Vault Layoff Tracker
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Welcome to Vault's Layoff Tracker

In November 2008, the U.S. unemployment rate clocked in at 6.7 percent and continues to climb steadily due to massive layoffs across a swath of industries - financial services and manufacturing are the hardest-hit - and some analysts predict that it may hit 8 percent before hiring picks up again. Here's an at-a-glance chart of some of the most notable staff cuts in recent weeks. If you have something to report that's not on this chart, contact us at editors@vault.com.

Date Company # of Layoffs Notes Industry Location News Link
01/05/09 Unisys 1300 Also consolidating offices, freezing salaries and matching 401(k) contributions. tech Read More
12/30/08 AMD 600 UPDATE: Previously announced figures have been increased by 100 jobs; the company is expecting further cost-cutting in 2009 tech Read More
12/23/08 Woolworths 27000 The British five-and-dime retailer is permenantly shutting its 807 stores retail U.K. Read More
12/23/08 Unisys 1300 4.3% of staff tech global Read More
12/23/08 Textron 2200 UPDATE: Cuts entail cutting the commercial financing unit, and include the 700+ layoffs announced earlier in December and November manufacturing Read More
12/23/08 American Greetings 275 1.5% of staff publishing Cleveland, Ohio Read More
12/22/08 Accenture Exclusive tip from a Vault member: "Accenture is doing a voluntary separation program for its US Consulting workforce. It was announced today, with the effective date of separation in January. The email said it was for an undetermined number of people but it would be based on changing client needs and the companies desire to ensure proper workforce alignment to those needs. The FAQ for the email didn't rule out involuntary separation in the future. This program is open to all analysts, consultants, and managers and senior managers who received a "Consistent-with" rating or lower, or no rating, in their last annual review." consulting
12/22/08 Experian 75 Exclusive tip from a Vault member: "Experian laid off 50 people in the marketing sales division. They were sent home that day. Effective in January and March of 2009, 75 list processing and database techs will be losing their jobs due to replacements hired in Costa Rica at 1/4 of the salary of the U.S. workers. These people have already received pink slips." financial services
12/19/08 Electronic Arts 1000 UPDATE: Cuts of 10% of staff are greater than initial announcement indicated; closing or consolidating nine production studios entertainment Read More
12/19/08 Deloitte Consulting Exclusive tip from a Vault member: "Deloitte Consulting in the US has had 'trickling' layoffs starting in mid -September, ending in November. It was not widely announced, and individually targeted. Perhaps 5% to 8%. Audit and Tax also had layoffs. More expected in Jan after mid year reviews�" consulting U.S. Read More
12/19/08 Sovereign Bancorp 1000 finance Read More
12/18/08 Checker Motors 90 May possibly cut more in 2009 auto manufacturing Kalamazoo, Mich. Read More
12/18/08 Caterpillar 814 Shuttering entire plant that manufactures engines in Mossville, Ill. manufacturing Mossville, Ill. Read More
12/18/08 Sirius XM 458 22% of staff entertainment Read More
12/18/08 Pentair 1600 manufacturing Read More
12/18/08 FedEx Implementing a hiring freeze, cutting executive and salaried workers' pay, slicing contributions to workers' 401(k) accounts and merit-based salary increases for the next year transportation Read More
12/18/08 Motorola Cutting pensions and contributions to employees' 401(k) plans tech Read More
12/17/08 Bristol-Myers Squibb 10% of staff; will cut 800 by the end of 2008 and plans to slash 4,300 jobs in all by the end of 2009 pharmaceuticals Read More
12/17/08 Gunderson Dettmer Reportedly laid off half of first-year associates (five) and six associates in Silicon Valley, one in Boston and one in San Diego. law Silicon Valley, Calif. Read More
12/17/08 Aetna 1000 2.8% of staff insurance Read More
12/17/08 Newell Rubbermaid Plans to cut as much as 10% of salaried staff consumer products Read More
12/17/08 Western Digital 2500 Layoffs equal about 5% of workforce; also plans to close or sell two Asian plants tech Read More
12/17/08 Canadian Pacific Rail 600 All 600 are union workers transportation Canada and Northern U.S. Read More
