Britain's official unemployment rate hit the highest level for about 10 years on Wednesday, as experts warned more job cuts would come as the recession deepens.
Although the figures were not so bad as some experts had expected, falling short of the symbolic two million barrier, analysts warned that the figure could hit 3.5 million by the end of next year as the effects of the slowdown filter through.
Protests fuelled by the rising threat of unemployment -- underlined by almost daily job cut announcements -- have snowballed in recent weeks, including a new power plant walkout on Wednesday following wildcat strikes last week.
The percentage of Britons out of work jumped to 1.97 million or 6.3 percent in the three months to December, a rise of 0.2 percent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
"For every person who is made unemployed, there is a sadness and sorrow and we will do what we can to help people back to work as quickly as possible," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said after the figures came out.
His official spokesman told reporters: "Every job loss is obviously a matter of regret and disappointment."
Brown met 22 business leaders from some of Britain's biggest companies like supermarket chain Tesco and energy firm Centrica at his Downing Street office Wednesday to discuss getting more people into work.
But some observers warned the picture on unemployment looked set to get worse.
The general secretary of the TUC (Trades Union Congress) Brendan Barber said the situation was a "national emergency", adding: "This is another set of dreadful figures and we fear worse is still to come."
Vicky Redwood, an analyst from research consultancy Capital Economics, said the figures did not fully reflect the effects of a major contraction in the fourth quarter of 2008.
"We still think unemployment will reach 3.5 million by the end of 2010," she added.
Unemployment in Britain is lower than in some other European countries -- Germany, Europe's largest economy, has 8.3 percent unemployment and the figure in France stands at around eight percent.
But the global downturn looks set to hit Britain harder than its European neighbours -- the International Monetary Foundation (IMF) said last month that it would suffer worse than any other developed country.
Official figures last month confirmed that Britain was now in recession, while Brown last week used the word "depression" to describe the situation.
Education Secretary Ed Balls, Brown's former economic advisor and one of his closest allies, said this week Britain was facing the worst recession for 100 years.
New job cuts have hit the headlines almost daily in recent weeks -- carmakers like Bentley, Nissan and Jaguar have announced major cuts along with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is now majority state-owned.
Workers at London Underground were due to stage a demonstration Wednesday against what unions say are plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs on top of 1,000 already announced.
Meanwhile, hundreds of construction staff at the Staythorpe power station in central England walked out Wednesday after being told they faced disciplinary action if they joined a protest over the use of foreign contractors.
Last week, thousands of workers around Britain joined wildcat strikes on the issue.
Wednesday's unemployment figures were calculated using the International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure of unemployment.
Agencies
Showing posts with label job cuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job cuts. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
'Bloody Monday' sees over 50,000 job cuts
Tens of thousands of job losses were announced in the US on Monday. American economists say they expect the recession to worsen this year.
US heavy vehicles maker Caterpillar said it would cut over 20,000 jobs to deal with the challenging global business environment.
The company had earlier announced axing 15,000 workers in 2008. The people who will lose their jobs amount to about 18 per cent of the company's total workforce. Caterpillar currently employs about 1,13,000 workers.
Last week, Microsoft said it would cut 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months.
Research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company Pfizer/Wyeth has announced a layoff of 20,000 workers while Texas Instruments will axe 3,400 employees.
In Europe too, more than 10,000 job cuts have been announced.
Financial firm ING has announced that 7,000 employees will be sacked.
Other companies that have recently announced job cuts include electronic giant Philips which will axe 6,000 workers and UK's steel manufacturer Corus which will layoff 3,500 among others.
Hoping to deal with the financial crisis soon, US President Barack Obama is lobbying for a quick Congressional passage of his $825 billion stimulus package.
US heavy vehicles maker Caterpillar said it would cut over 20,000 jobs to deal with the challenging global business environment.
The company had earlier announced axing 15,000 workers in 2008. The people who will lose their jobs amount to about 18 per cent of the company's total workforce. Caterpillar currently employs about 1,13,000 workers.
Last week, Microsoft said it would cut 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months.
Research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company Pfizer/Wyeth has announced a layoff of 20,000 workers while Texas Instruments will axe 3,400 employees.
In Europe too, more than 10,000 job cuts have been announced.
Financial firm ING has announced that 7,000 employees will be sacked.
