Updated with the latest layoff announcements since early February.
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ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Activision Blizzard ( ATV) is cutting almost 10% of its workforce after wrapping up development on a fighting game follow up called "Diablo III." The company said that the cuts would come from the Blizzard Entertainment unit. The majority of the layoffs, however, will not be related to game development. The company had 7,300 employees as of the end of 2011. "Over the last several years, we've grown our organization tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community," said Mike Morhaime, head of the Blizzard unit. "However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we've also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company,"
PEPSICO Pepsico ( PEP) said it's laying off 8,700 workers around the world as it undergoes a "transitional year." While the company ratchets back on costs in employees, it's also pushing money into advertising its soft drinks in North America. The company, like other food and beverage makers, is facing higher material costs. Even its competitor, Coca-Cola, is undergoing cost cutting. Pepsico's CEO, Indra Nooyi, said in a media briefing in early February that the layoffs would amount to 3% of its total workforce in more than 30 countries. The company is pouring $500 million to $600 million in ads and marketing this year along. It also plans to invest $100 million in store displays, coolers and racks, and will increase dividends and share buybacks. The restructuring is expected to save the company $1.5 billion by 2014, adding to the $1.5 billion in saving costs already announced.
HEWLETT-PACKARD Hewlett-Packard is cutting webOS jobs, although it says that it will try to redeploy 275 employees to other roles within the company. WebOS is an operating system that HP says no longer needs many of the engineering positions that it required before. The plans were announced at the end of February. The firm plans to make the platform's source code available under an open source license by September. The system was acquired in 2010 as part of HP's buyout of Palm for $1.2 billion. Since then, the firm has chosen to go the open source route instead of selling off the system to other vendors. HP posted mixed results in the first quarter. The company is about to undergo a major transition to improve its supply chain and sales force productivity under new CEO Meg Whitman.
NOKIA Some 4,000 workers are getting cut at Nokia ( NOK) as the company looks to bring more of its manufacturing business to Asia. On Feb. 8, the company said it will cease production of handsets in Hungary, Mexico and Finland and ramp up production at factories in Beijing, Masan and South Korea. The company has announced more than 14,000 job cuts after pairing with Microsoft to compete against Apple in smartphone market share. Some 2,300 workers will be laid off in Komaram, Hungary, 700 in Reynosa, Mexico and 1,000 in Salo, Finland, where Nokia runs its oldest factory. China already makes up about a third of Nokia's output. The company is looking to expand operations in Asia, including by building a plant in Vietnam and in Dongguan, China. Apple assembles its smartphones in China.
ASTRAZENECA AstraZeneca ( AZN) announced on Feb. 2 that it will lay off 7,300 workers to save $2.1 billion by the end of 2014. The company is cutting back on its workforce in sales and administration as well as research and development, and operations. According to the company, the new round of layoffs will save the company $1.6 billion each year. "One change already under way is the simplification of the company's global commercial organization structure. The number of sales and marketing regions has been reduced from five to three and smaller countries are being clustered, a move that will optimize resources, increase shared services and reduce the cost base," said AstraZeneca in a statement. Already, the company has announced tens of thousands of layoffs after announcing its first major restructuring program in 2007.
AMERICAN AIRLINES American Airlines said it is laying off 13,000 union workers. Most of the cuts come from the airline's maintenance operations. Other eliminations include ground workers and flight attendants. Some 1,400 employees in management will loose their jobs, including 400 pilots. "We will end this journey with many fewer people. But we will also preserve tens of thousands of jobs that would have been lost if we had not embarked on this path," said Thomas Horton, CEO of AMR ( AAMRQ), American Airlines' parent company. The timeline for the layoffs is still uncertain although the company needs to save more than $1.25 billion each year in labor costs. A portion of the savings may come from a shift in underfunded pension plans to Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., although the government agency said it would block this move by American Airlines. AMR Corp filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 29, 2011.
METLIFE MetLife ( MET) said that it will cut more than 800 workers in Irving, Texas, as it exits from the home mortgage origination business. The layoffs will take place at two locations, beginning March 30 and ending May 31, according to a letter MetLife sent to Texas Workforce Commission and Irving mayor Beth Van Duyne. When the company first announced that it will be shutting its home mortgage-origination operation year in the year, it said it would cut a total of 4,300 workers in the unit. The largest U.S. life insurer said in October that it is putting its mortgage unit up for sale, following plans to sell it deposit-gathering operations to reduce federal oversight. In December, the firm agreed to sell $6.5 billion worth of bank deposits to General Electric ( GE). MetLife's mortgage business could be hard to sell because of potential regulation complications. Another option the firm said it would pursue is winding down the business, which it estimates would cost as much as $110 million. For now, the company plans to continuing servicing its current mortgage customers but will no longer accept new loan applications for forward mortgages.
MONSTER WORLDWIDE The company that helps people find jobs is itself cutting back on workers. Internet job board Monster Worldwide ( MWW)laid off 400 jobs on Jan. 25, or 7% of its global workforce, in an attempt to improve revenue generation. Less than 100 of the cuts are in Massachusetts, where the company's headquarters are located. Monster said in a press release that it would increase sales and marketing going forward. In 2010, the company completed the acquisition of Yahoo! HotJobs, a $225 million deal that gives Monster exclusive ability to provide job content for Yahoo!'s U.S. and Canadian homepages.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE The world's largest shipping carrier is scaling back. UPS ( UPS)is laying off some 433 workers at a facility in northern, Kentucky beginning mid-March and ending in April. About a fourth of those losing their jobs are temporary workers, according to the company. The cuts come as UPS will no longer manage inventory and fill orders for online retailer Zulily Inc, a Seattle-based company that sells clothing and accessories for women and children. According to UBS, operations will continue at the facility, which will have a smaller workforce of about 150. Kentucky's is where the company has its largest air hub. UBS has invested $2 billion over recent years to expand its hub in Louisville.
ABBOT LABORATORIES Abbott Laboratories ( ABT) plans to lay off 700 workers amid a decline in heart stent orders. Most of the cuts come from the company's heart stents and diagnostic tests business. Boston Scientific, which pays a 40% royalty on sales of Abbott's Xience stent, recently chose to use Promus Element, its own in-house stent, instead. Some 300 workers at Abbott's stent business in Southern California will be let go. Less 200 workers will get cut from the diagnostic business in Lake Country, Illinois. The layoffs come as the company has been in ongoing restructuring efforts for years. In early 2010, Abbott cut 1,900 workers in its pharmaceutical division. The medical device and drug maker reported that its profit increased 12% in the fourth quarter, helped by double digit sales growth of Humira, an anti-inflammatory drug. The braded drug business, which includes Humira, will be spun off so that investors can separately value Abbott's other businesses, according to the company in October. The company's business post-split will be more predictable in that it will be free of risks associated with developing innovative pharmaceutical drugs.
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