Holiday job cuts gain momentum

[villager]

(UPI) -- Holiday-season job cuts are mounting in the United States, with thousands announced just since Thanksgiving, a private consultant said Wednesday.

Among the biggest reductions are 2,200 by Pfizer, 7,000 from the closure of 20 hospitals in New York and the 38,000 Ford employees who accepted buyouts and will begin leaving the company in January, accelerating a six-year plan to eliminate 25,000 to 30,000 jobs, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a news release.

'Some might think that jobs are more secure this time of year, assuming that employers with the holiday spirit will postpone job cuts. Unfortunately, these numbers indicate that job security is by no means assured this year,' said John A. Challenger, chief executive of the company, a global outplacement consulting firm that tracks job-cut announcements daily.

<snip>


http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1227712.php/Holiday_job_cuts_gain_momentum

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. My husband tells me of a time when he was young

and was working building fiberglass boats in Louisville KY. He'd always heard how the owner gave out generous bonus checks with the Christmas cards, and looked forward to getting his. All his card contained was his pink slip-terminated that day. This was the 70s, so firing people during the holidays is nothing new.

[KayLaw]

2. OMG.

Poor guy. That is truly harsh.

[wicket]

4. That's horrible

Scrooge is alive and well.

:hug:

[villager]

5. There've always been Scrooges -- I was fired by a publisher

right after Thanksgiving one, ah, memorable year. But the queston is: Are there more Scrooges around now than usual?

[nashville_brook]

8. i was shitcanned on my birthday one year

capitalism is a bitch.

[Fierce]

10. Are we twins?

Because that happened to me too. Only I was laid off, not fired. And me having just gotten a raise the week before.

[underpants]

26. In France the unemployed and prisoners go on strike for Christmas bonuses

I heard David Sedaris tell the story on this on Letterman and I checked with the woman who used to cut my hair...yep it's true. As long as the unemployed stage a march (usually in Paris) they get a bonus. Non violent prisoners go home on weekends but they strike once a year-don't do road trash pickup and such- and they get a bonus too.

[anotherdrew]

3. "closure of 20 hospitals in New York" huh? why in hell would this be happening? n/t

[nashville_brook]

9. wow -- jinx

:)

[Tight_rope]

25. Maybe people are using less crack...after all who can afford it!

:shrug: I was always amazed at people who had $100+ daily habits. Hell I couldn't and still can't afford to take a Tylenol everyday...let alone smoke $100+ worth of crack.:smoke:

[nashville_brook]

6. wonder why 20 hospitals are closing in NY and why that would impact Pfizer

to the tune of 2,200 workers... hospital mergers? are these research hospitals? i know, stop wondering and start googling... :)

love that the consultancy's name is Challenger, Gray and Christmas... and in
"have a Challenging, Gray Christmas..."

[melm00se]

18. it all depends upon

if they mean NYC or upstate NY.

I just read a report from the WNY regional advisory Committee to the Health Care commission (there's a mouthful) that indicated that there is "considerable excess capacity" in urban and rural acute care facilities and long term care facilities. those that exist is old and deteriorating.

if there are more beds than what are currently needed, it makes no sense to spend any of the finite heclthcare dollars to keep open and active something that is not currently (or in the short/mid term) is use.

take that money that was used for keeping unneeded beds and facilities open and put it to better use.

[wicket]

7. 2 Christmases ago I found out I was losing my job

The company I had worked for for 5 years was going under, it was a pretty shitty Christmas "present". My heart goes out to all of these people :cry:

[nashville_brook]

11. here's a NY Times article on the hosptial closings

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/nyregion/29hosp.html?ex=1322456400&en=7c08722a4489a517&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


A long-awaited plan to shrink New York State’s hospital industry landed yesterday with force, with proposals that could effectively eliminate 20 or more hospitals and thousands of jobs, and make dozens of other hospitals shrink, merge or take on new roles.

The recommendations by the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century go far beyond the nine hospital closings and downsizings that state officials reported late Monday, after being briefed by the commission. Several other hospitals would cease to exist through mergers or conversion to new uses, and more could be eliminated if they refuse to merge.

In addition, the commission reached deep into the particular operations of many individual institutions, ordering them to eliminate specific numbers of beds, telling some to eliminate psychiatric, substance abuse or maternity wards, and in some cases directing others to take on those functions.

