Major U.S. Companies to Slash 45,000 Jobs

American companies announced job cuts totaling 45,000 this morning, as the global downturn slammed the profits of such exporters as Caterpillar and a domestic recession hit hard at retailer Home Depot. As companies begin announcing their financial results for the end of 2008, they are also moving fast to cut costs in response to poor results and a diminished outlook for the coming year. The job cuts announced so far today include 20,000 at heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, 8,000 at the Sprint Nextel telecommunications company, 7,000 at Home Depot, 2,000 at General Motors and 8,000 anticipated from the pending merger of the Pfizer and Wyeth pharmaceutical companies.

I heard this news this morning on the radio. That's a lot of jobs. I feel terrible for all of those losing their jobs, most of whom did nothing to deserve this. It still continues to get worse.

reply to post by David9176


What's even more of an insult to common decency is the fact that the market has been rewarding companies after they announce major layoffs. I understand the mechanics & logistics of those trades, "companies are steadying themselves to remain competitive through the recession," "they're responding to decreased demand by reducing production," "They're shedding their excess employees and reducing overhead," etc, etc, etc... but the reality of the situation is this recession, unlike recent past recessions, seems to be sledgehammering far more sectors and far more markets. Stocks should go down, not up, when confronted with this many job losses because they are eroding the consumer base tremendously.

The lost jobs number I really wish we could see totals only 555. That's the 435 members of the House of Representatives, the 100 members of the US Senate, the 18 selected positions of the president's cabinet, the president, and, of course, the vice president. Eliminate them all and then restaff each and every position with new blood which, at the very least, hasn't yet demonstrated an unhealthy desire to bend the American tax payer over a barrel.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


I know. Seeing stocks up 45 or so points when 45,000 people are going to lose their jobs is disgusting. People are making money off of it.

Also i'd love too see a complete change in most of the people in the government, but we are stuck with them, at least for awhile.

Infuriating, that's the only way to describe the way our government has handled this entire situation. Our debt has reached ridiculous proportions yet we have all of these ridiculous spending plans that more than likely will do NOTHING.

There was a huge outrage for the 700 billion bailout. Now we have 825 billion or whatever it ends up being. Where's the outrage?

Government is getting larger while everything else is getting smaller. Is this what people want? For the government to control every single aspect of their lives?

I hope we recover, i really do, but our government has showed no indication of going in a different direction. It's the same routine. Spend now, worry about the consequences later.

In a twisted and perverted way, I think the government is happy about this. This just gives the government more power. More people will be dependent on the government for help and these people will be more than happy to see the government pass any kind of legislation that could help them. It is within these types of legislation that government usually sneak in their little goodies that most folks are usually unaware of.

It is going to be difficult for some people who going from descent paychecks to hardly nothing paychecks.

It's Orwell's 1984, only applied to business. We're in the era of corporate 'Newspeak' in which job loss is profit, asset cuts are capital gains, optimism is punished, pessimism is rewarded. Everything is upside down.

www.marketwatch.com...

Add another 3,400 jobs lost from Texas Instruments... who's shares promptly began trading up in after hours trading.

Now up to 71,400 in a day.

money.cnn.com...

Bloody Monday: Over 71,400 jobs lost
Seven companies announce massive job cuts in a scary start to the week.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The final week of January began with a bloodbath for the job market, as over 71,400 more cuts were announced on Monday alone.

At least six companies from manufacturing and service industries announced cost-cutting initiatives that included slashing thousands of jobs.

More than 200,000 job cuts have been announced so far this year, according to company reports. Nearly 2.6 million jobs were lost over 2008, the highest yearly job-loss total since 1945....

I wonder if these companies realize their employees are also their consumers?

Wow. just...wow.

Wonder how nasty next months unemployment numbers are going to look...