Layoffs, Layoffs And More Layoffs

(Originally posted Jan 28, 2009)

(Following my previous post on companies announcing layoffs)

The layoff announcements keep coming, and will probably keep coming over the next 6 months.  Some notable ones:

I had already chronicled how Caterpillar was cutting pay to manage costs.  Well, turns out they should have waited a bit... the cost cutting continues, with another 5,000 layoffs announced (in addition to 2,500 full-time and 8,000 contract employees having already been asked to leave).

UAL, United Airlines' parent, is laying off 1,000 people - it had recently (Q4 of 2008) laid off 1,500. 

Sprint Nextel is cutting 8,000 jobs.  Ouch!  I blame their tv ads (I hate the Sprint, and the Verizon ads).

Tens Of Thousands Laid Off On Jan 26th

(Originally posted Jan 26, 2009)

Jan 26, India's Republic Day (get out, you Brits!), turned out to be a painful day in the US. 70,000 employees are going to be laid off as a result of Monday's announcements.  Among those making the rounds:

General Motors is cutting 2,000 jobs in Michigan and Ohio plants

Home Depot is laying off 7,000 people, and closing its Expo chain and some other smaller locations. 

Texas Instruments is laying off 12% of its employees - 3,400 people.  Demand for their chips has softened, given that virtually every downstream sector that is a customer (including cell phones) is experiencing soft demand, and high inventory.

Blue Screen Of Death - Microsoft Layoffs

(Originally posted Jan 23, 2009)

Microsoft profit dropped 11% - thats quite huge.  And finally, the long-rumored layoffs are coming.  5,000 people in the next few months.  (1,400 have already been asked to leave) 

It isn't a huge number for a company of Microsoft's size (about 5%), but it is a little unprecedented.  This is the software behemoth's first-ever layoff (at least as far as I know.  I'm not counting layoffs from acquired companies, of course.

Microsoft has a process where under-performers are constantly weeded out, a la Intel.  This will probably continue, and might even get increased - so who knows the true employee turnover to come?

And another (not unexpected) wrinkle - Microsoft is still hiring.  I have a (really smart!) friend who has just joined their Search team.  This makes sense, of course, but doesn't make it easier for those laid off to swallow.

Not Even One Laptop Per Child

(Originally posted Jan 9, 2003)

OLPC, or One Laptop Per Child, has laid off half its workforce (~32 people).  The remaining employees will also probably get pay cuts.

Ouch

Layoffs And More At Alcoa

The economic downturn, including the Automotive companies' woes, are seriously hurting basic commodities.  Aluminium producer Alcoa is going through some pain, including:

• Laying off 13.5K - 15K employees (13 - 15%).  Also freezing salaries, and new hires, and eliminating contract positions 
• 50% reduction in capital expenditures in 2009
• Cutting 750K tonnes/year of output (18%)
• Selling four business units

Hopefully these measures keep the rest of their employees safe in 2009.

All Worn Out - Sneakerplay Shuts Down

Sneakerplay was a perfect example of a niche social network - it catered to people like Entourage's Turtle, who are obsessed over sneakers. 

Huh?

And to think it was only one among a number of similar plays. 

Sneakerplay is shutting down now.  Its time for most of the other niche networks to fall soon.

Mahalo, all 13 of you

Smart boy Jason Calacanis has laid off 13 people from his team.  Mahalo, of course, is the Organized Wisdom for everything (or is Organized Wizdom the Mahalo for Health?). 

Put more flowers on the site.  Perhaps that will make your inadequately paid wiki-editors feel better.

Here is a Mahalo page for Kosmix, which demonstrates their major flaw - the page hasn't been updated since 2007, and for a topic page on a fast moving startup like Kosmix, that means it is quite out of date.

About.com Advertisements Begging for your Advertisements

Take a look at the About.com ad above.  The ad is asking other people to advertise on About.com.  Hmmm.... I guess it makes sense.... sort of?  Anyway, I would love to know what their ROI is.

Perhaps they should spend the money instead on getting the word out to advertising agencies and potential medium-to-large advertisers.  The ad I saw above was on a blog with a nice following, but not the clientele that (I assume) would immediately jump and throw ad money at About.com.

Legally Laid Off - HellerEhrman Shutting Down?

About a week earlier, Silicon Valley-based law firm HellerEhrman had started shutting down, laying off everyone.   Given that HellerEhrman had grown to quite a position of strength over the 2001 - 2007 period, this is a bit hard. 

Their website now seems to reflect that they've completely exited.  The screenshot below is all you will see if you go to http://www.hellerehrman.com/en/.  

The Placement Opportunities link takes you to a page with a list of firms hiring, as well as placement firms.

Poignantly funny - check out the Disclaimer they have on the Placement Opportunities page.  Yes, this used to be a law firm.

 

Bringing Down the House - Zillow Layoffs

Turns out Zillow isn't just reporting a lower value for my house (each time I check, damn it!).  Almost 40 of Zillow's 150 employees are being laid off. 

This is another Seattle based real-estate startup going through some economy-related pains.   As usual, CEO Rich Barton's layoff memo talks about how business is great... but layoffs are needed.

As I keep saying, I think this is good for Zillow.  Bad for the employees, but good for Zillow, and of course those same employees' stock options, in the long term.  (one hopes, anyway - none of the startups I worked at during the dot com bust managed to give me a single dollar back on my stock options).

Signs of a Downturn - Yahoo cutting 3.5K Jobs

Per a Valleywag tipster, Yahoo is about to cut 3.5K jobs in early December.  The job cuts have long been rumored, but the number sounds higher than earlier guesses. 

What seems a bad move - the layoffs are going to be announced within a week of an over-the-top holiday party.  And, of course, there are rumors that the severance packages will be pathetic.

Not I'm normally ok with holiday parties - layoffs are exactly when you need to put something else up to boost up the morale of remaining employees.  LifeScan, a Johnson & Johnson company, did this while I was there, after their first layoff in almost a decade.  But the timing isn't good.   And, of course, if severance packages are bad, this reflects poorly indeed on the judgement of the executive team.

Most of the layoffs are rumored to be in Finance and Sales/ GA.

Yahooooooooo

Sequoia's Scare-Tactics - Ladder 49

Here is slide 49 from Sequoia's shock and awe presentation

The synthesized message - tighten your belts now. Lay workers off now.  This might help you survive the nuclear winter starting up.

This does make sense.  I've been through the dot-com blow-up, and the macro-economic indicators were never as bad as they are now.   Back then, 9 of the 10 people in my close personal group were laid off.  But Iceland wasn't going bankrupt!  So yes, if you want to survive, learn from the lessons of those who have gone before you, like PlumTree and Google.  Don't become the next Pets.com.

On a personal note, this is very sad for the people who are getting laid off.  My small consolation to them - they'll come out stronger, maturer, better rounded, and with better jobs on the other side.  Its not easy to understand right now, but I'm saying this from personal experience.