80,000 jobs lost globally in a single day

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 29 January 2009, 02:01 IST   |    11 Comments
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80,000 jobs lost globally in a single day
Bangalore: Globally, around 80,000 jobs have been terminated on Monday, January 26. Of this, 61,000 lay-offs happened at construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar, pharma major Pfizer, telecom firm Sprint Nextel and home improvement retailer Home Depot. The continuous trimming of the workforce indicates that the downturn has hit hard Industries ranging from health care to heavy equipment makers. From the banking and insurance sectors, ING Group has announced the layoff of 7,000 employees. Dutch-based electronic company Philips would cut 6,000 jobs. Similarly, Britain's largest steelmaker Corus had said it would cut 3,500 jobs from its global workforce. At the same time, some companies are taking extreme measures to avoid job cuts. For Instance, Virgin Atlantic has introduced a pay freeze at all levels. Many companies have also introduced short working weeks and cuts in hours.