Job Cuts Top 100,000 in January - Report

Reuters ^ | Tuesday February 3, 2004

[Walkin Man]

Job Cuts Top 100,000 in January - Report Tuesday February 3, 12:50 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Planned job cuts in January were 26 percent higher than in December as U.S. jobs moved to countries like India, China and the Philippines, and as mergers made some jobs redundant, according to a report on Tuesday.

The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., said post-holiday job cuts reached 117,556 in January surpassing the 100,000 threshold for the first time since last October.

Financial markets were on their toes awaiting January's payrolls report to be issued by the Labor Department on Friday after a disappointing December report that showed an increase of only 1,000 jobs.

Analysts had expected 150,000 new jobs to show up in the data, and the worse-than-expected outcome showed that the U.S. economic recovery has yet to produce sustained jobs growth. Economists again expect a figure of 150,000 new jobs in January.

Poor job creation is a headache for President Bush as he seeks re-election in November. The economy -- specifically job creation -- is expected to be a key issue in the campaign. Since Bush took office, more than 2.3 million non-farm jobs have been lost.

According to Challenger, consumer product companies led the January cutbacks with 22,775 job cuts, the largest number of reported job cuts in that sector in a single month since 1993, according to Challenger.

Challenger said one of the main factors for the job cuts in January was an increase of employers eliminating jobs in the United States and shifting to service providers in India, China and the Philippines among other countries.

Another factor was an increase in mergers so far this year. The survey's head, John Challenger, noted in a statement that one of those mergers will result in "as many as 10,000 job cuts to take place as redundant positions are eliminated."

[RnMomof7]

I recently heard that now attorneys and para legals jobs are now being outsourced.

So it has now moved from manufacturing to High tech and then accounting and now law.

I can see the day when schools only have minimum wage aides to watch a class that is being taught by a computer or by a TV .

There is no job that is sacred

[1rudeboy]

. . . the major plan kicked around here is to increase tariffs and decrease internal taxes.

With the emphasis on increasing tariffs first, of course.

[clamper1797]

Who says I don't have to ... I have two unemployment INSURANCE checks left ... then what

[Alberta's Child]

Why don't you pack up and move to another state? It seems like every employer of note in California has already done that.

[clamper1797]

Alright ... just to be honest ... I am training for my real estate license ... so I may be able to support myself AND I did have a very good and promising interview at Sun
Microsystems last week. So there is some hope, I am speaking for the many many other engineers who may NOT be so fortunate.

[chimera]

Careful. You're opening yourself up for that other standard, patronizing, slap-in-the face FR response (start a business... and if you can't, it's your own fault).

[Dr. Frank fan]

I have two unemployment INSURANCE checks left ... then what

You tell me. Will you starve to death in two months' time? Or will something else happen? If so, what? Let me know.

[Dr. Frank fan]

I am training for my real estate license ... so I may be able to support myself AND I did have a very good and promising interview at Sun Microsystems last week. So there is some hope

Well, that's great. Like I said.

[azhenfud]

I'm really frightened to think finance, insurance, and other transactions with consumer sensitive information will soon be sent overseas. Bank acct#'s, SS#'s, addresses, phone#'s....

How then will one protect themself from identity theft when these countries have already demonstrated corruption?

[clamper1797]

You're opening yourself up for that other standard, patronizing, slap-in-the face FR free traitor response ...

yeah I know ... gee if I know starting ones own business was so ease ... and so sure a bet ... with such immediate results I would have skipped those 12 years in college and started my own multi-million dollar business. What was I thinking

[chimera]

I am speaking for the many many other engineers who may NOT be so fortunate.

It doesn't bode well for the nation as a technological, industrial, and military power if all the engineers (people who actually know how to make real things) are forced, by economic necessity, to become property managers and salesmen.

[bvw]

Well, gee, they were bad jobs. Makers of evil "high-carb" foods. At least so some would have around here.

[righto]

These are jobs that are more cheapluy done overseas nonetheless. The real issue is to have these overseasa markets opened up for our export market.
Again, what is the solution other than to attempt to do what France and Germany have tried? That is regulate jobs so that they don't leave. Their unemployment rate is around 10% as opposed to our 5.7%.

[Marianne]

. . . it creates overseas consumers for our products.
Since just about every item for sale in the USA is produced elsewhere, please tell what products our overseas consumers are buying from us?

[1rudeboy]

Oh please. Are you honestly suggesting that you cannot find out for yourself?

[Paul C. Jesup]

Right now import tariffs would be a bad idea. All they would do would be to jack up the cost of living in this country by a few thousand dollars a years, putting more strain on our already weakened population.

A better idea would be to reduce taxation, regulation and paper work.

[clamper1797]

Understand ... if I get that job at Sun ... I'll be one of the lucky ones. for each newly hired engineer there are literally dozens who are not hired ... just for THAT job. THIS engineer was on the design team for the Galileo space project. THIS engineer was on the design team for most of the computers that were in the military aircraft that flew in both Iraq wars. THIS engineer spent 20 years designing the very weapon systems that kept this country free. Do YOU really want engineers like me selling real estate loans ... who then is going to design the next generation systems ... some guy in India ... you. This offshoring trend has the capability of biting us ... the citizens of America ... right in the butt ... big time ... think about it.

[RaceBannon]

These are jobs that are more cheaply done overseas nonetheless.

You just proved you JUST DONT GET IT!!!

Those are the JOBS Americans DO THE BEST AT!! Those are the jobs that Americans put their kids through school through, the jobs we pay mortgages with, the jobs that we buy cars with, our groceries!!

Those are the jobs that we made decent money with to provide for our families!!

And people like you want them sent away to provide for the stockholder?? To make cheaper goods overseas so people WHO HAVE NO JOBS can buy those items??

You are totally out of touch on this issue. You cant be serious.

Actually, it shows your posts should not be taken serious. If you don't understand what you just said...Good Grief!

Yeah, we should allow those jobs to disappear so we can flip burgers for less than 50% of what we made in manufacturing....that will pay the mortgage, the car loan, the tuition, the health care, the gas for the car, kids clothes...

You free traitors are amazing.

[kittymyrib]

You know it...that's an average of 20 new jobs per state in Dec. I certainly would not want that on my watch if I were running for re-election in November, and that includes our clueless, worthless Republicans in Congress and especially the Senate. We could not only lose the presidency, but control of Congress as well if things don't turn around in a hurry. For every taxpaying job lost to outsourcing, the company should have to make up that tax revenue to the US Treasury so the few of us who will still be employed won't have to have our taxes raised to pay for all the new proposed spending with millions fewer taxpayers.

[clamper1797]

You free traitors are amazing

"Amazing" is not the word I would use