Other companies that have recently announced job cuts include electronic giant Philips which will axe 6,000 workers and UK's steel manufacturer Corus which will layoff 3,500 among others.
Hoping to deal with the financial crisis soon, US President Barack Obama is lobbying for a quick Congressional passage of his $825 billion stimulus package.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Is Microsoft planning massive job cuts in 2009?
Microsoft Corp is considering significant layoffs across its various divisions, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the company's plans.
But plans for the cutbacks have not yet been firmed up and Microsoft could end up finding alternative methods to control costs, the Journal reported on its website.
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on layoff rumours. The number of potential job cuts is likely to be far less than the 15,000 positions that have been rumoured in recent weeks, the Journal reported.
Microsoft might announce the job cuts when it reports quarterly earnings next week, the Journal said.
The software giant employs about 91,000 employees globally.
Agencies
But plans for the cutbacks have not yet been firmed up and Microsoft could end up finding alternative methods to control costs, the Journal reported on its website.
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on layoff rumours. The number of potential job cuts is likely to be far less than the 15,000 positions that have been rumoured in recent weeks, the Journal reported.
Microsoft might announce the job cuts when it reports quarterly earnings next week, the Journal said.
The software giant employs about 91,000 employees globally.
Agencies
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Is Microsoft planning massive job cuts?
Microsoft Corp is considering significant layoffs across its various divisions, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the company's plans.
But plans for the cutbacks have not yet been firmed up and Microsoft could end up finding alternative methods to control costs, the Journal reported on its website.
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on layoff rumours. The number of potential job cuts is likely to be far less than the 15,000 positions that have been rumoured in recent weeks, the Journal reported.
Microsoft might announce the job cuts when it reports quarterly earnings next week, the Journal said.
The software giant employs about 91,000 employees globally.
Agencies
But plans for the cutbacks have not yet been firmed up and Microsoft could end up finding alternative methods to control costs, the Journal reported on its website.
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on layoff rumours. The number of potential job cuts is likely to be far less than the 15,000 positions that have been rumoured in recent weeks, the Journal reported.
Microsoft might announce the job cuts when it reports quarterly earnings next week, the Journal said.
The software giant employs about 91,000 employees globally.
Agencies
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Intel assures employees: No more job cuts
Intel Corp said job cuts it made three years ago should help it ride out the economic slowdown, indicating that Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini won’t have to eliminate a significant number of workers.
“While we haven’t made specific projections on the size of the workforce, the restructuring we did in 2006 has put us in a good position to weather the current economic environment,” Intel spokesman Tom Beermann said today in an e-mailed statement.
Intel, the world’s top chipmaker, slashed jobs in 2006 and 2007 after losing market share to Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Those cuts helped set it apart from other technology companies, which are shedding workers now. Applied Materials Inc, National Semiconductor Corp and Sun Microsystems -- all based near Intel in Santa Clara, California -- have announced cutbacks.
“They are sufficiently profitable that even in a lousy economy they can hold on to people and sustain their new-market initiatives,” said David Wu, a San Francisco-based analyst for Global Crown Capital LLC. He has a neutral rating on the shares, which he doesn’t own. “The rich can afford to do things the poor cannot.”
Earlier this week, Intel said fourth-quarter sales dropped 23 percent, more than it projected, as the global recession stifled demand for personal computers. The company plans to give its full earnings report on Jan. 15.
Intel’s headcount
Intel had 83,500 employees at the end of the third quarter, down about 20,000 from its peak in 2006. When Otellini made those cuts, he said the company was too large for its revenue opportunities. That reduction helped profit rebound 38 percent in 2007, after a 42 percent decline in 2006.
The company will report a profit of $999.5 million for last quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. That would be the first quarterly net income below $1 billion since 2003.
Intel fell 40 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $14.15 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares lost 45 percent of their value last year.
Job cuts might have hindered Intel’s efforts to expand into new areas, Wu said. The company announced an agreement this week to get its chips into television equipment from Toshiba Corp and Samsung Electronics Co.
“They are pretty committed to going into new markets, and they don’t want to have to say, ‘Oops, a recession. Everything stop,’” Wu said. “That wastes a lot of money.”
Agencies
“While we haven’t made specific projections on the size of the workforce, the restructuring we did in 2006 has put us in a good position to weather the current economic environment,” Intel spokesman Tom Beermann said today in an e-mailed statement.
