Fidelity Investments plans to lay off 250 employees, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics is expected to lay off about 650 engineers and employees in 2008, and Dell plans to cut more than 1,200 jobs in coming weeks. These companies aren't alone. Many businesses plan to cut staff to help weather the predicted lean times ahead.
These grim announcements, along with others during recent weeks, bolster findings from a recent survey of more than 1,375 corporate executives by employment law and consulting firm Career Protection, a provider of employment negotiations advice. According to the survey, it is expected that there will be a 37 percent increase in the number of companies laying off employees this year.
In addition to the survey, government officials reported late last week that U.S. employment shrank by 17,000 jobs in January – the first time employment declined for one month since August 2003. For some economists, this report proves that the country is recession-bound and that job losses will increase in coming months.
And based on statistics, once a worker loses a job, it's more difficult for them to find a new one. In January, 18.3 percent of jobless workers had been out of work for six months or more, up from 16.2 percent last year. All told, there were about 1.38 million long-term unemployed workers reported last month.
Another indication of trouble: The U.S. Labor Department shows that job gains were lower in the spring of 2007 (7.5 million jobs) than they were in the spring of 2001, when the economy was considered to be in a recession (8.4 million jobs).
Sources: Associated Press, and Career Protection.
Written by Jenny Cromie, certified human resources specialist (CHRS)
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