Blogging about jobs around the world http://fivedayjob.com http://fivedayjob.com Thu, 21 Sep 2006 22:58:26 -0600 Thu, 21 Sep 2006 22:58:21 -0600 Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

Employers shed 240,000 more jobs in October, the government reported Friday morning, the 10th consecutive monthly decline and a clear signal that the economic slowdown is troubling households and businesses.

Since August, the economy has lost 651,000 jobs ' more than three times as many as were lost from May to July. So far, 1.2 million jobs have been lost this year.

'Clearly, these are very bad numbers,' said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist at IHS Global Insight. 'Businesses had been paring back for most of the year, but I suspect that it had been more caution on hiring rather than firing,' Mr. Gault said. 'In September, they decided, 'O.K., look, this isn't just a mini-recession, this is a full-blown recession. We better take some action.' And they did.'

The unemployment rate climbed to 6.5 percent, the highest level since 1994 and up from 6.1 percent the month before.

The Labor Department also steeply revised down its employment numbers for the third quarter. Employers slashed 284,000 jobs in September, far higher than the 159,000 that was initially reported. In August, 127,000 jobs were lost, compared with the previous estimate of 73,000. ]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-126-October-job-losses-hit-a-14-year-high Friday, November 7th 2008 at 11:10 am Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

Financial workers at Wall Street's top banks are to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn ( 40bn), a substantial proportion of which is expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses, for their work so far this year - despite plunging the global financial system into its worst crisis since the 1929 stock market crash, the Guardian has learned.

Staff at six banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are in line to pick up the payouts despite being the beneficiaries of a $700bn bail-out from the US government that has already prompted criticism. The government's cash has been poured in on the condition that excessive executive pay would be curbed.

Pay plans for bankers have been disclosed in recent corporate statements. Pressure on the US firms to review preparations for annual bonuses increased yesterday when Germany's Deutsche Bank said many of its leading traders would join Josef Ackermann, its chief executive, in waiving millions of euros in annual payouts.

The sums that continue to be spent by Wall Street firms on payroll, payoffs and, most controversially, bonuses appear to bear no relation to the losses incurred by investors in the banks. Shares in Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have declined by more than 45% since the start of the year. Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley have fallen by more than 60%. JP MorganChase fell 6.4% and Lehman Brothers has collapsed.

At one point last week the Morgan Stanley $10.7bn pay pot for the year to date was greater than the entire stock market value of the business. In effect, staff, on receiving their remuneration, could club together and buy the bank.]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-125-Where-is-the-bailout-money-really-going-CEO-s-pockets Tuesday, October 28th 2008 at 12:13 pm Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

Traders and investment bankers might have more to worry about than dwindling bonus pools this year as mass firings on Wall Street are set to hit a record.

The fallout from this year's global credit crisis has claimed jobs throughout Wall Street, from hedge fund managers to floor traders and beyond. More than 110,000 people have lost their jobs so far this year, and some industry experts forecast it could come close to 200,000 before the year is over.

Even the financial industry's biggest name isn't immune. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world's biggest investment bank, made plans Thursday to cut 3,200 positions from its staff of 32,000. Barclays Capital is in the midst of purging 3,000 jobs as part of its takeover of Lehman Bros., and Bank of America Corp.'s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. is sure to add thousands more.

Major U.S. financial companies are getting rid of redundancies caused by this year's rapid-fire consolidation. They are also adapting to an environment of more regulation, less risk and dwindling profits.

"Wall Street the way we know it is, frankly, gone," said Michael Williams, dean of the graduate school of business at Touro College in New York. "This was inevitable because there's just not enough money out there to support the huge staffs these banks and investment banks had before." ]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-124-Wall-Street-expects-more-than-200-000-layoffs Sunday, October 26th 2008 at 5:52 pm Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

Circuit City Stores may close at least 150 stores in a maneuver to avoid sliding into bankruptcy, according to reports. Circuit City hired outside help to develop a turnaround plan and is talking with investment bank Rothschild to help secure emergency funding, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this month, Circuit City, Richmond, Va., was downgraded by retail credit-rating service Bernard Sands after the retailer reported a $239 million loss in its second fiscal quarter.

