layoffs

Report: IBM to cut jobs in services unit

With the recession continuing its hold on the economy, IBM is reportedly preparing for another round of layoffs, according to a report Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal.

The cuts are expected to affect a large swath of U.S. employees in IBM's global business services unit, with a number of the jobs reassigned to workers in India, the Journal reported.

Talk of pending layoffs in IBM's services unit is making the rounds on Alliance@IBM, a Communications Workers of America affiliate attempting to organize IBM workers into a union.

On the Alliance@IBM site, two posts Wednesday … Read more

Sony execs detained by workers over severance pay

When employees at Sony's operation in France didn't get severance packages they considered fair, they took matters into their own hands.

On Friday, union workers freed Serge Foucher, CEO of Sony France, and Roland Bentz, head of human resources, from the company's factory in southwest France where they had been held since Thursday afternoon, according to a report by the Associated Press. Employees were angry over the terms of their severance, and kept the two from leaving as a way of protest.

The union representing the employees freed the two executives on the condition that Sony management … Read more

National Semi to cut a fourth of workforce

National Semiconductor said Wednesday it would slash 1,725 jobs, or about one-fourth if its workforce, as earnings dropped sharply in its most recent quarter.

The Santa Clara, Calif.,-based company reported on Wednesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit plummeted 71 percent, to $21.1 million from $72.9 million a year ago. Revenue dropped 36 percent to $292.4 million.

Job cuts will take place across the company, which currently has a workforce of about 6,500, and will involve, in coming months, the shuttering of facilities in Arlington, Texas, and Suzhou, China.

The chipmaker will incur charges of $… Read more

Layoffs to hit another Dell plant

An assembly plant in North Carolina will be next on Dell's streak of cost-cutting moves resulting in layoffs.

Dell is laying off workers, but the company will not give the total number and location of all employees affected. Dell did confirm that some of those affected are from the Winston-Salem, N.C., plant.

These layoffs are just the latest in a string of job cuts at the PC maker over the last year. The company laid out a goal in 2008 to cut its costs by $3 billion, which has resulted in plant closings and manufacturing being outsourced to … Read more

Tech job postings fall 40 percent in March

Tech job postings fell 40.4 percent in March over year ago figures, with most of the decline coming from full-time positions, according to a report released Tuesday by tech career site Dice.com.

Dice, which collects its figures at the start of each month, noted tech job postings fell to 54,301 in March, down from 91,080 a year earlier. The decline in job postings comes at a time when the nation's unemployment rate has worsened, reaching 8.1 percent in February.

According to the Dice report, full-time job postings dropped 44.2 percent to 35,570 … Read more

Sources confirm Apple laid off salespeople last week

Despite public statements to the contrary, Apple did lay off around 50 enterprise salespeople last week, CNET News has learned.

Sources who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal confirmed reports by Valleywag and 9to5Mac.com that roughly 50 salespeople were let go by the company for "business and economic reasons," according to one source. An entire sales group based in Austin, Texas, was let go as well as workers in Cupertino, Calif., where Apple is headquartered. Those affected were given severance packages and the opportunity to apply for other jobs inside Apple.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling, … Read more

Apple denies second round of layoff rumors

For the second time in a week, Apple has denied rumors that it has laid off workers.

On Friday, Valleywag reported that a tipster informed it of layoffs in the Mac Hardware and Pro Applications group, describing Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters as having "lots of security around" and saying "it seems like a lot" of employees were affected. Earlier in the week Valleywag published a similar report that 50 sales employees were laid off from Apple.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling denied both reports Friday. "It's not true," he said, referring to the … Read more

Audio slide show: LaidOffCamp takes creative approach to downturn

LaidOffCamp, held during daylight hours this week at the Temple night club in downtown San Francisco, brought together more than 600 unemployed and self-employed people seeking to share ideas about finding work amid the recession.

Volunteers, speakers, and sponsors came together to plug networking, information exchange, social media, and interconnected community as ways to find support and, hopefully, an income. Among the crowd, there were also entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and recruiters.

Another 16 such events are preliminarily scheduled across the nation, with the next one set for Friday in Dallas. But, not surprisingly, San Francisco was the first to play … Read more

Sources: RIAA cuts up to 25 jobs

Update 3:30 p.m. PST: To include updated layoff figures and percentages.

As expected, the Recording Industry Association of America, the lobbying group of the four largest music labels, has laid off between 20 and 25 workers, or about 20 percent of the RIAA's workforce, according to music industry sources.

In addition to the layoffs, the RIAA eliminated some positions through attrition, the sources said. In all, 31 of the company's 104 employees, or just under 30 percent, were either laid off or quit recently and will not be replaced. The RIAA leadership remains unchanged. My sources … Read more