Intel, the world’s top chipmaker, slashed jobs in 2006 and 2007 after losing market share to Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Those cuts helped set it apart from other technology companies, which are shedding workers now. Applied Materials Inc, National Semiconductor Corp and Sun Microsystems -- all based near Intel in Santa Clara, California -- have announced cutbacks.
“They are sufficiently profitable that even in a lousy economy they can hold on to people and sustain their new-market initiatives,” said David Wu, a San Francisco-based analyst for Global Crown Capital LLC. He has a neutral rating on the shares, which he doesn’t own. “The rich can afford to do things the poor cannot.”
Earlier this week, Intel said fourth-quarter sales dropped 23 percent, more than it projected, as the global recession stifled demand for personal computers. The company plans to give its full earnings report on Jan. 15.
Intel’s headcount
Intel had 83,500 employees at the end of the third quarter, down about 20,000 from its peak in 2006. When Otellini made those cuts, he said the company was too large for its revenue opportunities. That reduction helped profit rebound 38 percent in 2007, after a 42 percent decline in 2006.
The company will report a profit of $999.5 million for last quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. That would be the first quarterly net income below $1 billion since 2003.
Intel fell 40 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $14.15 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares lost 45 percent of their value last year.
Job cuts might have hindered Intel’s efforts to expand into new areas, Wu said. The company announced an agreement this week to get its chips into television equipment from Toshiba Corp and Samsung Electronics Co.
“They are pretty committed to going into new markets, and they don’t want to have to say, ‘Oops, a recession. Everything stop,’” Wu said. “That wastes a lot of money.”
Agencies
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Dell likely to send more work to Asia
Since the beginning of the slowdown, IT firms have been maintaining that India will benefit if firms try to cut costs. Now, there is evidence that it actually may be happening.
In a conference call, Dell’s Asia-Pacific and Japan head Steve Felice said there is an opportunity to shift more work to Asia and Dell will do it. In its third-quarter results announced, the US-based PC manufacturer’s tight rein on costs helped it post better earnings despite a sales slump.
Dell has invested heavily in its India and China factories. From Bangalore, it has built systems management capability and software for enterprise activity. While in China, it does design work and R&D. In addition, in Malaysia’s Cyberjaya, it does software development. “Our intention is to grow these,” said Felice. Elsewhere, Dell has announced job cuts.
“We don’t just service Asia out of these locations. They have worked well globally to the extent that there are opportunities to shift more work to Asia arise, we will do it... We are happy with the performance of these facilities to serve global needs and will continue to invest them depending on market conditions,” Felice said.
However, he said the growth in Asia was not necessarily linked to the cost-cutting in the US and was in response to the growth in other parts of the world.
Felice said there was decline in overall IT spending in Asia-Pacific and Japan. Dell had weathered it and grown. Terming India’s growth as outstanding, he said the country had witnessed 77% growth in unit terms and 48% growth in revenues for Dell in the third quarter.
For China, growth was up 44% in unit terms and 18% in revenue terms. “We are extremely committed to India,” he added. The surge in growth has primarily come from consumers and the small.
Source: Times News Network
In a conference call, Dell’s Asia-Pacific and Japan head Steve Felice said there is an opportunity to shift more work to Asia and Dell will do it. In its third-quarter results announced, the US-based PC manufacturer’s tight rein on costs helped it post better earnings despite a sales slump.
Dell has invested heavily in its India and China factories. From Bangalore, it has built systems management capability and software for enterprise activity. While in China, it does design work and R&D. In addition, in Malaysia’s Cyberjaya, it does software development. “Our intention is to grow these,” said Felice. Elsewhere, Dell has announced job cuts.
“We don’t just service Asia out of these locations. They have worked well globally to the extent that there are opportunities to shift more work to Asia arise, we will do it... We are happy with the performance of these facilities to serve global needs and will continue to invest them depending on market conditions,” Felice said.
However, he said the growth in Asia was not necessarily linked to the cost-cutting in the US and was in response to the growth in other parts of the world.
Felice said there was decline in overall IT spending in Asia-Pacific and Japan. Dell had weathered it and grown. Terming India’s growth as outstanding, he said the country had witnessed 77% growth in unit terms and 48% growth in revenues for Dell in the third quarter.
For China, growth was up 44% in unit terms and 18% in revenue terms. “We are extremely committed to India,” he added. The surge in growth has primarily come from consumers and the small.
Source: Times News Network
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