The report of closing stores comes just a couple of weeks after Circuit City told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that it planned to cut back on the number of stores it planned to open by the end of its fiscal year in February 2009. Through Aug. 31, Circuit City had opened 29 stores this fiscal year and had planned to open as many as 26 more, according to the newspaper.

Last week, Circuit City launched a campaign promising the same price for in-store purchases as for products bought online. The company said a study found that consumers would place more trust in a retailer that offered the same price through different channels.

According to Marketwatch.com, Circuit City hasn't confirmed their plans to close the 150 stores, but , they're developing a turnaround plan with FTI Consulting, Inc and they've have hired Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP which oversaw Kmart's Chapter 11 reorganization. Spokesman Jim Babb wouldn't offer any further details when he replied to Marketwatch. Shares of Circuit City closed at 39 cents on Oct. 17. The stock was trading as high as $5.75 per share in April. ]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-123-Circuit-City-is-closing-150-stores-in-the-United-States Monday, October 20th 2008 at 7:22 pm Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

In the event of redundancy, as an employee, there are laws in place to offer some income protection for you.

Firstly, your employer is legally obliged to pay all the wages you are owed and reimburse you for any holiday entitlement you have earned but not yet taken.

All employees are again supposed to receive a period of notice ' details of which would have been included in your original terms of employment contract.

If however, circumstances are such that you do not receive the period of notice you are entitled to, you are again entitled to pay in lieu.

Your rights to redundancy payments

Entitlements changed in October 2006 and anyone in a job without a break in service for at least two years is entitled to up to 30,000 as a statutory redundancy payment tax free.

Your entitlement will be based on your normal gross pay - up to a maximum of 330 a week plus an allowance for your age and length of service.

For those aged 22-40 the entitlement is a full week's pay for each complete year of service.

Anyone over 40 years old receives an enhanced redundancy payout equating to one and a half weeks pay for each year of service.

These are the statutory amounts and there is nothing stopping your employer offering more so seize the opportunity to negotiate if the opportunity arises.

Remember though, payouts over 30,000 are taxable.

Most will acknowledge that Income Protection, or Accident Sickness and Unemployment Insurance will go some way to help relieve any financial pressure that may accompany redundancy.

If however, you anticipate problems keeping up with your mortgage or other debts, please don't wait for things to get out of hand. Contact your lenders immediately to discuss your options and agree a way forward.]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-122-Redundancy-Entitlements Friday, October 17th 2008 at 1:12 pm Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

I work in the finance org at Yahoo and have learned that the layoff date is Dec. 10. Finance will be cutting 50% of the workforce, engineering 10%, and sales and the rest of G&A [general & administrative] 25%. The company sent an invitation today for the annual holiday party on December 6 (four days before the biggest downsizing in the company's history ~3,500 jobs). The holiday party is held at the San Mateo Convention center with a Las Vegas gambling theme. [It will] cost millions of dollars. Where is the fiscal responsibility?

I guess Jerry Yang feels that maybe he would have better luck betting the whole company on a Las Vegas table than he has at running it. As you reported, our CFO is cutting the severance packages (I guess so he can fund the multi-million dollar holiday party). Employees are outraged and are planning to boycott the party. Maybe they should have surveyed the employees to see if they wanted to attend one party or get better benefits in their layoff packages. My finance peers should get their resumes updated as 50% of us will be leaving.

The departures are already happening, from what we hear. Rojeh Avanesian, the head of finance for Yahoo's Santa Monica-based media group, the operation led by Scott Moore. Avanesian sent this peppy goodbye note to colleagues earlier this week:

To my friends and family at Yahoo, I never thought I'd type these words, but after 7.5 years, tomorrow is my last day at Yahoo. I am extremely fortunate to have worked with such a great group of people. Keep fighting the good fight and take care of each other. I'll cheer for you, I'll miss you, and I hope to see you succeed. ]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-121-Yahoo-is-set-to-cut-3-500-jobs-by-the-end-of-the-year Thursday, October 16th 2008 at 9:14 pm Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

Rumours of layoffs and management reshuffles at Tesla Motors - maker of the famous but as-yet-scarce Roadster electrosupercar - have been confirmed. In the next few hours Elon Musk, Tesla chairman, is expected to announce that he has formally superseded Ze'ev Drori as CEO. Details of "strategic layoffs" will also be revealed.

