Topic: Layoffs and Downsizing

Making the Cut: Managing the Layoff Process

It seems as if some manager introduces another wrong way to lay off faithful employees every day. Shoot 'em an email. Call their names over the intercom. Order some poor subordinate to deliver the news before canning him as well. ...READ»

Job Loss and Long-Term Earnings

Perhaps you saw the article in the New York Times this week, “Income Loss Persists Long After Layoffs.” If you missed it, I recommend that you read it, but I warn you that it is depressing news.The article reports on the ...READ»

2009: The Year of the Layoff & the Discrimination Charge

OMG I! The national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in February, up from 7.6 percent in January and from 4.8 percent last year http://www.bls.gov/mls. OMG II! Discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity ...READ»

Top Jobs 2008: A Guide to Layoff Survival

FastCompany.com offers you a guide to layoff survival and the job search. From the practical to the philosophical, get expert tips on how to survive the fall, and get back in the game. READ»

• Top Jobs of 2008
• Courting Your Career
• The Top 8 Jobs of 2008

Take This Job and Click It

Legions of recently downsized workers are gathering to gripe, network, and find jobs on the Web. To join this virtual support group, all you need is a pink slip, a résumé, and a bitter streak.READ»

Yes, Layoffs Cost More than Regular Turnover and Save Less than the Flexible Alternatives

Monday, during an interview on Public Radio International's The Takeaway, I discussed flexible alternatives to minimize layoffs because, the research shows, managers may think that firing someone who makes $50,000 a year ...READ»

Managers Uphold Fiduciary Responsibility with Alternatives to Layoffs--Expanding the Cost/Benefit Analysis

(Tune in to Public Radio's The Takeaway on Monday morning 3/9 between 6:00-6:30 am in NYC, I will be talking about presenting a flex plan to your employer if you think layoffs are coming.)   Is a manager who pursues flexible ...READ»

Market Rewards Layoffs, Discourages Flexible Downsizing as an Alternative

“Stocks Surge on Layoff Announcements” was the headline on the front page of the Washingtonpost.com this week as major U.S. companies announced 55,000 job cuts.  At the same time, The Conference Board projects that ...READ»

All for One and One for All!

           Even though there was some positive response to my recommendation to institute pay reductions rather than additional layoffs, there was substantially more negative response to the idea.  Since the economic ...READ»

Layoff Phenomenon: The Sayonara Email

Layoffs suck. I'm sure I could phrase it more delicately, but -- to use one of the overused similes of 2008 -- that's like putting lipstick on a pig. And one of the worst parts about losing your job this way is saying good-bye.How ...READ»

Tech Unemployment Bad, but Not That Bad

Earlier this month, hard drive maker Seagate became the latest tech firm to announce layoffs: 1100 cuts, or 2.5% of its workforce. But while unemployment in the technology sector accelerated in the first quarter of 2009, according ...READ»

More Women Getting Layoffs

I have heard that more women are being laid off than men with the economic slowdown. Where are the facts?READ»

Downsizing Should Have Three Stages--No Layoffs, Flexible Downsizing, THEN Layoffs--Not, Two

December job cuts were far worse than expected.  A recent headline in the Wall Street Journal read, “No-Layoff Policies Crumble,” as a number of companies with historical “no layoff” policies have been forced by the economic ...READ»

The Brand Called Us

This month's letter from the editor.READ»

Wharton’s Dr. Peter Cappelli on Flexible Downsizing

Today, Microsoft announced the first layoffs in its history. Nowhere in the announcement were flexible alternatives to job cuts mentioned.  The signal this sends to other organizations is that cutting employees is the only way to ...READ»

More or Less

Readers respond to our Web-exclusive series about layoffs with harrowing anecdotes, harsh criticism, and hard-boiled advice. Join the debate online now.READ»

Job Hunting in Recessionary Times

Those who have been working in technology for a while remember the burst of the bubble of 2000 and the ensuing mass layoffs. In the 2001 recession, which was concentrated in the technology sector, women were more likely to have been ...READ»

Mergers and Trepidation?

Fancy this: Six months following Zwilling J.A. Henckels' acquisition of Tweezerman's, no employees have been laid off, no work has been outsourced, and no facilities have been moved. Among the keys: decentralized leadership combined ...READ»

Noel Brinkley

Noel Brinkley Company news: Troubled lender CIT (CIT, Fortune 500) launched a debt-exchange plan as part of its efforts to restructure and avoid bankruptcy. But the company said if the plan is not successful, it will likely file for Chapter 11 protection. A VAT is tax on consumption similar to a national sales tax. But it's not just paid at the cash register. It's levied at every stage of production. So all businesses involved in making a product or performing a service would pay a VAT. And then the end-user -- such as the retail customer -- ponies up as well. No one is suggesting raising taxes or creating new ones before the economy stabilizes. Noel BrinkleyREAD»

Senator Wants Microsoft Job Cuts to Target Foreigners

Microsoft's cost-cutting move of slashing 5,000 jobs has attracted the attention of Republican senator Charles Grassley from Iowa. He wrote to CEO Steve Ballmer about the job losses, specifically concerned that, "Microsoft will be ...READ»

Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

Corporate giants are struggling in a competitive world they don't understand.READ»

Flexible Downsizing--A Matter of Global Stability, Not Just an Interesting "Option"

When I started blogging about flexibility as an alternative to layoffs, my primary focus was to encourage companies to “consider” how reduced schedules, job sharing, shifting hours, sabbaticals/furloughs, and project-based ...READ»

Question of the Week

Should leaders feel guilty about layoffs? Tell the Corporate Shrink what you think.READ»

Job Loss and Health

I’ve been interested in the effects of stressful jobs on workers’ health, which I discussed in  150 Best Low-Stress Jobs, and I’ve also been interested in job security, which I wrote about in 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs ...READ»

Jobless Claims Rise to Record Levels, 20 Reasons to Promote Flexible Alternatives to Layoffs

Today, the Department of Labor reported that first time jobless claims not only rose faster than expected but they were 72% higher than this time last year and reached levels not seen since October, 1982.  With this news as a ...READ»