Finnish design group Marimekko plans for layoffs

Finnish design group Marimekko posted a 58 percent annual drop in second-quarter earnings, hit by soft demand, and said it would start job talks to save costs.

"The difficult market situation continues and there are not yet any signs of recovery," Marimekko said in a statement.

"We will continue our actions aimed at lowering fixed costs to ensure the company's profitability and steady business development," it added.

Marimekko's April-June operating profit sank to 1.06 million euros ($1.50 million) from 2.54 million a year ago, with sales down 13.7 percent year-on-year at 16 million euros.

The firm said except for Japan, which showed extremely high growth, sales in the first half of 2009 were weak in Finland and foreign markets.

Marimekko repeated its full-year outlook of a 10 percent annual drop in sales and "distinctly" lower earnings.

Separately, it said it would start job reductions, permanently cutting 35 staff at most, seeking to save 1.5 million euros in costs. At the end of July, the firm employed 407 people.

It said it would also adjust its cost structure and operations in Finland to boost profitability.

Source: Reuters

BAE Systems to scale down operations, layoffs coming up

The scaling down of a big military project will mean layoffs next week at the BAE Systems plant in Fridley, but the defense contractor isn't saying how many.

BAE employees in Minnesota have been working on a cannon firing platform, part of a project to develop the next generation of combat equipment for the U.S. Army.

But the Army announced last month that it would "partially terminate" elements of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) project, and that decision affects BAE workers in Fridley.

"We are anticipating layoffs in the Minneapolis [area] facility as well as in other locations," BAE spokeswoman Kelly Golden said Friday.

She said she didn't have a number for the total job cuts in Fridley, nor did she have layoff numbers for a few other U.S. plants.

Golden said that BAE managers have been telling their employees that the layoffs will occur "on or before Aug. 21."

BAE is a large defense contractor in Minnesota, employing 1,319 people at the Fridley plant.

Typically, companies notify the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development when they are planning substantial layoffs. But department spokeswoman Kirsten Morell said Friday that the department had not yet received word from BAE Systems.

The Army has issued a stop-work order for the non-line-of-sight cannon and manned ground vehicle components of the Future Combat Systems project, in which Boeing Co. is the lead contractor. BAE is one of many suppliers and subcontractors working with Boeing.

The Defense Department said the Army is considering a new ground combat vehicle and wants to incorporate "lessons learned and threats encountered from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Almost three years ago, BAE Systems in Minnesota unveiled the cannon firing platform, featuring a .38-caliber length, fully automated 155-millimeter howitzer.

At the time, a BAE official said it would provide "push-button firepower" and "give soldiers an even more lethal, flexible and responsive fire support option."

Source: Star Tribune

Got via a Tip:

BAE Systems U.S. Combat Systems to layoff about 400 employees immediately. This is FCS related, but national reorganization is a key factor. Sterling Heights, MI will be BAE Systems Army location.

Sprint Nextel layoffs 68 employees at Olathe facility

Sprint Nextel has laid off 68 employees at an Olathe facility after deciding to outsource its operations.

The closing is part of the layoff of 8,000 workers companywide that Sprint announced in January, said Melinda Tiemeyer, a company spokeswoman.

Sprint gave the Olathe employees the option of a severance package or seeking employment at Kansas City-based DST Output.

“Some took the severance, and some joined the new company, but we don’t have a specific breakout on that,” she said.

The Olathe operations still are running but are winding down, Tiemeyer added. The facility had been providing all of Sprint’s mailing services for paper items such as bills and checks.

The company recently filed a notice with the Kansas Department of Commerce indicating that it would close its print and mail service operations at 540 N. Rogers Road, said Shelly McDonald, adult services coordinator with the state agency.

According to the content of the letter sent to the department, Sprint said it would outsource those operations to DST’s Output Solutions unit.

Most of the employees were let go at the end of July and received severance benefits, McDonald said Thursday. The company indicated the layoff was permanent, and most of the jobs eliminated were described as mail operation specialists, she said.

Source: Kansas City

Virgin Media cuts 250 jobs

Cable group Virgin Media has confirmed it will close its customer service department in the Black Country with the loss of about 250 jobs.

Virgin Media announced there would be a three-month consultation period over the plans for its Dudley site in May.

The firm originally said 322 jobs would be lost but a spokeswoman said 20% had been redeployed to other positions.

She said the firm had created 200 new jobs in Dudley which would be the focus for its "field support function".

A total of 115 of customer service team will stay in their roles until the end of October.

"We are very grateful to all our staff for the professionalism they have demonstrated throughout this difficult time," the spokeswoman added.

In November, Virgin Media said it planned to cut 2,200 jobs by 2012, about 15% of its workforce, as part of a group-wide overhaul.

Source: BBC

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance layoffs 118 employees

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. made another round of job cuts this week in its Connecticut and Massachusetts offices, a spokesman said.

Taking into account the previous round of layoffs in April, in which about 118 employees lost their jobs, the latest reduction brings the total number of cuts to about 300 positions, or 5% of the company’s work force.

Prior to the latest job cuts, the insurer had about 6,100 employees.

The cuts are part of the Springfield-based company’s initiative to streamline its operations, and the insurer expects to continue reducing its head count through the end of the year, according to a statement from spokesman Mark Cybulski.

The most recent cuts eliminated positions in MassMutual’s Springfield and Enfield, Conn., offices, according to the statement.

Employees across all departments were affected, Mr. Cybulski said.

Including the layoffs that have already occurred, the carrier expects to have reduced its work force by a total of 4% to 8% by the end of the year, according to the statement.

Source: Investment News

Atomic Games might shut down soon

Atomic Games, which ran into a firestorm of public criticism for its “Six Games in Fallujah” video game, has laid off staff and reportedly could be shut down.

A spokesperson for Destineer, the Minnesota-based game company that owns the Raleigh studio and has an operation in the Triangle, declined comment when asked if Atomic is shutting down.

“The person you need to talk to is not here and you need to call back on Monday,” the spokesperson said.

Attempts to reach Atomic Games were unsuccessful. Destineer purchased Atomic in 2005.