The changes would mark an epochal shift in an industry that, person for person, is much bigger in New York than in other states, and traditionally has fiercely resisted shrinkage. But hospitals are also in worse financial shape in New York than in any other state, having lost money for eight consecutive years.

[nashville_brook]

12. fuck people -- this is a $720 million WINDFALL for existing PRIVATE hospitals.

farther down the article...

"the plan would increase revenue at the surviving institutions by $720 million a year. It also predicted that increased efficiency — in particular, in the form of shorter hospital stays — would save insurers, including Medicaid and Medicare, $800 million a year."

someone please tell me how CLOSING HOSPITALS reduces stays, if not by making healthcare unavailable.

[villager]

13. Hospitals? Are for "people?" What country are you living in?

Oh, rhetorical question, never mind...

[nashville_brook]

14. teehee... thanks for the reality check...

:evilgrin:

but seriously... community hospitals are "the people's" hospitals if ever there were such a thing. the article claims that the closings are happening mostly in "middle-class" neighborhoods, so not to worry. the middle class can (i guess) afford to go to a "branded" private hospital with Starbucks and a Gap gift shop.

[Tight_rope]

27. Key word - "Middle-Class"..it answers itself...there's is no more middle class

The US has 2 social classes. The rich and the broke-asses.:kick:

[CAcyclist]

16. Well, not exactly a windfall

Increase in revenue doesn't equal profit.

[melm00se]

20. the increase in revenues

won't really mean lining a for profit corporation's pockets.

all hospitals in NYS are non-profits (for profit hosptials were "outlawed" back in the 40's according to my father the doctor).

if this nets a savings of $720 million a year that is money that can used for taking care of people rather than keeping open something that is under (or not) utilized.

it makes sense...doesn't make it any easier for those laid off.

[anotherdrew]

28. meanwhile public health prof and the preparedness crowed are ignored

a real pandemic there will be no where to house all the sick, this just makes it worse.

and of course all those jobs can just go to hell, who cares if those people find new jobs or not?

the rich have declared open warfare on everyone else, wakeup and fight before it's too late.

[nashville_brook]

29. it's class warfare... always has been...

this is a story to follow. the articles came out jsut today, so the reaction is going to be in the weeks to come. Bloomberg and Pataki are not a duo to keep the public's interest in mind.

[anotherdrew]

30. at the least the closed buildings should be kept in a state of semi-readiness

but watch, some will be torn down, the rest left to rot.

[ClintonTyree]

15. I worked at Eastman Kodak Company for 29 years.......

and it was always around holiday time that they canned people. In the early 80's there were 60,000+ employees in the Rochester, NY area alone. Now they're down to about 12,000 and they're STILL cutting.
Every year they gave people the bad news a few weeks before christmas. Happy Holidays from Eastman Kodak! :grr:
I'm so glad I got out of that cracker factory under terms that were beneficial to me. I knew so many people in their early to late 50's that were forced to find other jobs. There's not a huge job market for older workers and NONE that paid the kind of money they made at Kodak. Welcome to the new world order. :mad:

[nashville_brook]

17. hey! i come from an Eastman family too -- Kingsport

same deal, btw. Kingsport is a ghost town now. my uncle (and guardian) took early retirement at 55 which was wonderful, but they got soaked on trying to sell their house because of the rapid exodous. then, he lost another giant load of security when the stock tumbled... and you know... he HAD to take the eastman stock as it was part of his leadership position.

on and on.

[acmejack]

19. That's the deal.

"So many people in their early to late 50's that were forced to find other jobs. There's not a huge job market for older workers and NONE that paid the kind of money they made..."

We're the one's getting killed in this thing.

[LosinIt]

23. Clinton, my man, another Kodak alumna here!

As soon as I saw that the title of this post I thought of Mother Kodak. Poor George would be mortified if he knew what had become of his beloved company. He is probably spinning in his vault. I remember that the RIFs (reduction in force, nice way of putting it) were always announced right around Thanksgiving.

I got out of my own choosing, but in retrospect probably should have waited around to be canned. I would have gotten a year's pay, I had been there over 25 years when I left. The severance package was 2 weeks pay for every year of service.

