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We're living in tough times. Rising fuel prices and the effects of the sub-prime crisis are eating into people's budgets. Worse, it's eating into business' bottom line. When that happens, companies are going to cuts costs and cutting costs usually means lay-offs.
Over the past 2 days, there have been reports in the news that companies are cutting down :
Starbucks will be closing 600 stores.
Quoted from : MSNBC
Starbucks Corp. said Tuesday that it has drastically increased the number of stores it plans to close and could eliminate as many as 12,000 full- and part-time positions as a result. The company said it now plans to close 600 company-operated stores in the United States, up from its previous plans to close 100 stores. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the job cuts represent about 7 percent of Starbucks' global workforce. Still, Starbucks said it expects many workers to find jobs in nearby stores.
Los Angeles Times to cut 250 jobs
Quoted from : Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times today announced plans to cut 250 positions across the company, including 150 positions in editorial, in a new effort to bring expenses into line with declining revenue. In a further cost-cutting step, the paper will reduce the number of pages it publishes each week by 15%. Times Editor Russ Stanton said the poor economy had struck particularly hard at the California housing market, traditionally a robust source of advertising revenue for The Times. The cuts reflect conditions across the newspaper industry, which is confronting sharply deteriorating print advertising revenues. Although online ad revenues are rising, they have not made up for the losses. Amid the current nationwide economic slowdown, the prospects are for continued revenue shrinkage through the end of this year.
US Companies cut 79,000 jobs in June
Quoted from : LA Times
Companies in the U.S. cut an estimated 79,000 jobs in June, a private survey based on payroll data showed.
The decrease was larger than forecast and followed a revised gain of 25,000 for the prior month that was less than previously estimated, the report from ADP Employer Services showed. Last month's drop was ADP's largest since November 2002.
The biggest housing recession in a quarter-century and record oil prices are prompting an increase in firings as companies brace for falling demand. The government on Thursday may report that total private and government payrolls fell in June for a sixth decline this year, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
If lay-offs have not affected your company, then consider yourself fortunate. But if you've been laid off, then I'd like to encourage you to be positive. All is not lost. In fact, if it wasn't for a near lay-off, I would not have turned into the home based business owner I am today - running a food delivery business and a network of websites.
Life often throws us curve balls to get us to re-allign our goals and get us moving on the correct path. A home based business could just be your next calling.