Last week the company acknowledged that it had cut its staff. Atomic was working with several Marines who fought in the battle. Atomic said a “smaller team” would be “funded by our sister company” Destineer.

The company said it could not find a backer for “Fallujah,” citing “a mixture of fears about the edgy subject matter” and “low videogame sales this summer.”

According to NPD Group, video game and hardware sales plunged in July 29 percent. It was the fifth straight month that sales dropped.

How many people Atomic laid off is not known. Various media reports have said Atomic has around a dozen people remaining.

Atomic’s financial support crumbled in April due to controversy about the Fallujah title. Designed to recreate the bloody battle in the Iraqi city, its subject matter ignited criticism that triggered a decision by Japan-based Konami to withdraw as the game’s publisher. Thousands of people, including many Iraqi citizens, and 38 U.S. soldiers, were killed in the fighting.

Peter Tamte, president of Atomic and a founder of Destineer, said at the time that Atomic would publish the game on its own.

“This caught us by surprise,” he told Local Tech Wire and WRAL.com about Konami’s decision. “Development of the game had been progressing very well and on schedule. We would very much like the opportunity to complete the game.”

The statement about the layoffs that Atomic issued as reported by various media outlets follows:

“Due to a mixture of fears about the edgy subject matter of Six Days in Fallujah, as well as low videogame sales this summer, we have been unable to secure full-scale funding from a major publisher for Six Days in Fallujah. This has caused us to reduce the size of our studio today.

“In the words of Marine officer Chesty Puller, ‘We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem.’ Development at Atomic will continue with a smaller team that will be funded by our sister company, Destineer.

“We wish to assure the dozens of Marine veterans who have collectively invested hundreds of hours in this project that, while we have been badly wounded, we will fight on. The stories of your brothers’ courage and sacrifice in Fallujah must be shared with the world.

“All of the 75 people in the Atomic studio have stayed with us until this week. This is a testament not just to their commitment to Six Days in Fallujah, but also to their character when faced with adversity and personal financial risk. We encourage videogame development studios wishing to speak with the many talented and loyal staff who are affected by this situation to contact the jobs page on the atomic.com web site.”

Source: Local Tech Wire

Midwest Airlines cuts 100 jobs

Midwest Airlines Inc. will cut about 100 jobs from its Milwaukee-area workforce, a reduction of about 9%, company Chief Executive Officer Bryan Bedford said.

Most of the job cuts from Midwest's Oak Creek headquarters and operations at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport are back-office and administrative positions that duplicate jobs at Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc., which completed its $31 million purchase of Midwest on July 31.

"We've got to make the airline highly efficient," Bedford said.

The jobs that remain intact include mechanics at Midwest's maintenance hangar, gate agents and ground crews at Mitchell International and customer service representatives at the headquarters and reservations center, 6744 S. Howell Ave.

Many of those employees are needed because Republic's main business is operating commuter flights for Delta Air Lines Inc., United Airlines and other major carriers. As a result, Republic doesn't have a customer service department, marketing department and other operations used by the carriers that hire Republic.

The cuts will leave Midwest with around 1,000 local employees, Bedford said. Midwest has around 1,600 employees, with 1,100 employees locally, he said. Employees who are laid off will receive severance packages, he said.

Around 160 employees are receiving layoff notices, Bedford said.

But some of those employees, including mechanics, are being offered positions with Republic Airlines, one of the airlines owned by the parent corporation, Republic Airways Holdings, he said. He said those employees were notified to make sure the company complies with the law requiring 60-day notices for layoffs.

Still up in the air is the fate of more than 250 Midwest pilots and flight attendants represented by the Air Line Pilots Association and Association of Flight Attendants.

Those unions are negotiating with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents union flight crews at Republic, over combining seniority lists of union flights crews from Republic and Midwest.

Meanwhile, Republic plans to add more flights to Midwest's schedule, which should create more jobs, Bedford said. Republic has restored Midwest flights from Milwaukee to Louisville, Ky., and Los Angeles.

There also will be a change in aircraft, with Midwest dropping its nine 99-seat Boeing 717 jets, to be replaced by nine 99-seat Embraer 190 jets. Under Republic's ownership, Midwest's fleet will include a dozen 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft, and 12 regional jets with 37 to 50 seats.

Also, Republic on Thursday emerged as the winning bidder in a bankruptcy auction for Denver-based Frontier Airlines. Bedford said some of the 138-seat Airbus A319 jets used by Republic will likely be shifted into service for Midwest flights to West Coast destinations.

Source: JS Online

West Corp layoffs 250 employees at Tulsa call center

West Corp. has announced it will lay off 250 people at its Tulsa call center by October 14. Employees were notified Wednesday along with city officials.

"We're working to try to get additional work in there so that hopefully we won't have to let as many people go, but right now we don't have anything that is close enough, so we want to at least give them some advance notification," said David Pleiss, vice president of investor and public relations for West Corp., during a phone interview Thursday.

Omaha, Neb.-based West Corp., which has about 47 call centers around the country, began operations in Tulsa in September 1997. The center at 3810 S. 103rd East Ave. employs 415 people.

The customer service representative positions being affected pay between $10.25 and $11.25 an hour, Pleiss said.

No layoffs are occurring at the company's Oklahoma City call center, which opened in late 1999 and employs 350 people.

Pleiss said the two programs being discontinued in Tulsa include work for a retail bank and a wireless cell phone service provider. One of those clients is moving some of the work offshore, while the other has experienced lower call volumes.

Call center work makes up about 25 percent of West Corp.'s overall business, Pleiss said. The company processes billions of minutes in voice-related transactions every year and employs about 48,000 people throughout North America, Europe and Asia, according to the company's Web site.

Source: Tulsa World

Finnair layoffs 200 employees

Finnair PLC said that it will lay off 200 people as it strives for further cost cuts in an increasingly competitive climate and a decline in air travel.

The layoffs will come into force by Oct. 1, when the Finnish national carrier said it expects to complete a reorganization of its units.

