Gizmodo Australia » layoffs

AOL’s Slow Death Continues: A Third Of Staff Must Go

Danny Allen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:07:14 +0000

After telling its investors that $US200 million has been put aside to jettison a third of its payroll, AOL is looking for 2500 staff to take voluntary redundancies — jump now, or be pushed later.

It’s all designed to shave about $US300 million off its annual $US1.8 billion operating expenses. Instant messaging client, ICQ, is also up for sale, and Mapquest could be next. As always, we’re surprised that AOL still exists. [Business Insider]

Microsoft May Lay Off 5,000 More Employees

Jason Chen — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:23:55 +0000

This follows up their 1,400 count layoff in January, which were its first ever. Maybe it can use some of that $US11 million in stimulus money to build a bridge so the poor people who got laid off can live under it. [Seattle Times]

Apple Removes Baby Shaking App 1600 Employees From App Store Actual Stores

John Herrman — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:31:21 +0000

Apple’s financials looked pretty spectacular this quarter, with a total profit in excess of $US1.2 billion despite the gruesome economy. They also exceeded expectations for iPod and iPhone sales, laptop sales, and layoffs. Wait, what?

CNET reports, via an SEC filing, that Apple has cut back their full-time retail workforce by a full 1600 employees—from 15600 to 14000—in the last quarter alone, during which they only opened one new retail outlet.

The press narrative so far this year has been that Apple has bucked the recession, outperforming the industry and minimising an inevitable sales slowdown after an impressive Q1. And this narrative holds: Apple has done well on paper while its competitors haven’t. It’s just, now we sort of know how. [CNET] [Note: Some have suggested that some employees have scaled back their hours and been subtracted from the "full-time" figure. This is plausible, but either way it's a pretty rough cutback.]

‘Huge’ ‘Massive’ Best Buy Layoffs Coming Tomorrow (Updated)

Mark Wilson — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:03:16 +0000

Tomorrow might not be the best day to go to Best Buy, as two independent sources (one of which we’ve used in the past) have warned us of extensive store-level layoffs. UPDATE

One industry source described the firings as “huge,” the other as “massive.” I think we get the point. In the wake of Circuit City’s death, Best Buy is firing a lot of store-level employees starting in meetings at 7am tomorrow morning (which is not a huge surprise, as 4,000 members of Best Buy corporate-level have already been offered buy-outs).

Apparently, store management was informed today. The unlucky employees to be fired will be informed tomorrow (Saturday).

UPDATE: One source has updated that “Salaried management positions (GMs, Sales Managers, Operation managers, etc,) will be looked at being cut…It’s a nation-wide [cutback] to further reduce overhead, and the stores have already been prepped for it, but announcements will happen tomorrow. Many cuts are being given the opportunity to drop to $12/hr, but maintain a position.”

UPDATE 2: We’ve gotten a lot more confirmation since this story was published. One leadership-level employee clarifies that few to no specific layoffs are necessarily happening, but to stay, you’ll of course need to take a paycut:

“1) No employees are getting fired(to my knowledge), everyone is being retained.
2) Some employees are getting their pay cut to $12.00 (me), but Best Buy will be “bridging” the gap between your current pay and the drop for 9 months. So say you made $14 an hour, you will now get a check at the beginning of each month for $14 – $12, $2 * 38 hours a week * 4 weeks a month. Really not a bad deal, think of another company that has ever done this, giving you 9 months to get promoted or find a new job. [Ed note: I really don't understand corporate metrics]
3) None of the changes go into effect until June.
4) The positions that are being cut are sales seniors (a sub-supervisor role), and they are merging some departments to have one supervisor control multiple areas. These changes will be announced later in April.
5) No changes to management have been announced yet.
6) Employees were also offered a severance package, not a very good one. 2 weeks of pay per year of employment with at least 6 months of COBRA.”

IBM Prepping For Thousands Of Layoffs ‘Resource Actions’

Sean Fallon — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:00:00 +0000

IBM has begun notifying employees that layoffs or “resource actions” are coming. All in all, some 5000 employees, mostly from the Global Business Services division will be affected. [Digital Daily]

Apple Layoffs Confirmed, 50 Let Go (Updated)

John Herrman — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:54:36 +0000

Valleywag’s Apple layoff rumours have apparently been confirmed by a source in Apple’s enterprise group: 50 jobs cut, all in sales. Update: According to Business Insider, an Apple spokesperson says this story is untrue. [VW]

Possible Apple Layoffs Today?

Jason Chen — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:11:19 +0000

Valleywag’s tipsters tell them that there could be slashes at Apple today, specifically in the sales departments. [Valleywag]

Microsoft Firees Can Keep All Their Severance Pay

Wilson Rothman — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:26:12 +0000

Microsoft watcher Ina Fried reports that the company won’t be taking back severance “overpayments”, even though it confirmed it did ask for them initially. The truth is, despite numbers reported in the thousands, only 25 people were overpaid, somewhere between $US4000 and $US5000, according to Microsoft HR head Lisa Brummel, who said about 20 more of those laid off were actually underpaid. Microsoft isn’t the only company to ever pay anyone too much then ask for it back, but Brummel says these were extraordinary circumstances, so they’re reversing their decision. Those who were underpaid will be getting the correct funds pronto. [CNet]

Microsoft Cuts 1,400 Employees And Then Asks For Severance Package Refunds

Jack Loftus — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:43:00 +0000

What’s the best way to create an HR firestorm in three easy steps? If you’re Microsoft, layoff 1,400 employees, give them severance on the way out, and then ask for part of it back.

Better yet, let’s add a step four: Make sure you do all of this during one of the worst recessions in U.S. history. Stir.

Sounds almost too terrible to be true, and yet there’s photographic evidence that exists proving Microsoft overpaid a bunch of its former employees and now wants its money back. Oh, and some employees were apparently underpaid as well. What do you think you would do in this situation? [TechCrunch]

Panasonic Orders 10,000 Employees To Buy Panasonic Gadgets

Jason Chen — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:00:00 +0000

In addition to cutting 15,000 jobs, Panasonic’s all but ordering another 10,000 employees who didn’t get axed to buy Panasonic electronics.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time that Panasonic all but forced its employees to buy company goods. It did the same in 2002, during the last down-economy.

Higher-level managers need to purchase 200,000 yen ($US2,200) worth of stuff, whereas mid-level managers will make do with 100,000 yen ($US1,100). This may seem awful at first, but being forced to buy gadgets is kinda awesome. “Sorry honey, we really DO need this 65-inch Plasma. Do you want me to get fired, or do you want our son’s teeth to be straight. PICK ONE!” [Trading Markets via Crunchgear]