12/17/08 Eastman Chemical Total number unknown at this time; unspecified number of executive staff already let go manufacturing Read More
12/17/08 Omnicom 3500 5% of staff; already cut 22% of BBDO's Detroit office and 30 people at its PHD division advertising Read More
12/17/08 Cooper Tire & Rubber 2100 Closing plant in Albany, GA; other facilities to remain open. About 1,400 full time workers, as well as 700 contractors and part-timers cut. manufacturing Albany, Ga. Read More
12/17/08 Sun Media 600 10% of staff journalism Canada Read More
12/17/08 Gaia Online 36 13% of staff; 20 full-time employees and 16 contractors internet Read More
12/17/08 Gunderson Dettmer Reportedly laid off half of first-year associates (five) and an unknown number of experienced attorneys law Read More
12/17/08 Graco 150 6% of staff manufacturing Read More
12/17/08 Tennant 240 8% of staff manufacturing Read More
12/17/08 Random House UPDATE: Unspecified number laid off at Doubleday and Broadway imprints publishing Read More
12/16/08 Air Products 1200 7% of staff manufacturing global Read More
12/16/08 Eaton 3400 Total layoffs in 2008 manufacturing Read More
12/16/08 City of San Francisco 409 Also cutting 303 positions that are currently empty. government San Francisco, Calif. Read More
12/16/08 Midway Games 180 Affects 25% of workforce, especially in Austin where it is closing a development studio media & entertainment Austin, Texas; Chicago; San Diego Read More
12/16/08 American Media 12 16% of staff in ad sales, marketing and editorial departments at Star journalism Read More
12/16/08 Best Buy The company is offering buyout packages to all its 4,000 corporate staff, after which it will determine if layoffs are necessary retail Read More
12/16/08 Dechert LLP 72 12.6% of administrative staff in all U.S. offices law Read More
12/15/08 L'Oréal 500 consumer products U.S. Read More
12/15/08 Atmel 800 This measure affects 11% of U.S. workforce; in addition, Atmel's non-manufacturing workers will face a 10-day shutdown tech U.S. Read More
12/15/08 Campbell-Ewald 100 Staff cuts (maximum 100 workers) result from reduced spending at Chevrolet and loss of other accounts advertising Read More
12/15/08 Digitas Unsteadiness of accounts GM and American Express caused Digitas to drop jobs equal to 2% of staff advertising Read More
12/15/08 Macmillian 64 4% of staff; restructured children's division and consolidated production and management of all divisions publishing Read More
12/15/08 Ann Taylor 440 Exclusive from the Vault Employee Surveys: "... making cuts on staff and also stores, which was a necessity ... but it has also lowered the employee morale a bit." 260 cut in November, on top of 180 cut earlier in the year. retail Read More
12/15/08 Blackstone 70 7% of staff private equity Read More
12/15/08 LimitedBrands Exclusive tip from a Vault member: "LimitedBrands has eliminated all unfilled positions and laid off people in IT , store ops and other corporate positions" retail
12/15/08 Wolf Block 15 Associates and staff law Read More
12/15/08 Electrolux 3000 About 5% of staff; company states that restructuring efforts are ongoing manufacturing Read More
12/15/08 Northern Trust 450 5% of staff financial services Read More
12/15/08 Fairchild Semiconductor 1100 Chipmaker cuts 12% of staff technology Read More
12/15/08 Sharp 380 Temporary workers dropped as company closes two LCD TV manufacturing plants in Asia manufacturing Japan Read More
12/13/08 International Paper 1000-1500 Will cut at least 1000 workers by the end of 2009 manufacturing Read More
12/12/08 Drinker Biddle 20 Unconfirmed number of staff and attorneys laid off law Read More
12/12/08 Newsweek Buyouts will be offered to 65 staffers, and 10 other jobs will be cut; in the spring, over 100 employees took advantage of voluntary buyouts publishing New York Read More
12/12/08 Las Vegas Sands 216 UPDATE: Cuts at home, affecting non-customer contact roles, follow a layoff of 50 employees in November, but are (so far) a fraction of previously announced cuts overseas hospitality Las Vegas, Nev. Read More
12/12/08 Alcatel-Lucent 1000 In addition, the company will pare 5,000 contract workers telecom Read More
12/12/08 The Stanley Works 2000 10% of global staff, closing three U.S. plants manufacturing global Read More
12/12/08 Pfizer 700 Major cuts at French headquarters, mainly in sales force pharmaceuticals Read More
12/11/08 WebMD.com 4-5% of staff internet Read More