The announcement came a week after Finnair reported a second-quarter net loss of euro26 million (US$37 million) and the airline's chief executive said he was resigning in what he called "crisis" conditions.

Revenue also fell in the second quarter, by more than 21 per cent, to euro427 million.

Last week, outgoing CEO Jukka Hienonen warned of "difficult times ahead" and said that the carrier will begin statutory talks with all its 9,000 personnel to initiate more cost-cutting measures.

Last year, Finnair personnel rejected proposals for pay cuts to help the airline and Finnair axed 500 jobs. It also began temporary layoffs for 6,000 workers in April spread out through 2009.

Finnair flies to 50 destinations with a fleet of 63 aircraft. Last year, 8.3 million passengers flew Finnair, down four per cent from 2007.

Source: Canadian Press

American International Group layoffs 900

American International Group Inc's money-losing consumer finance unit said it eliminated 900 jobs and closed 145 branches in the first half of the year, and may make further cutbacks as it prepares to be sold.

In a regulatory filing, American General Finance Corp said its quarterly loss increased sevenfold to $227.2 million from $31.8 million a year earlier, as revenue declined 32 percent.

American General has lost $467.8 million this year, after losing more than $1.3 billion in 2008. It has lost money for six straight quarters.

The job and branch cuts represent about 11 percent of the year-end totals that the Evansville, Indiana-based company had reported. American General said it ended 2008 with 7,900 employees and 1,374 offices, a separate filing shows.

"We may implement further measures to preserve our liquidity and capital, including additional on-balance sheet securitizations, portfolio sales, expense reductions, branch closures, and reductions in production," the company said. It said it expects to have enough liquidity for at least a year.

An AIG spokeswoman said American General decided on the job cuts in May, and attributed them to the economic downturn.

AIG posted a second-quarter profit last week. The New York-based insurer is trying to sell assets to help repay the government, after accepting a series of federal bailouts totaling roughly $180 billion.

Source: Reuters

The Journal News cuts 50 jobs

A suburban Gannett Co. newspaper is cutting more than a quarter of its news jobs, redefining the remaining positions and allowing all newsroom employees to compete for them.

Among the jobs being cut at The Journal News, which covers three counties north of New York City, is the editorial cartoonist position held by Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Davies. Davies said he would apply for another job at the paper, perhaps in graphics, "because I have three kids and a mortgage."

Thursday, Michael J. Fisch, the newspaper's publisher and president, said that 50 of 192 news jobs and 20 of 96 advertising sales positions are being cut. He said the new job descriptions stress multimedia skills to support the digital transformation of the business.

"We could have used the traditional layoff approach but we really felt that we needed to restructure in order to prepare ourselves for the longer term and redefine the skill sets we need to be successful," the publisher said.

Gannett is the nation's largest publisher, with 85 dailies, including USA Today, among its holdings. It has been cutting jobs and imposing furloughs, but spokeswoman Robin Pence said she knew of no other Gannett paper that had adopted a layoff-and-reapply approach.

Going forward, she said, "it's up to the local papers. They will make that decision."

Fisch said news and ad-sales employees can apply for up to two of the redefined jobs. Columnists, editors and managers all must reapply, except for "a small handful of senior management positions," he said.

Outside applicants won't be accepted unless a job can't be filled by a current employee, he said. Applicants should know by the end of the month if they've been rehired.

Pay will be "the same or comparable if it's the same or comparable job," he said. Service time and benefits will be retained for those rehired. The employees are not unionized.

Fisch said that when he gathered workers Wednesday to tell them, "the mood was pretty somber. But people understand there is a great deal of change going on in the media business."

Davies said Thursday he also will continue to do editorial cartoons for syndication.

The Journal News has more than 95,000 subscribers weekdays and nearly 119,000 Sundays.

Source: AP

CooperVision cuts 570 jobs

CooperVision Inc., the contact lens unit of Cooper Cos., said it will cut 570 jobs as it closes a soft contact lens manufacturing plant in Norfolk, Va.

CooperVision will record pretax restructuring charges of $25 million, including $6 million in the third quarter and $7.5 million in the fourth quarter. The rest will be taken in fiscal 2010.

The plant closing will result in annual savings of $14 million starting in 2011.

The closing of the plant, resulting from manufacturing efficiencies gained in the past year, will take place over the next 15 months.

The facility makes about 7 percent of annual lens production, and CooperVision will relocate manufacturing to Puerto Rico, the U.K. and Australia.

Source: Yahoo Finance

Milacron cuts 130 jobs

Milacron announced plans to cut approximately 130 positions across its North American businesses, and most of those cuts will come at the Batavia plant.

The layoffs represent approximately 10% of its North American workforce. The company said in a statement, "The changes were made to size our business appropriately for current business levels. These steps not only lower our overhead costs, they streamline our organization - driving decision making closer to customers and making us more agile and responsive to customers evolving requirements."

The company is just coming out of Chapter 11 reorganization and is being sold to new owners.

Milacron manufacturs and sells plastics processing equipment and supplies and blends and sells industrial fluids. It was founded in 1884 as Cincinnati Screw and Tap Company. They have 20 plants worldwide.

Source: Local12

Q-Cells cuts 500 jobs

Q-Cells, which has struggled to deal with a market slump, said that it is cutting 500 jobs and implementing other measures to reduce production costs by 25 percent.

The Germany company, one of the world's largest solar cell makers, said it needs to take steps to shore up capital and narrow its focus on its core businesses after delivering a lackluster financial performance for the first six months of this year.

The job cuts would reduce the company's workforce by roughly a fifth.

Q-Cells saw its six-month revenue fall 36.8 percent to €366.2 million ($522.8 million) from €579.5 million ($827.3 million) in the year-ago period. It recorded an operating loss of €47.6 million ($67.9 million), compared with an operating income of €119.1 million in the first six months of 2008.

The company said it posted a net loss of €696.9 million ($994.8 million) when it included the €600.9 million ($857.8 million) write-down from the sale of its shares in Renewable Energy Corp.

Q-Cells is shutting down older production lines at its factory in Thalheim because it no longer has the scale or technical ability to make cells at least as cheaply as its competitors, the company said.

