percent to 35 percent.
Just as significantly, the company backed away from previous claims its emerging solar business would reach breakeven in 2009. “We’ll have to see how demand plays out,” Davis said.
It also showed a hesitancy toward acquisitions during the downturn. “I thinkn we will say no more often than we say yes,” said CEO Michael Splinter.
Leave a Comment » | chips, computers, economy, news | Tagged: Applied Materials, economy, First Quarter, Fourth Quarter, George Davis, Intel, Layoffs, Quarterly Sales, Semiconductor Market | Permalink
Posted by Mark Boslet
