Today’s Layoffs

When will this perpetual cycle of job losses end?

Aerospace and defense giant Boeing(BA) announced that the company will be laying off 10,000 employees after reporting terrible earnings for the 4th quarter.

Starbucks(SBUX) announced that the company will be laying off 6,700 employees and closing 300 stores due to declining sales. In a tough economic environment, high priced coffee is a luxury.

According to the Financial Times, AOL issued an internal memo that they will be laying off 700 more employees. Time Warner(TWX) has never figured out how to make money off of AOL.

Even IBM who just reported a good earnings report has had to layoff employees.  Estimates are that IBM is laying off about 3,000 employees.

Target(TGT) is letting 600 employees go that work at the company’s main headquarters in Minnesota. Target will also be closing one of the company’s distribution centers that employs 500 employees.

Massive Job Losses

Wow. They just kept coming one after another. A number of Fortune 500 companies announced job layoffs today.

Caterpillar(CAT) announced that they will be cutting 20,000 jobs. Caterpillar, the largest manufacturer of construction equipment, has seen global demand for machine equipment fall off the map.

Home Depot(HD) is eliminating 8,000 more jobs and closing 125 stores. The housing market has not yet bottomed and sales are not improving at the nation’s largest home retailer.

GM(GM) is laying off 2,000 people and cutting vehicle production amid reduced demand for its automobiles. It’s a bad time to be an auto manufacturer.

Sprint Nextel(S) is cutting 14% of their employee work force by laying off 8,000 workers. Sprint continues to lose market share to Verizon and AT&T.

Pfizer(PFE) will be cutting over 19,000 jobs after the completion of its merger with Wyeth.

Starbucks(SBUX) may be cutting as many as 1,000 employees.

Photo by texas_mustang