The company had implemented cost-cutting measures before it announced the job cuts and financial results on Thursday. Back in April, the firm said most of its staff would work shorter hours.

Q-Cells hasn't been immune to the same market forces that have pummeled other players in the solar market.

The solar industry moved from a boom in 2008, when companies worked quickly to boost production, to a bust in 2009. The credit crunch has made it difficult for developers to line up money to build solar power plants. The global market is so saturated with unused solar panels that one research firm recently predicted that the glut would last until 2012.

Source: Green Tech Media

Sonus Networks layoffs 10% of workforce

Sonus Networks, Inc. , a provider of network transformation through IP communications technology, announced a restructuring initiative to reduce its workforce by approximately 93 people, or 10% of employees worldwide.

The Company expects to incur restructuring charges for severance and related costs of approximately $1.4 million to $1.9 million on a pre-tax basis in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 in connection with this action and anticipates annual compensation-related cash savings of approximately $9.4 million to $10.3 million as a result of this restructuring initiative.

This action brings the total expected restructuring charges for severance and related costs to approximately $3.4 million to $3.9 million on a pre-tax basis for restructuring actions initiated during 2009. The Company anticipates annual compensation-related cash savings of approximately $19.7 million to $21.6 million as a result of these reductions.

Sonus said the layoffs are the final phase of a restructuring that began at the end of 2008. The latest round of job cuts should be completed in the third quarter.

Westford, Mass.-based Sonus previously announced 60 job cuts in March, 40 layoffs in January and 50 reductions in December.

Source: Portal Seven

San Diego Union-Tribune cuts 112 jobs

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that 112 jobs are being cut at the newspaper, the second round of major layoffs since an ownership change in May.

Wednesday's cuts follow the elimination of 192 positions three months ago, when Beverly Hills-based investment firm Platinum Equity bought the city's dominant newspaper from longtime owner The Copley Press.

The newspaper did not say how many positions it currently has. In May, it said the round of layoffs announced then would leave the newspaper with 850 employees.

The newspaper says it is focusing more on local community news and launching what it calls a "micro-zoning" initiative for small businesses to advertise at lower rates.

Source: SF Gate

Arcandor AG cuts 3,700 jobs

Arcandor AG, the insolvent German retailer, will search for buyers for its divisions, cut 3,700 mail-order jobs and close 19 Karstadt department stores under plans unveiled by the company’s administrator.

Klaus Hubert Goerg, the court-appointed lawyer in charge of Arcandor since Chief Executive Officer Karl-Gerhard Eick gave up trying to save the company from a breakup this week, also said he’s in talks with banks about the future of the Thomas Cook Group AG shares held as loan collateral.

Goerg, speaking to the press in the Quelle unit’s hometown of Nuremberg today, said he’ll reduce the mail-order chain to 1,000 stores from 1,450 and close all 109 Quelle electronics centers. The job cuts, which will be implemented through January, account for about a third of Quelle’s 10,000 workers.

The retailer filed for insolvency in June after years of losses, unable to refinance debt or convince the government to rescue the company. Arcandor shares continued their week-long slide, losing a further 17 percent of their value today.

“I am optimistic that we will find a buyer for the Quelle division, and we are also in talks to find an investor for Karstadt,” Goerg said today. He said Quelle could become a “European market leader” with the right investor.

Cancelling Leases

Merrill Lynch & Co. is searching a buyer for Karstadt, while Bankhaus Metzler is seeking an investor for Quelle, he said. Goerg said he’s also examining whether the Arcandor holding-company office, with its 94 employees in Essen, Germany, is still needed, and will cancel leases, forcing landlords to take back unprofitable stores.

Yesterday Arcandor ended its own search for an “anchor” investor to keep all its businesses together, including the Thomas Cook tourism unit. The company owned a majority of Thomas Cook, its only profitable asset, until Bayerische Landesbank, one of its lenders, seized a 8.9 percent stake.

BayernLB, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Commerzbank AG, who had held Arcandor debt convertible into Thomas Cook shares, speak for 43.9 percent of the tour company.

Arcandor was formed by the 1999 merger of Karstadt AG and Schickedanz Group’s Quelle home-shopping unit. Karstadt’s first department store opened in 1881, during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm I.

Karstadt, which employs about 25,000 people, has also been targeted by Metro AG, which wants to merge the chain with its Kaufhof department stores.

Arcandor came close to insolvency in 2004 and was saved by former chief executive officer Thomas Middelhoff, who took over in 2005. Middelhoff sold all of Arcandor’s real estate to reduce the company’s debt and bought a majority stake in Thomas Cook Group Plc, which is now Arcandor’s only profitable unit.

Arcandor in March replaced Middelhoff with Eick after a year in which the shares lost more than 80 percent of their value and heiress Madeleine Schickedanz ceded control of the company to private bank Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie. KGaA.

Source: Bloomberg

Hexion Specialty Chemicals plans to cut 1,000 jobs

Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. slashed its second-quarter loss but said that it’s stepping up a cost-cutting plan that will include the restructuring of manufacturing facilities and more than 1,000 job cuts.

The Columbus-based chemical maker said it lost $71 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $181 million in the same period a year ago. Hexion last year took on $167 million tied to a now-defunct deal to buy Salt Lake City-based Huntsman Corp. This year’s second quarter included a $66 million charge for cost-cutting measures, including the idling of some plants, partly offset by a $14 million gain tied to a securities buyback.

The company said second-quarter revenue fell 43 percent to $947 million from $1.67 billion on lower sales volume, unfavorable currency translation and lower costs for raw materials that were passed on to customers.

CEO Craig Morrison said in a release that the company is fighting a weaker market with a range of cost-cutting measures that will include a 20 percent cut in its 6,800-person worldwide work force over the next six to 18 months. Hexion employs about 300 in Central Ohio.

The company also has cut expenses by $177 million this year through various measures such as trimming utility and travel costs. Future cost cuts, including employee reductions, are expected to result in one-time charges of about $32 million. But the company is targeting more than $180 million in savings.