[Le Taz Hot]

21. Glad to see I'm following the trend

I put in my 6-week notice yesterday (to ensure they had enough time to hire someone and for me to train). Today I was told my services were no longer needed and to leave the premises immediately. Don't ya just LOVE corporate America?

Happy Holidays!

[phusion]

22. About 1200 laid off here in Albuquerque...

at the AOL call center.

I'm sure there are more that I'm not aware of.

[tanyev]

24. As long as they tell them "Merry Christmas" instead of

"Happy Holidays" when they fire them.

[JudyM]

31. The only good news is that a lot of the job cuts here in DC are aimed at Rethuglicans.

If you listen carefully you can almost hear them whimpering as they leave.

:spank:

[villager]

33. I guess a lot of Rethugs *were* pink-slipped in early November!

But they're still on the job, dammit! ;-)

[JudyM]

34. Won't be much longer, now. WooHoo!

[nashville_brook]

42. and that's terrific news for the rest of us!

everything was going to smoothly until they came along.

i had a professor once who blew my mind explaining the Reagan Revolution and the Laffer Curve. I had been wrapped-up in "the mystery" of where all the (trickle down) wealth went during those years and he said, "THEY STOLE IT." then proceeded to draw it out on a small piece of paper... "see all these tax cuts for the rich?"

"yeah, that's the part I don't understand. where'd all the money go?"

"into their pockets. you're having trouble finding it b/c it's all been spent on mansions, second/third/forth homes in Aspen/Ft Lauderdale/Jackson Hole. meanwhile the economy has shrunk b/c the masses can't afford the basics to make ends meet."

i had no idea it could be that simple.

[Roland99]

32. 3,000 opted for the payout option at the Ford plants here.

Can't imagine where these people will find jobs anywhere near comparable to what they had there and I seriously doubt any of them are ready for retirement.

[villager]

35. good questions -- so they "cash out" -- now what?

It might make sense if they were in California and had houses they could sell. But what do they do for a next step?

[WCGreen]

36. I was let go after I worked myself almost to death for an incompetant

Republican...

I was in the hospital for over a month and he was going to cut off my health insurance....

POS...

[upi402]

37. THAT's bad!

I've been screwed by conservatives too, but not THAT bad.
Seems like the more you give, the more they expect -without end. Nothing is enough. Most workers couldn't care less about their company now. They slack at every opportunity, steal, give product away -just to F with the boss. At least at the low wage jobs I've seen.

[borlis]

38. My husband lost his job last Tuesday.

He was there 4 years. No severence. No nothing. I only work part time and the unemployment check he will get is $200 short of our mortgage payment. If he doesn't find something quickly, this is really going to be a really sucky Christmas for my kids. He had an interview today and has another one tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed that one of these two works out for us. The bad thing is that the one he has tomorrow he knows already will be a cut in pay of about 10-15K. I will probably have to go back to work full time much sooner than I expected. I want the 90's back when he was making about 25K more than he is now.

[nashville_brook]

41. i'm so sorry. i want the 90s back too! recession is the Republican state of nature

i entered the "workforce" right before the Clinton years. my "real-world" political mind was formed thru the 12 years of Reagan and Bush, so the 90s came as a total surprise. i had prepared myself for never being able to acheive middle class status -- but the digital revolution changed that.

and it amazes me no end how swiftly W dismantled that.

godspeed to you and your family. :hug:

[4_TN_TITANS]

39. Last day of work today....

at least I get severance through the holiday season and first of the year. My situation was more of a realignment than elimination of jobs. New owners want customer service handled at one location only.

[atfqn]

40. All of this reminds me of that saying.

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. It seems like a lot of my neighbors are starting to get pinched and I am just about to enter the workplace. Lame :(

[earth mom]

43. The class war continues and the middle class is again taking it in the gut.

This infuritates me and saddens me too, as this country was built on the backs of the working class and the middle class, yet they are the ones the corporate masters stick it to as fast as they can without any regrets. And still some people diss Unions. But where in the hell would those Ford employees be without their Union?! Probably kicked to the curb YEARS ago without a dime. :argh:

My sympathies to those workers and those on this thread who have lost their jobs this Holiday Season. :cry: