(FORTUNE Magazine) – As the leaders of America's corporations closed the books on 1995, they could look back on a gratifying year. Their stocks boomed, with market indexes setting record after record. Income statements bloomed with rosy-cheeked health.

Companies, the majority leader of the U.S. Senate groused, coupled those record profits with record layoffs. The GOP's standard-bearer presumptive was only half right. Profits in 1995, adjusted for inflation, look likely to set records. Layoff estimates vary wildly--from just over 400,000 to just over three million--but all seem to agree that the 1995 figure is the lowest in several years, which is not surprising after four straight years of economic growth. As for monster layoffs: Workplace America, a newsletter published by Hunt-Scanlon Publications in Connecticut, tallied the year's 50 biggest job-reduction announcements and came up with a sum of about 375,000, the lowest since the newsletter began keeping its list in 1992. Some of these people took buyouts or left via attrition; some worked for a business unit spun off from the mother ship but may have kept their jobs; some are non-U.S. employees; some may not actually lose their jobs for months.

Be that as it may, a lot of companies had a hell of a year, and a lot of their employees a hellish one. What were their leaders thinking?

Here's what those leaders said as they opened the books last year. Quoted below, except as noted, are the chairman's letters of the 1994 annual reports of companies that made Workplace America's list of the 50 biggest job-reduction announcements.

A few of the CEOs sounded repentant. Kent Kresa of Northrup Grumman described the 5,400 cuts in his "talented work force" as being "our toughest decisions"--caused by defense cutbacks and consolidation after Northrup bought Grumman--and spoke of "the burdens placed upon affected employees and their families." Daniel Miglio of Southern New England Telecommunications (2,500 cuts) lamented "painful but necessary" job loss. Brown Group's B.A. Bridgewater Jr. apologized for the "considerable human cost" of 2,400 layoffs, adding, curiously, "The footwear business is highly 'management intensive,'" especially, perhaps, when people get the boot.

Others talked about cuts as if they were desirable. Robert Erburu of Times Mirror (3,000 cuts) called staff reductions one of several "operating improvements"; Times Mirror has improved its newspaper staff more than 20% since 1990. They are a worthy goal at CNA Insurance too, where Dennis Chookaszian said, "The combination of reengineering and professional automation has enabled CNA to reduce staff substantially"; another 3,000 people were axed in 1995. "To position our employees to serve customers more effectively," as CEO John Clendinin said, BellSouth announced that 11,300 would take positions off his payroll.

Most of the CEOs were simply oblivious. Below is what they said about their workers as 1995 began.

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