12/11/08 Experian 80 Exclusive tip from a Vault member: "Experian sent layoff notices to 30 people, effective February 2009" financial services
12/11/08 Bank of America 35000 UPDATE: 10 to 11% of staff; to be cut over the next three years as part of the Merrill Lynch acquisition banking global Read More
12/11/08 Textron 120 Mostly in corporate offices, not manufacturing facilities aerospace & defense Michigan, Rhode Island, Texas Read More
12/11/08 Orange County, California 210 Mainly social services workers; 4000 other employees ordered to take a two-week vacation with no pay government California Read More
12/11/08 Fleetwood Enterprises Exclusive tip from a Vault member: after shuttering plants, consolidating manufacturing operations and laying off hundreds of factory workers, Fleetwood is restructuring its corporate office and has put a freeze on matching contributions to employee 401(k) plans. manufacturing Read More
12/11/08 Furniture Brands International 1400 15% of staff; cuts across all nine divisions. manufacturing Read More
12/11/08 Last.fm 20 Part of massive cuts and restructuring at CBS Interactive/CNET internet London Read More
12/11/08 DivX 21 10% of staff internet Read More
12/11/08 Fuse About a dozen staffers let go; number unconfirmed. media and entertainment New York Read More
12/11/08 ReelzTV 40 Cancelled original series "Dalies" media and entertainment Los Angeles Read More
12/11/08 United Online Unknown number of staffers cut at Classmates.com internet Read More
12/11/08 Expontential Interactive 8% of staff internet
12/11/08 A&E Television Networks 20 Cut staff in digital media division media and entertainment Read More
12/11/08 Elan Pharmaceuticals 140 Shuttering offices in New York and Tokyo pharmaceuticals Read More
12/10/08 Rio Tinto 14000 8,500 are contract workers manufacturing global Read More
12/10/08 Citgroup 1000 About 14% of workers over age 40 at Japanese unit Nikko Cordial Securities have accepted buyouts financial services Japan Read More
12/10/08 Goldman Sachs 250 4% of European staff (part of 10% firm-wide reduction); 220 will be cut from London office. The company also announced changes to its retirement program that increased age and years of service required to retire with full benefits. financial services Europe Read More
12/10/08 SKF Group 2500 6% of staff manufacturing Read More
12/10/08 Office Depot 2200 Cuts are the result of slated store (112) and distribution plant (6) closings retail US and Canada Read More
12/10/08 National Public Radio 64 NPR is cancelling two programs (News & Notes and Day to Day) and laying off their associated staffs. Additionally, 21 open positions will remain unfilled and several long-time reporters were let go. non-profit Read More
12/10/08 Pitney Bowes 128 10% of software division staff technology Read More
12/10/08 Howrey LLP 10 Firm has stated that all cuts were "performance-related" law Read More
12/10/08 Volvo 180 Cut employees at Allentown, Penn. Mack Truck factory manufacturing Allentown, Penn. Read More
12/09/08 Bombardier Recreational Products 1000 About 15% of staff; 550 white-collar jobs and 430 blue-collar jobs subject to temporary layoffs. Comes on top of 370 positions cut in the Q3. manufacturing Read More
12/09/08 Mattson Technology 20% of staff; second round of layoffs this year (80 positions, 14% of staff) technology Read More
12/09/08 National Football League 150 14% of staff media and entertainment Read More
12/09/08 Anheuser-Busch 1400 Cuts affect mostly corporate positions (IT, engineering, etc.) and not union-backed plant workers. In addition, open positions (250) will go unfilled and 415 independent contractor jobs will be cut consumer products St. Louis Read More
12/09/08 Sony Corp. 8000 The total represents 5% of electronics unit employees; a similar number of temporary workers could also be cut, and Sony plans to shut 6 of its 57 manufacturing facilities consumer products Read More
12/09/08 Novellus Systems Maker of semiconductor-producing machinery will slash 10% of worldwide workforce and cut CEO's salary by 50% manufacturing Read More
12/09/08 Wyndham Worldwide 4000 12% of staff; restructuring time share business -- eliminating sales offices and marketing functions hospitality Read More
12/09/08 Danaher Corp 1700 Maker of tools, sensors and medical equipment will also "eliminate" 13 plants manufacturing Read More
