1/24: WSJ companies freezing hiring rather than layoff people

Companies are taking a cautious approach to adding jobs, and in some cases adopting hiring freezes, as they try to figure out how to deal with economic uncertainty without big layoffs.

But Department of Labor figures dating from November show the number of
workers affected by layoffs involving 50 or more employees is largely
unchanged.

1/23 (unrealted) Presque Isle Downs & Casino layoffs

Presque Isle Downs & Casino is feeling the financial pinch of a slow winter season — and now so are some of its employees.

About 200 employees, including 150 full-time workers, are getting fewer hours per week during what casino Chief Executive Richard Knight called a slow time for the industry. The casino employs about 800 people.

Layoffs on the Rise: What You Should Know

From Fox news. 

“Government jobs are pretty solid, as is the healthcare industry, but healthcare is always undergoing change,” he said. Regardless of the occupation you choose, Klingshirn said, “You don’t work for a company, you work for yourself. You ought to be asking yourself what you can do to tighten your belt strap and take responsibility for what is going on.”

When the worst does happen, many people file for unemployment until they can get back on their feet. Requirements vary from state to state, with some offering individuals the opportunity to file online, requiring proof of employment, and a government-issued ID.

In most states, an individual must prove they are unemployed (through no fault of their own) and actively seeking work. Wait time between applying for benefits and receiving the first check is typically three weeks, according to the Department of Labor.

In 2006, the average number of weeks unemployed individuals received unemployment was 16.8, ten weeks shy of the maximum 26 weeks someone can collect unemployment. The amount of unemployment received is typically 50% the amount earned while the individual was employed full time.

1/20: Unrelated Yahoo layoffs to affect 1500 – 2500 employees

Silicon Alley Insider reports Yahoo has created a list of 1500 – 2500 employees to be eliminated within 2 weeks.

The “list” is reportedly the product of a Q4 project in which all group heads were asked to look at redundancies and create their own lists of potential cuts. All the group-level lists have now been turned in to corporate.

The decision to go ahead with lay-off is said to be largely dependent on stock price: Yahoo’s stock trading in the low $20s has gotten Jerry’s and president Sue Decker’s attention. Jerry will feel vulnerable if the stock goes into the teens and will try whatever he can to prop it up. He’s not ready to give up the CEO job, sell-out, or shop the company around at this point.

1/18 BusinesWeek Magazine expected to layoff several

More bad news for McGraw-Hill (MHP): BusinessWeek‘s advertising revenue plummeted 16% in Q4, according to Publishers Information. This drop was even worse than BusinessWeek’s ad revenue for the full-year 2007, which fell 12%. Shockingly, it is even worse than the obliterated newspaper industry, whose ad revenue “only” fell about 10% for the year.

BusinessWeek can’t just blame the “business magazine” industry in general. According to PIB, the Economist’s revenue jumped 28% in Q4. Fortune dropped 8%, but Forbes rose 5% and Money was flat. BusinessWeek‘s problems, in other words, seem largely specific to BusinessWeek.

1/16 Unrelated: San Diego Union-Tribune’ Announces 27 Layoffs

Just a month after cutting 76 jobs through a buyout offer, San Diego Union-Tribune is eliminating 27 more positions through layoffs and plans to cut another 18 advertising jobs later this year through an outsourcing arrangement. Those follow 14 pressman jobs that were lost last week.

1/12: Unrelated Chicago Times to layoff 30

The Chicago Sun-Times started layoffs, axing non-union editorial employees Thursday. These first cuts were hardly the deepest — five ousters, coupled with two resignations, from management and the paper’s editorial board — merely a warm-up for lopping off more than 30 union positions in the coming weeks. -Chicago Tribune

1/11 Post Tribune to layoff 20

As many as 20 employees of The Post-Tribune are expected to lose their jobs as part of a Sun-Times Media Group belt-tightening, sources said Friday.

1/10 Unrelated: EMI and Warner Bros. to layoff 1000′s

EMI laysoff 2000.

Warner to layoff 1000.

The letter did not specify how many employees could be laid off, but a source said that 1,000 of the studio’s 5,000 employees had received the layoff notice. Recipients were primarily maintenance workers who help operate studio facilities.

KQED on recession 2008

The show looks at the potential for a U.S. recession and the options being discussed to address it.
Host: Dave Iverson
Guests:

Brad DeLong, professor of economics at UC Berkeley

Mike Mandel, chief economist for BusinessWeek

William Beach, senior economist and director at the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation

1/9: Unrelated Seattle Times

The Seattle Times Co. is eliminating 86 jobs, most through attrition but 17 through layoffs, in a plan to cut costs by US$21 million, company officials confirmed.

12/20: Labor Market Weakning: Marketwatch

It’s an article of faith among the economic optimists that a recession is impossible as long as people have jobs to fuel their spending.

They point to the very low unemployment rate of 4.7% and to steady growth in incomes. The feeling is that the economy’s problems really are contained to the housing market and to the Wall Street firms that bet the ranch on housing. Main Street is fine, they say.

But there are worrisome trends. The labor market is weakening. Firms are still hiring, but at a slower pace. And layoffs are beginning to mount. If the job market gets much worse, a recession is inevitable, because layoffs in one firm often lead to layoffs in another, and that leads to a pullback in both consumer and business spending.