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Holiday job cuts mount
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December 13, 2001: 2:18 p.m. ET
Over 22,000 cuts announced this week show holiday layoffs no longer taboo.
By Staff Writer Chris Isidore
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Qwest cuts jobs, guidance, spending - Dec. 13, 2001
Aetna slashing 6,000 jobs - Dec. 13, 2001
Boeing to continue 717, cut jobs - Dec. 13, 2001
Amex slashes jobs - Dec. 12, 2001
Applied Materials to cut 1,700 more - Dec. 12, 2001
Job cut toll continues to rise - Dec. 5, 2001
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A rash of new layoff announcements this week shows there's little sign of a pickup in the nation's declining employment market, and little break from job cuts for the holiday season.
"This is just one more indication that the taboo against laying people off between Thanksgiving and New Year is long gone," said John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas, citing more than 22,000 job cut announcements in just over 24 hours. "It's an extraordinary set of cuts in the last day or two."
Thursday brought announcement from Denver-based Qwest Communications International that it will cut 7,000 jobs, or about 11 percent of its staff, as it lowered its earnings and revenue guidance and said it will cut more than $1 billion from capital spending plans next year.
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Boeing is cutting up to 1,500 jobs at its Philadelphia plant that makes helicopters and the Osprey aircraft, shown under construction here. | |
Also Thursday, health insurer Aetna Inc. (AET: down $0.04 to $31.00, Research, Estimates) said it will cut 6,000 positions, or about 16 percent of its work force, with 4,400 of the cuts coming through layoffs and the rest through attrition.
Aircraft maker Boeing Co. (BA: up $0.31 to $37.11, Research, Estimates) gave some employees good news Thursday when it said two plants it had been considering closing will remain open. But a slowdown in production at one of those facilities will lead to 1,000 to 1,500 job cuts above the 20,000 to 30,000 already announced by the company.
The cuts come on the heels of Wednesday's disclosure by financial services provider American Express Co. (AXP: down $0.54 to $32.88, Research, Estimates) that it will cut 6,500 jobs in its travel unit due to a drop in business and leisure travel in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. And Applied Materials Inc. said it will cut 10 percent of its positions, or about 1,700 jobs, as the maker of equipment used to manufacture computer chips cited a continued downturn in that industry.
Click here for a CNN/Money special report: Pink slip blues
Challenger said the cuts are even worse than they appear at first blush for an already battered retail sector because many of those losing their jobs have not been identified.
"It leverages up to way more than 20,000 because a lot of people don't know if they'll be the one," he said. "Because of that, tens of thousands more will smartly cut back on spending."
The American Express cuts are just the latest example of layoffs tied to the attack. The Challenger survey found that layoff announcements from Sept. 11 to the end of November almost topped the total for 2000. But he said he believes December still will come in slightly below the 181,412 job cuts his survey found for November, even with this week's announcements.
"There aren't as many layoffs announced in the week between Christmas and New Year's - it's the only period left where layoffs are rare," he said. "That equates to fewer days in the month. But that means January is one of the busiest months of year for layoffs because there are some deferred into January." 
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Qwest cuts jobs, guidance, spending - Dec. 13, 2001
Aetna slashing 6,000 jobs - Dec. 13, 2001
Boeing to continue 717, cut jobs - Dec. 13, 2001
Amex slashes jobs - Dec. 12, 2001
Applied Materials to cut 1,700 more - Dec. 12, 2001
Job cut toll continues to rise - Dec. 5, 2001
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