U.S. job cuts since Thanksgiving total 37,000

By Dan Goodin
Bloomberg News

SAN FRANCISCO — To the traditional holiday colors of red and green add pink, as in the color of firing notices.

U.S. corporations led by Qwest Communications International Inc., Aetna Inc. and American Express Co. have said they will trim more than 37,000 employees from payrolls since the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 22. With investors demanding that managers revive declining earnings in the midst of the first recession in a decade, the days when executives shied from letting workers go during the holidays are long gone.

"They have shareholders ready to have their heads," said John Challenger, chief executive of job-placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Executives "are under such pressure that when they see their revenues falling, they've got to take action."

And the quickest way to help profits meet targets is to reduce costs through job cuts.

Just in one day yesterday, companies announced plans to cut at least 4,600 jobs — 3,400 at ITT Industries Inc., a maker of electrical connectors and switches, and 1,200 at regional telephone company BellSouth Corp.

These reductions follow the previous day's announcements by companies that plan to eliminate at least 16,000 jobs.

The jobless rate last month rose to 5.7 percent, the highest in six years, the Labor Department reported. Unemployment will rise to 7.6 percent next year, according to the Minneapolis Fed's 2002 economic forecast.