12/08/08 Comprehensive Logistics 101 Cuts due to a reduction-in-force order from major client General Motors transportation Youngstown, Mich. Read More
12/08/08 MLB.com 20 4% of staff internet Read More
12/08/08 Dow Chemical 5000 In addition to the layoffs, which amount to 11% of company staff, about 20 plants will close, 180 will shut temporarily and 6,000 contractor ties will be severed manufacturing Read More
12/08/08 3M 1800 manufacturing U.S., Western Europe, Japan Read More
12/08/08 Volvo UPDATE: Cuts will be less drastic than anticipated as the previous estimate of 4,800 is revised to 3,400 manufacturing Sweden Read More
12/08/08 Telecom Italia 4000 These cuts are in addition to 5,000 announced in June 2008 telecom Read More
12/07/08 Hynix Semiconductor Cutting 30% of its 96 executives; total number unknown at this time. Additionally, it will slash the CEO's pay 30%, slice other executives' pay 10% to 20%, institute a volutary retirement plan for workers with 10+ years' experience and ask all Korean staffers to take two weeks' unpaid leave between January and April. technology Read More
12/07/08 Toledo Blade 15 Full-time and part-time newsroom staffers; total number unknown at this time publishing Toledo, Ohio Read More
12/07/08 Gentex 400 Between 15 and 18% of staff. First signifigant layoffs in the firm's 34-year history; hit hard by decline of auto industry manufacturing Zeeland, Mich. Read More
12/06/08 FBR Capital Markets 70 10% of staff financial services Read More
12/05/08 U.S. Steel 3500 UPDATE: The extended downturn forced the company to increase layoff tally from 650 announced in mid-November manufacturing Detroit, St. Louis, Keewatin, Minn., Read More
12/05/08 Sanofi-Aventis "Less than 10%" of sales reps will be culled pharmaceutical & biotech Read More
12/05/08 Commerzbank UPDATE: Over 1,200 UK jobs will be lost by April 2009, with "deep cuts in equity research, fixed-income proprietary trading and corporate finance" as part of earlier announced global total of 9,000 cuts. financial services UK Read More
12/05/08 Experian 300 financial services Britain and Ireland Read More
12/05/08 Pratt & Whitney 350 Most of the layoffs (280) were made at the company's Connecticut headquarters defense & aerospace Connecticut, plus 12 other states Read More
12/05/08 RealNetworks 130 Total represents 7.5% of company's workforce internet countrywide Read More
12/05/08 General Motors 2000 UPDATE: Previously referenced cuts made -- third shifts cut at three plants, downtime weeks added in Dec/Jan at others manufacturing Lordstown, Ohio; Orion Township, Mich.; Oshawa, Canada Read More
12/05/08 Legg Mason 200 About 8% of staff financial services Read More
12/05/08 Christies Total number unknown at this time retail Read More
12/05/08 Sotheby's 60 retail Read More
12/05/08 Proskauer Rose 60 Total includes 35 associates, with the rest pulled from administrative staff ranks law Read More
12/05/08 Dewey & LeBoeuf 12 All but one of the 12 associates worked in structured finance in New York law New York, Los Angeles Read More
12/05/08 Seyfarth Shaw 30 law New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston Read More
12/05/08 BPP Law School At least three of the Bar Vocational Course instructors will be let go law London Read More
12/04/08 NBC Universal 30 Reportedly, cuts consisted of support staff and ad sales researchers media & entertainment Read More
12/04/08 Adobe 600 About 8% of staff technology Read More
12/04/08 United 1800 This figure is part of a previously announced goal of 7,000 job cuts. Leaves, buyouts and furloughs affect ramp staff, mechanics and customer service workers. hospitality San Francisco, Calif. (750 employees), Los Angeles, Chicago Read More
12/04/08 Viacom 850 onsolidating credit and customer service operations and moving them to the firm's Costa Rica office. Cuts are in addition to 67 positions slashed in September and moved to Mexico media & entertainment Read More
12/04/08 State Street Corp. 1700 About 6% of global workforce will be cut or consolidated by March 2009 financial services Read More
12/04/08 AT&T 12000 4% of staff; layoffs come on top of 4,000 cut earlier in 2008 telecom global Read More
12/04/08 DuPont 6500 2,500 permanent staff and 4,000 contractors in businesses that serve the U.S. and European automotive and construction industries; additional contractor reductions may come in 2009 manufacturing Read More
