by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Is your job safe? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were more than 13 million layoffs and discharges in the United States during the first nine months of 2023, and now “layoff season” has arrived. As the end of the year approaches, companies start taking a hard look at the bottom line, and that can result in harsh job cuts. When I was growing up, most large companies would at least wait until after the holiday season to shove workers into the street, but these days they just don’t care. The moment you are no longer considered to be an asset, they will throw you aside like a rotten fish. We live in a cold, cruel world, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.
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Once again this year there will be lots of layoffs during the month of December. The following comes from a USA Today article entitled “Worried about job cuts heading into 2024? Here’s how to prepare for layoff season”…
It’s December, which means more than just cooler weather and holiday celebrations. It’s also layoffs season.
Job cuts tend to spike in December and January as companies prepare for structural changes heading into the new year, as shown by data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Layoff season is hitting the media particularly hard.
Pink slips are flying around all over the place, and we are being told that a “bloodbath” has already begun…
Seasons greetings! And by “season,” we mean that surreal time of year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day when media giants scramble to clear their books and pink-slip a bunch of employees. As 2023 nears its end, the media grinches are about to steal Christmas for many, as several key outlets are poised to suffer through a final wave of layoffs. The bloodbath began Thursday at Condé Nast, where about a dozen New Yorker staffers exited the famed magazine…
Perhaps if they tried to actually tell the truth, mainstream media companies would not have to let so many workers go.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, media companies laid off more than 19,000 employees between January and September.
That number was up 550 percent compared to the same time period in 2022.
Nothing to see here! Just a 550 percent increase. That seems perfectly “normal” to me.
Elsewhere, Pfizer has announced that it will be giving the axe to a large number of workers…
Pfizer officials have confirmed that job cuts and cost reductions are coming to the Groton campus as part of a company-wide $3.5 billion “cost cutting and restructuring plan” the company had announced on Oct. 13.
“Pfizer has launched an enterprise-wide cost realignment program. Various areas of Pfizer’s global enterprise are making changes to operate more efficiently and effectively,” wrote a Pfizer spokesperson in an email exchange with CT Insider. “These changes will be implemented on a rolling basis and will differ from area to area. Part of the effort will result in some job loss across a number of our locations, including Groton.”
It turns out that there is a lot less demand for Pfizer products these days.
Who would have guessed that?
Other industries are being hit really hard too.
Last week, we learned that U.S. steel will be laying off “up to 1,000 workers”…
U.S. Steel announced Tuesday it will idle most of its Granite City Works plant, permanently laying off up to 1,000 workers.
The 1,000 workers include about 400 who have been on temporary layoff since Oct. 1 plus an additional 600. Prior to Tuesday’s layoffs, Granite City Works operated with roughly 900 employees, said Dan Simmons, president of United Steelworkers Local 1899. The layoff notices that went to an additional 600 employees could mean only 300 will remain in non-steelmaking operations.
The news is a massive blow to the Metro East community whose economic vitality is centered around the plant.
And Union Pacific has decided to terminate a large number of track maintenance workers…
The head of the union that represents track maintenance workers says Union Pacific is jeopardizing safety by delaying nearly 1,200 planned projects until next year and laying off more than 1,000 workers.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division union has been raising concerns with regulators, but the railroad defends the move and the Surface Transportation Board hasn’t intervened.
Seriously?
After all of the rail disasters that we have seen in recent years, they actually think that it is a good idea to lay off a big chunk of their track maintenance workers?
When I read a story like that, I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief.
Of course the tech industry continues to bleed workers too.
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