2009 Brings with It More Job Losses

Because of this recession, more companies such as Alcoa and Pfizer will be shedding off job opportunities. In New York, news about the job market is that the year is off to a terrible start thanks to companies that have been announcing astonishing job cut figures of around eighty thousand – which is simply the most painful symptoms that had signaled the still ongoing recession. Recently, Circuit City has been the next on the chopping block at the start of this year. The retailer who had gone bankrupt had announced last Friday that it will be shutting down due to worsening dried-up spending of consumers and had been busy liquidating all of their five hundred and sixty seven stores in the United States. With Circuit City’s announcement, expect that there will be around thirty thousand job losses for the people.

More Announcements of Job Losses

On that same Friday, the car rental company hertz had also said it will cutting down four thousand jobs during the first quarter of the year due to a decrease in the demand for their car services. Likewise, the Japanese automobile maker Honda Motor Corp or HMC also announced a three thousand one hundred cut in jobs. More news shows that WellPoint, a healthcare company, will be cutting down on jobs by one thousand and five hundred figures. More massive job cuts had come into play this week, which also includes the world-renowned electronics producer Motorola. This company had announced four thousand job cuts. The finance firm Barclays had reported cutting back on their employees by around two thousand and one hundred. Likewise, MeadWestvaco, a packaging company, will be scaling back to two thousand job cuts.

The Worst Was Not Left In the Year that Was

These announcements certainly signify dire times since they come straight from the heels of ever devastating news about the two point six million job losses in the United States last year, which makes it the worst economic year ever since 1945. Because of this, the unemployment rate of the country is at seven point two percent. In more recent news, the retail industry and manufacturing industry seem to be the hardest hit among all companies and industries. This year’s first round of job cuts had a pretty rocky start last January 5 especially since Cigna, a health benefits company, declared it would be cutting down one thousand and one hundred jobs. The successive day showed that the company Alcoa, an aluminum manufacturing outfit, will be cutting back a whopping thirteen thousand and five hundred jobs and that Logitech, a mouse making company, will be stripping off five hundred jobs off its workforce. Indeed, the year  truly is off to a bad start.