12/04/08 Chicago Tribune 11 All reporters, including the paper's New York correspondents journalism Read More
12/04/08 Credit Suisse 5300 11% of global staff, mostly in the investment banking unit financial services global Read More
12/04/08 Nomura 1000 About 1/5 of London staff, including former Lehman Brothers employees financial services London Read More
12/03/08 Kohler Exclusive from the Vault Employee Surveys: "Layoffs have been taking place since the spring of 08 and will continue into 09. Kohler has survived bad times as a small company. It will be interesting to see how well it does as a global company in a global economic turndown." manufacturing Read More
12/03/08 Carlyle Group 100 Total represents 10% of staff; will close Silicon Valley office that opened this year private equity Read More
12/03/08 Tiffany & Co. Has offered "voluntary retirement incentives" to 800 employees (or 13.3% of U.S. staff) retail Read More
12/03/08 Simon & Schuster 35 In addition to these cuts, Rick Richter, president of the Simon & Schuster Children�s Publishing Division, also left the company. publishing Read More
12/03/08 Houghton Mifflin 54 10% of staff at Thomas Nelson division publishing Read More
12/03/08 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers Exclusive from the Vault Employee Surveys: "The merged company has been pruning staff continually since the acquisition. The newest round of layoffs is due in mid December 2008. According to rumors, another round is likely at the end of Q1/2009" publishing Read More
12/03/08 Random House 2 Major restructuring -- two division heads stepped down; more staff reductions planned on top of 10% cut at Doubleday in October. publishing Read More
12/03/08 Reed Smith 130 115 support staffers throughout its U.S. offices and as many as seven staff and 11 associates in the U.K. law Read More
12/02/08 Republic Windows and Doors 250 Closed Chicago plant on December 5; workers claim they were not given proper notice of layoffs or severance pay and are staging protest. manufacturing Chicago, Ill. Read More
12/02/08 Glu Mobile Total number unknown at this time. CEO Greg Ballard has asked board to cut his salary by 25% technology San Mateo, Calif. Read More
12/02/08 Seneca Gaming 210 Additionally, the company initiated a salary freeze for executives and employees making over $70,000, and cut annual bonuses hospitality and leisure Niagara Falls, Salamanca and Buffalo, N.Y. Read More
12/02/08 Jeffries Group 10% of staff financial services global Read More
12/02/08 Delta Layoffs and voluntary adjustments will likely result from reduced capacity domestically (8 to 10 percent) and abroad (3 to 5 percent) in 2009 airlines Read More
12/02/08 Washington Mutual 4000 UPDATE: 21% of staff by the end of 2009. 1,500 jobs slashed at Seattle headquarters. banking Read More
12/02/08 Cleveland Plain Dealer 27 Additionally, 23 staffers accepted buyouts journalism Cleveland, Oh. Read More
12/01/08 BayernLB 5600 More than 25% of staff. banking Germany Read More
12/01/08 Oregon Health & Science University Total number unknown at this time. Has instituted hiring and salary freeze. education Portland, Ore. Read More
12/01/08 Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire 158 148 hourly and 10 salaried workers. May shutter plant in LaVergne, Tenn. entirely by mid-2009. manufacturing LaVergne, Tenn. Read More
12/01/08 Gatorade 109 Total laid off in past two months; 22 salaried and 87 hourly staffers consumer products Pryor, Okla. Read More
11/30/08 State of Illinois 80 Closed more than 20 state parks and historial sites government Illinois Read More
11/28/08 ArcelorMittal 490 UPDATE: Previously announced 2,600 cuts; negotiated with union to offer voluntary layoffs and schedule cuts instead. manufacturing Burns Harbor, Ind. Read More
11/26/08 Technorati 6 Two of the six were from management; the remaining staff will suffer a 10% pay cut internet San Francisco Read More
11/25/08 Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Less than 2.5% of staff; between 15 and 25 legal secretaries and other administrative staff (some cuts already made, others forthcoming in the next few weeks) law Read More
11/24/08 Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge 60 Support staff law Boston Read More
11/24/08 MeadWestvaco 120 Closing Grover, N.C. packaging plant by early 2009 manufacturing Grover, N.C. Read More
11/24/08