“Due to the challenging market conditions, we remain vigilant in our cost control efforts,” Morrison said. “Looking ahead, we believe the global economy will moderately strengthen during the third quarter of 2009, but we anticipate it will remain significantly below prior year trends.”

Hexion in the first half earned $45 million, compared with a loss of $193 million last year. Revenue in the first half fell 44 percent to $1.86 billion from $3.3 billion.

Hexion, formerly Borden Chemical Inc., makes binder, adhesive, coating and ink resins for a variety of industrial applications. The company is owned by New York-based investor Apollo Management LP.

The company last year lost $1.19 billion on $6.1 billion in revenue.

Source: Biz Journals

Trane cuts 370 jobs

The rollercoaster of layoffs and hiring for the Trane facility in Tyler took another dip with the announcement Wednesday that 370 jobs would be cut in what a company spokeswoman framed as the end of typical seasonal hiring.

"It's seasonal ... at the beginning and end of the summer season," spokeswoman Jerianne Thomas said. "It's all based on seasonal fluctuations.

"Our business is cyclical. In our industry, seasonal adjustments are not unusual."

She said the job cuts involve hourly workers across the production board.

In May, seasonal employment and consumers taking advantage of a federal economic stimulus package allowed Trane to rehire 165 of the employees it laid off last year.

President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package gives tax credits to consumers who purchase more efficient heating and cooling systems.

Increased demand for central heating and cooling units allowed the rehiring, which represented more than half of the 300 workers laid off in December 2008. Ms. Thomas at the time said that the rehiring was seasonal, "but it was more than it typically is."

According to Tyler Economic Development Council figures, Trane is the city's fifth-largest employer, with 1,949 workers.

The No. 1 employer, East Texas Medical Center, has 3,650 employees, followed by Trinity Mother Frances, the Tyler Independent School District and Brookshire's Grocery Co.

Trane has about 4,000 employees nationwide, according to Morning Telegraph archives.

More than 3,000 industrial and manufacturing jobs have been lost in the Tyler the past year, including jobs at Trane, Tyler Pipe, Goodyear and CB&I.

Tom Mullins, president and CEO of the Tyler Economic Development Council, added that Trane rehired in the spring partly because its inventory was low.

"They hired people and were very busy for a period of time because their inventory was low," Mullins said, adding that business in that industry has slowed since then.

Source: IStockAnalyst

Rieter plans to layoff 1,500 employees by 2010

Industrial group Rieter, hard hit by the economic crisis, has said it will lay off a further 1,500 employees – or 12 per cent of its workforce – by the end of 2010.

In a statement, Winterthur-based Rieter, a supplier to the textile and automotive industries, said the slump in these sectors had resulted in a 50 per cent drop in sales in the first half of this year to SFr899.8 million ($831.5 million).

The concern announced a SFr145.5 million loss, with orders down SFr700 million or 46 per cent to SFr840 million.

"Although the trend of business improved in the second quarter, Rieter does not believe that the volumes achieved in previous years will be equalled again soon," the group said.

"Restructuring and cost-cutting efforts are therefore being resolutely pursued."

At the end of June, the Rieter Group employed a workforce of 12 617, which was 18 per cent smaller than the year earlier.

The company also introduced short-time working, with about one in every four full-time employees only on the job on average 40 per cent of the time.

Source: Swiss Info

Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems cuts 3,000 jobs

Deutsche Telekom's business client unit, T-Systems, has reached an agreement with labour representatives to shed 3,000 jobs by next year in an effort to cut costs, a T-Systems manager said.

T-Systems had almost 45,000 employees by the end of the second quarter, down 1.9 percent from the previous year.

Matthias Schuster, head of personnel at T-Systems, said on Wednesday remaining staff could count on job guarantees until mid-2012.

T-Systems is Deutsche Telekom's smallest and least profitable unit. In 2008 it reported an adjusted core profit of 826 million euros ($1.17 billion) on sales of 9.34 billion euros. Deutsche Telekom 2008 core profit was 19.5 billion euros.

In the quarter ended June 30, T-Systems posted a 22.9 percent increase in adjusted core profit thanks to cost-cuts and an asset disposal. Sales dropped 3.2 percent.

T-Systems, which provides IT and telecoms services for businesses as well as for German federal and municipal governments and European public administrations, has been struggling with shrinking sales and low margins.

Last year, T-Systems entered an alliance with IT service provider Cognizant to boost its system integration business, which helps companies link information technology, devices and programs to share and exchange data and ultimately lower costs.

Source: Reuters

SAS plans for 1,500 job cuts

Scandinavian airline SAS AB said that it will cut as many as 1,500 more jobs and reduce salaries as it posted a wider second-quarter net loss amid falling traffic.

SAS presented a new two-billion-kronor cost-savings program, which it said will lead to layoffs of between 1,000 and 1,500 staff. It also said its previously announced four-billion-kronor cost-cutting effort was "ahead of schedule."

Source: WSJ

Hampshire Group cuts 29% of workforce

Hampshire Group Limited announced its results for the second quarter 2009 and that it has successfully completed an amendment and restatement of its credit facility, thereby restoring its ability to borrow funds under the facility. The Company also filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 27, 2009 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Restructuring and Cost Reduction Plans

During July 2009, the Company initiated the final phase of its 2009 restructuring plan, which included executive level organizational changes and the consolidation of its Asian operations. As a result of this consolidation, the Company will reduce its global workforce by an additional 29%, bringing total 2009 personnel reductions to approximately 50% of first quarter 2009 staffing levels.

The Company believes it will achieve a reduction in annualized selling, general, and administrative expenses of at least $9.3 million through the restructuring plan it initiated in April of 2009. The plan is expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 and will require restructuring charges totaling approximately $4.4 million. These expense reductions are in addition to those resulting from the 2008 restructuring, which resulted in approximately $3.1 million in annualized savings with a cost of approximately $0.7 million.

The Company has incurred $3.4 million in restructuring charges for the three months and year to date periods ended June 27, 2009 and $0.4 million for the same periods of the prior year.

Source: Earth Times

Kaiser Permanente cuts 1,200 jobs

Kaiser Permanente has eliminated about 1,200 jobs due to the bad economy, say company officials.

The cuts, which total about 2 percent of the company's workforce, are across the board. Most of its medical centers have positions that were eliminated. One-third of the positions cut are temporary, on-call or short-hour. The company is also attempting to move employees into other positions, if possible.

The primary job classifications being affected are housekeeping, pharmacy techs/clerks, unit assistants, transcription/medical secretaries, health information management clerks and local business offices.

Kaiser says lower Medicare reimbursement rates, the state budget crisis and unemployment have all contributed to the problem.

In a statement released today, Kaiser says the cuts will not impact the level of service for their patients.

Source: CBS13

Sun Microsystems might layoff 10,000 employees

While Oracle waits for antitrust regulators to complete their scrutiny of the $7.4 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems, a source said major layoffs are to be expected.

The source said “Make no mistake. There will be blood on 101 (meaning Highway 101) from Marsh Road to Redwood City.”

It is predicted that up to 10,000 people could be laid off but it was not clear if they all will be in the bay area nor the time frame over which the layoffs would occur. The source expects one large major announcement and the remainder to happen in small batches.

The layoffs would also depend on how many SUN customers move over to Oracle, the more that move over the smaller the layoffs would be.

The competition in not waiting, IBM is offering technical consulting credits of upto $8,000 for SUN hardware customers who switch to IBM. IBM Vice President Scott Handy said IBM (IBM) has had more than 250 sales “wins,” in which SUN customers chose IBM products in the first half of 2009 with more coming.

Source: Webguild

Schlumberger cuts 69 jobs

Schlumberger is cutting its workforce of 300 in Mallusk, Co Antrim, by 69, on top of six to eight redundancies two months ago.

The company - part of a US owned multi-national - has been hit by the fall in the oil price which has been welcomed by so much of industry.

The company said the job cuts were because of reduced activity in the oilfield services sector.

The redundancies were scheduled to come into effect in September.

Terry Collins, regional organiser for the Unite union said: "The factory concentrates primarily on the oil industry and unfortunately there is a glut of oil on the international markets and demand for oil field equipment is down.

"It has been slack from the start of the year, they had expanded over the last two and a half to three years and they had invested heavily in the site.

"When oil was 150 dollars a barrel there was high demand for their products, but prices have bottomed out."

Mr Collins said the company had indicated they expected an upturn in demand in 2010. But he said: "These are highly skilled jobs and when they are lost it is often difficult to to get them back again."

He is meeting management for discussions on the job cuts on Thursday and said he was not confident of being able to reduce the number of redundancies.

Source: Yahoo

Acxiom might layoff 2,700 employees

Got via a Tip:

Acxiom is preparing for a possible layoff of 30% of workforce by this Friday (on Aug. 14).

Acxiom is a global interactive marketing services company that uses consumer data, analytics, information technology, data integration, and consulting solutions to help companies conduct direct marketing programs.

Acxiom is a $1.38 billion-a-year company, representing more than 12 percent of the direct-marketing-services sector’s $11 billion in estimated annual sales.

Acxiom has around 7,000 employees.

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Sierra Pacific Industries layoffs 185 employees

Sierra Pacific Industries is moving forward with plans to lay off 50 employees at the company’s Standard plant this week, with layoffs of an additional 135 workers set for Sept. 1.

Sawmill shifts will end by Friday, said Division Manager Ryan Land. Planer and shipping operations will end by Sept. 1.

When the plant closure was announced in March, it was blamed on decreasing demand in lumber, plummeting timber prices because of the downturn in the housing market and a difficult regulatory environment.

“We are walking in faith, taking it one day at a time,” said Frank Towler, of Sonora, a 47-year-old electrical power plant operator whose job will end by Sept. 1. “I have a lot of applications out. If none of them come through, I’ll have to hunker down and retrain for another kind of work.”

He said he and his wife are not happy about the prospect of leaving friends and relatives behind in Tuolumne County, but they have to go where the work is.

Towler said he has two nephews who will also lose their jobs, one at the sawmill and one at the truck shop. All three are head-of-household jobs.

“I’m not angry with the company,” Towler said. “They chose some plants to close so they can keep a lot of other people employed. It’s a business decision. I understand that, but it’s still hard.”

John Romena, of Sonora, has been laid off since April. He was a forester, who bought logs for the company.

“I was laid off when we stopped buying logs,” he said. “I just got a new position buying fuel for the new Buena Vista Biomass Power Plant in Amador County. At least we don’t have to move. I’ve lived in this area since 1973, working for the U.S. Forest Service, SPI and Fibreboard (the Standard plant’s previous owner).”

State Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, said his heart goes out to the families of laid-off workers.

“Unfortunately, this is just one more example of California’s red tape forcing businesses to shut their doors,” he said. “With our state’s unemployment reaching its highest levels in more than a quarter century, policy makers should be doing everything possible to encourage job creation in our state.”

A call to Assemblyman Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto, was not answered by press time.

Bruce Castle of the Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch in Calaveras County said his group and other environmental groups resent being blamed for the loss of jobs.

“We actually support timber harvesting,” he said. “One reason we do is that the threat of catastrophic fires would be reduced.”

He said what his group is against is clear-cutting and other similar methods that would end up creating tree plantations, with all of the trees being the same age and size.

The Tuolumne County Alliance for Resources and the Environment has been a strong supporter of SPI employees.

Source: Union Democrat

Comcast cuts 160 jobs at Albuquerque call center

Comcast says it is restructuring and consolidating call centers, which will eliminate 160 jobs in Albuquerque. Many of those positions are moving to the company's Denver location.

Comcast confirmed to KOB that the layoffs will take place over the next 30 to 60 days. The company says it is giving some employees the opportunity to move to Denver to keep their jobs. It says it is working with the City of Albuquerque and the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions to help effected employees find new positions elsewhere.

"It's extremely difficult to make these changes, but consolidating our care operations into larger regional call centers is the right thing to do for our customers because it will better support the more integrated video, voice and Internet services we're now offering. By investing in our larger, more technologically advanced call centers and standardizing care processes, we can bring the latest tools, technology and training to help our employees deliver the best possible customer experience," Comcast wrote in a release Monday.

Comcast public affairs director Chris Dunkeson said the workers are not being kicked out into the streets—they have the option of transferring to the Colorado call center.

Those who choose not to transfer will be phased out over the next 30 to 60 days and will be offered severance packages.

Dunkeson says Comcast customers will also see faster service because of the call center shuffle. He says customers will no longer wait for hours on hold.

Source: KOB

Whyte & Mackay cuts 85 jobs

Whisky producer Whyte & Mackay has confirmed plans to cut dozens of jobs at sites across Scotland.

Up to 85 posts will be lost, with another 15 overseas sales staff facing the axe. A month-long consultation and review of operations is under way.

Whyte and Mackay has plants in the west of Scotland, Highlands and Grangemouth, but no site is facing closure. The firm blamed the economic downturn.

The GMB union said the move was "bitterly disappointing".

The cuts come just weeks after drinks giant Diageo said it was cutting 900 whisky jobs.

Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya bought Whyte & Mackay in a £595m ($1.2bn) deal in May 2007, posting pre-tax profits of £25.6m for the 18 months to the end of March last year.

A combination of the worldwide economic situation and the punitive UK legislative climate means that only the fittest alcoholic drink companies will survive

The firm currently employs 574 people across its seven sites in Scotland, including its Glasgow city centre headquarters, the Invergordon Distillery and its bottling factory in Grangemouth.

It is understood the job losses could include 30 in Invergordon, two at Dalmore and two on Jura.

The GMB's Harry Donaldson told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme it was "bitterly disappointing" news for the workforce.

He said: "I think it's time that we have a whisky summit in terms of what does this really mean for Scotland and jobs based in Scotland.

"I think we need to involve the Scotch Whisky Association, the employers themselves and the politicians - along with the trade unions."

Downturn blamed

Whyte & Mackay said it had begun a month-long review and would look at ways of minimising compulsory redundancies.

Over the past week it has also held meetings with Scottish Government ministers and officials, including First Minister Alex Salmond.

The firm's key brands are Whyte & Mackay, Isle of Jura and Dalmore malts, Vladivar vodka and Glayva liqueur.

The company is handling a difficult situation in a socially responsible manner

Source: BBC

Layoffs at IBM might touch 16,000 this year

IBM layoffs may touch 16,000 by the year end, claims employee group Alliance@IBM.

In a news report, Alliance said that it has counted about 184 employees who have been laid off in the most recent round of cuts, based on employee information packets it received so far. However, it believes the number exceeds that, according to Lee Conrad, the union's national coordinator.

Commenting on the layoffs, an IBM spokesperson reportedly said in a note that IBM is constantly managing resources as client demands evolve across a base of nearly 400,000 employees.

In January, Alliance@IBM estimated that as many as 16,000 employees may be cut by the end of 2009, and the group is standing by that figure. Based on its count so far, at least 10,000 job have already been cut.

IBM recently posted second-quarter earnings that trumped Wall Street expectations and raised its full-year profit forecast.

Recently Citi analyst Richard Gardner raised his target price on IBM to $135 from $125. In a research note, he said that IBM will save $500 million more this year than it had anticipated.

The company said in March it wanted to cut costs by $3 billion. But it has slashed expenses by $1.5 billion thus far, with another $2 billion coming later in the year.

Source: Indiatimes

State of Pennsylvania layoffs 250 employees

Layoff notices are on their way to 250 Pennsylvania state employees.

Gov. Ed Rendell says the number of layoffs so far is lower than anticipated because of savings from attrition. But he told reporters in Hershey on Monday that the number of layoffs may still grow.

The layoffs were forced by cuts Rendell made even before he signed a bare-bones state budget last week that will ensure that tens of thousands of other state workers will get paid on time.

Source: Philly

Applied Materials plans for more layoffs

Despite a rebound in business, Applied Materials Inc. is set for more layoffs and cost-cutting moves, according to an analyst.

The world's largest fab tool supplier--which is set to report its results this week--could see more cuts within its product lines, especially process control. Amid a horrible downturn, Applied recently backed away from another fab tool market, this time, the wafer track sector. It has exited the e-beam, ion implanter and other markets as well.

"We see potential for restructuring announcement, which we think involves headcount reductions as well as additional cost cutting efforts. Emphasis (is) on service and solar and a more focused effort in process control business," said C.J. Muse, an analyst with Barclays Capital, in a new report.

Even Applied's solar business is under pressure. Applied has made a big push in solar in recent times, but the overall solar industry is facing its first downturn.

"Our checks suggest management may be considering additional cost cuts, with everything potentially on the table including a particular focus on service and solar," Muse said.

"Considering the focus of the cuts would likely be across the entire company including solar, we do think this does beg question of the outlook for, in particular, Applied's solar business where we continue to have concerns regarding Applied's thin film technology."

Applied's solar turnkey technology, SunFab, is ramping up in mass production at five or so companies after early glithes. Applied's traditional fab tool business remains under pressure as well.

"Our checks also suggest Applied is freezing R&D spend on process control and prioritizing its business based on profitability and likely reducing its product lines in the following areas -- review SEM, CD-SEM, U-Vision, mask inspection," he said.

"We believe that the service business could be broken up into a 'spares and specials' unit (likely to enjoy good margin, better than corporate average levels) and the customer service engineers that used to belong to AGS will probably enter the product business units," he added.

Source: EE Times

Engineering firm CHA layoffs 57 employees, cuts salary

CHA, the region’s largest engineering firm, laid off 57 people, froze salaries and cut hours for about 7 percent of its nationwide work force as demand for its land development services waned this year.

The firm was hit hard by the downturn in residential and commercial construction in the Southeast and Southwest, where markets have “evaporated,” said Raymond J. Kinley Jr., president and CEO of the firm previously known as Clough Harbour & Associates.

“It appears they’re not going to rebound very quickly,” Kinley said.

He expects company-wide revenue to fall 5 percent this year after an all-time high in billings last year, $148 million. It will be the firm’s first year-over-year loss since 2002.

Source: Biz Journals

German utility company E.ON plans to cut 2,000 jobs

Germany's largest utility E.ON and the Verdi and IG BCE labour unions have reached a basic agreement over the company's cost-cutting programme, ending months of tension and averting a threatened strike.

According to a joint statement from E.ON and the unions, the utility will refrain from "redundancy-related" layoffs until 2012, although it will lower its domestic workforce through retirements, outsourcing and other attrition of posts.

A Verdi representative told Reuters that around 2,000 of the approximately 40,000 positions in Germany will be terminated.

The majority of these terminated positions will be in the company's IT unit, Sven Bergelin, a member of Verdi's Energy und Mining executive committee, said.

In addition the company will cut 300 administrative positions at its centres in Duesseldorf, Essen and Munich, Bergelin added.

E.ON declined to comment on the exact number of the positions to be cut.

The job cuts are part of E.ON's cost-cutting programme aimed at saving 1.5 billion euros ($2.15 billion) in costs by 2011.

Source: Reuters

Artex Aircraft Supply layoffs 113 workers

Artex Aircraft Supply Inc, an Aurora avionics company is laying off 113 workers as its parent company consolidates operations in Arizona.

Artex Aircraft Supply Inc., which does business as Cobham Avionics Aurora, told the state this week that it will close its facility at 14405 Keil Road N.E. some time between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2010.

Artex is a subsidiary of Cobham Plc. a United Kingdom-based aerospace and defense systems company with $2.1 billion in annual revenue.

The facility, along with one in Bothell, Wash., will merge into another Cobham-owned avionics facility in Prescott, Ariz., to create an “avionics center of excellence,” the company said in a July 29 news release. Combined, the move involves 150 layoffs.

Cobham officials said the consolidation is meant to help improve customer service and new product development, but the weak economy clearly played a major role.

“We have taken this difficult decision both in response to the continued challenging market conditions, which have seen a significant reduction in our sales and future orders, and to ensure a stronger, more competitive business in the future,” Cobham Avionics said in a July 29 letter to employees.

The Aurora operation employed 154 workers before cutting 12 jobs in April and another 29 in July.

Source: Biz Journals

RM International layoffs 109 workers

RM International Inc. said that it is laying off 109 workers after losing its contract to provide staffing and driving services to Daimler Trucks North America.

Portland-based RM International, in a letter to the state, said it learned on Tuesday that Portland-based Daimler Trucks North America — its sole client — was switching vendors to Roush Enterprises of Livonia, Mich..

RM is a test-engineering and contract staffing firm that provides professional drivers, technicians, engineers and support staff, according to its Web site.

The layoff includes the company’s entire operations department as well as office support staff and executive managers.

The company will still provide contract staffing services to Daimler, leaving it with a staff of just 40.

Source: Biz Journals

Crow Tribe layoffs 200 employees

Unanticipated expenses and a dip in revenues forced the Crow Tribe to lay off 200 people.

The full-time employees were given notice at their jobs Friday, said Kayle Howe, the tribe's personnel director. If they were absent, they will get a letter through the mail, possibly by Monday.

The layoffs do not affect any employees paid with federal money, Howe said, and essential services will continue. Workers who were laid off will qualify for unemployment benefits.

The tribe saw a shortfall in income, especially from its largest revenue source, the coal industry, Howe said. In addition, Chairman Carl Venne's death in February required two elections to fill the posts of chairman and vice chairman. Vice Chairman Cedric Black Eagle won election to the top spot.

Howe said the two primary elections and two general elections cost about $148,000 - money not in the budget.

"Carl's sudden demise just threw everything out of whack," Howe said. "According to the constitution, the secretary had to declare the office vacant, then advertise it and hold the elections, and it's costly."

A better alternative, he said, might be to amend the constitution to allow the vice chairman to succeed the chairman if the office comes open. But for now, the only alternative is to cut jobs.

Howe said Black Eagle received word back in spring from the tribe's fiscal team about the money shortfall. Black Eagle asked if the layoffs could be postponed while he looked for other sources of revenue to cover the costs, but he was unable to come up with additional money.

In a written statement Friday, Black Eagle expressed his disappointment over the job cuts.

"The decision to lay off any employee is a very difficult one," he said. "My administration values the commitment and hard work of our employees, and it is with deep regret that layoffs are required at this time because of the current economic climate."

Howe said he knew the announcement would cause turmoil among the employees and their families.

He said the move was not political but rather an economic reality of the times.

"We regret having to do it," Howe said. "We realize the backlash we're going to see from it. Opposition to the administration will use it as a political move."

But the fiscal advisers who recommended the layoffs aren't members of the tribe, Howe said.

"They said, 'There's no more time,' " Howe said. "We can't go any further or we're going to be grounded."

The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, and Howe expects that by the middle of that month, tribal members will be able to apply for jobs. In the meantime, the tribe is awaiting millions of dollars in stimulus funding from the federal government, with jobs mainly aimed at boosting the reservation's infrastructure.

"That's something we'll be advertising as well," Howe said.

Source: Billings Gazette

Ulster Bank cuts 250 jobs

Ulster Bank announced plans to make another 250 staff redundant after reporting a loss of £8million in the first six months of the year.

Chief executive Cormac McCarthy said he was confident the job cuts - to be made on both sides of the border but with the bulk in the Irish Republic - would be achieved on a voluntary basis.

In January the bank, which has 132 branches in the Republic and 92 in Northern Ireland, sought 750 redundancies and was very heavily oversubscribed, he said.

The bank's £8million loss came after a jump in loan losses to £157million, £107million relating to business loans.

Profit wiped out by those impairment charges fell to £149million from £190million a year ago.

Impaired loans as a percentage of total loans rose from 0.1 per cent a year ago to 0.8 per cent and the bank said they were expected to rise in the second half of the year.

In the first half of the year the Ulster said its total lending to customers was flat, with mortgage lending up 2 per cent, but deposits down 17 per cent to £18.9billion.

Source: Daily Mail