5 posts and columns on cost reduction

Nokia Siemens Announces Ambitious Employee Sacking Plan

in News on November 3, 2009 at 10:04 am PT

They’re swinging the ax over at Nokia Siemens again. The mobile network equipment maker said today that it plans to reduce its 64,000-strong workforce by up to nine percent in a bid to “improve financial performance and return to growth”–something the joint venture has had a hard time doing since it launched in February 2007.
largest-axe3jpg-150x150jpg

THQ Sees FY 10 Profit; Betting on the Old Ultraviolence

in News on April 2, 2009 at 11:21 am PT

THQ shares are posting a fat gain today after the videogame company announced that it has completed a previously announced cost-reduction plan designed to chop its annual spending by $220 million. THQ CEO Brian Farrell said in a statement that the company’s goal is to return to profitability and generate positive cash flow in the March 2010 fiscal year, and to position the company for long-term sustainable growth.

New York Times Cuts Salaries, Jobs

in Media on March 26, 2009 at 11:19 am PT

Last year, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller told the newspaper’s newsroom that he would try very hard to not fire any of them. But he didn’t say anything about pay cuts. The Times today announced that it would be cutting salaries of its nonunion employees from 2.5 percent to 5 percent, and that it would be asking for “similar” cuts from its unionized newsroom workers “in a spirit of shared sacrifice and as a way to otherwise avoid layoffs in the newsroom.” It has also laid off 100 employees from its business operations.
new-york-times-building-300x200

Motorola to 400 Employees: Looks Like We, Heh-Heh, Forgot to Fire You

in News on December 31, 2008 at 1:44 pm PT

Earlier this year Motorola said it would sack 1,500 employees during the fourth quarter of 2008. Apparently, that was a mistake. What it meant to say was that it planned to sack 1,900 employees during the fourth quarter of 2008, as evidenced today by the company’s announcement that it will lay off 400 more employees than originally expected this year.

Well, This Should Do Wonders for Dell Customer Service …

in News on November 4, 2008 at 2:52 pm PT

Weakening economic conditions have forced Dell to add a new benefit to its already tenuous employee salary packages: a week of unpaid leave. In an effort to “better position the company for long-term competitiveness,” the company is asking workers to consider taking five days off without pay–the theory being that five days off without pay is better than six months off on unemployment in a lousy economy.