A Tesla representative confirmed the move this afternoon. It appears that Mr Drori will remain at Tesla, assuming the title "vice chairman" and remaining on the board, while Mr Musk assumes even greater day-to-day control of the firm.

Rumours had been circulating all day that changes at Tesla were afoot, with suggestions made that 100 employees might be let go in California - as much as half the existing staff. Mr Musk is expected to go into some detail on the corporate blog network as to just who will be departing, but the Reg was told that the higher figures are "grossly exaggerated". The layoffs are said to be "in response to the global liquidity crisis".

Tesla would certainly appear to be vulnerable to the credit crunch and general feeling of unease. The firm has ambitious plans, with a new model set to go into production, but has so far delivered just forty cars - and these have "intermediate" transmissions, unable to achieve the promised performance which Roadster buyers have paid high prices for. ]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-120-Tesla-Motors-gets-a-new-CEO-layoffs-are-coming Wednesday, October 15th 2008 at 1:48 pm Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

Most U.S. and foreign corporations doing business in the United States avoid paying any federal income taxes, despite trillions of dollars worth of sales, a government study released on Tuesday said.

The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.

More than half of foreign companies and about 42 percent of U.S. companies paid no U.S. income taxes for two or more years in that period, the report said.

During that time corporate sales in the United States totaled $2.5 trillion, according to Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who requested the GAO study.

The report did not name any companies. The GAO said corporations escaped paying federal income taxes for a variety of reasons including operating losses, tax credits and an ability to use transactions within the company to shift income to low tax countries. ]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-119-Most-American-corporations-don-t-pay-income-taxes Wednesday, October 15th 2008 at 11:14 am Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

PepsiCo Inc. is cutting 3,300 jobs, including 120 in Chicago where its Gatorade, Tropicana and Quaker Oats business units are headquartered.

Together, those businesses employ 2,400 in Chicago, meaning Pepsi is cutting its area workforce by .5 percent percent. Overall, the 3,300 jobs Pepsico is shedding represent 1.8 percent of Pepsi's global workforce.

Of the jobs shed in Chicago, 100 are at the West Loop offices of Gatorade, Tropicana and Quaker Oats, where the bulk of the company's Chicago workforce is located. Another 20 jobs will be cut a research and development facility in Barrington.]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-118-PepsiCo-is-cutting-3-300-jobs-around-the-world Tuesday, October 14th 2008 at 1:46 pm Do you love drinking tea? Come join the biggest tea community on the internet!

Even in good times, Jones' attempt to enter the canned-soda market would have been ill-advised. Coming as it did just as the consumer economy was teetering and just before the financial markets began to swoon, it can now only be called a major misstep. Jones this week has laid off about 40 percent of its workers, of which there were only about 110.

According to CNNMoney.com, the '21-year-old cult soda company's struggles are a microcosm of the challenges facing small companies in a weakening U.S. economy. With consumer spending down and credit tight, any misstep becomes a potentially fatal mistake.'But most other small companies didn't make Jones' mistakes. The brand's identity was tied to its weird, colorful glass-bottled soda products with names like 'fufu berry' and 'bug juice.' People ' mainly kids and young adults ' sick of drinking Coke and Pepsi products out of cans or plastic bottles, but who nevertheless wanted a sugary, carbonated soda, gladly paid a premium for Jones' products.

'But in 2007, CNN notes, 'the company posted an $11.6 million loss, created largely by founder Peter van Stolk's attempted expansion into the canned-soda market.' ]]> http://fivedayjob.com/story-117-Jones-Soda-is-laying-off-40-percent-of-their-workers Tuesday, October 14th 2008 at 10:43 am