Pls go to website for time to time update
http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/17/layoff-tracker-unemployement-lead-cx_kk_1118tracker.html?partner=popstories

Pink Slips

Layoff Tracker

Compiled by Klaus Kneale, 01.28.09, 07:12 PM EST

Starbucks fires 7,000, Target cuts 600 and AOL cans 700.

Number of layoffs since Nov. 1, 2008, at America's 500 largest public companies*:

350,725

Latest layoffs:

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Jan. 28: Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) increases previously announced layoffs--bringing total to 10,000 workers, or 6% of the company’s workforce.

Jan. 28: Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) organizes closings at 900 stores worldwide and fires 6,700 in the process.

Jan. 28: Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ) cuts 400 open positions and 600 employees on sagging sales.

Jan. 27: Time Warner’s (nyse: TWX - news - people ) AOL reduces workforce by 10% (700 workers) as it fights declining ad revenue.

Jan. 27: Cabinet company Merillat--a subsidiary of Masco (nyse: MAS - news - people )--cuts 20% of workforce (70 workers).

Hitachi faces loss due to Renesas

http://www.eetimes.com/rss/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212900878&cid=RSSfeed_eetimes_newsRSS



Reuters
EE Times
(01/15/2009 11:12 PM EST)


TOKYO, Jan 16 -- Hitachi Ltd., Japan's biggest electronics maker, now faces an annual net loss of more than $1.1 billion instead of a previously forecast profit, hurt by a sharp decline in microchip sales, sources said on Friday.

A growing number of major Japanese electronics makers are expected to suffer big losses for the year ending in March, as the global economy visibly contracts.

A source said this week that Sony Corp would likely post an annual operating loss of $1.1 billion, its first such loss in 14 years, while media and analysts say rival Toshiba Corp is also headed for a big loss.

Hitachi now eyes a net loss of more than 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for the year to March -- its third year of losses -- due to a large loss at Renesas Technology Corp, a chipmaking joint venture of Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric Corp, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Renesas, the world's No.7 maker of semiconductors, is expected to book a net loss of about 200 billion yen, as usage rates halved on equipment used to make chips, said a Renesas source who declined to be named because the numbers are not yet public.

Renesas, which makes chips used in cars, TVs, cameras and hard drives, will also shoulder restructuring costs and a write-down of tax-related assets, reversing an earlier projection for a 9.5 billion yen net profit.

A spokesman at Hitachi, which owns 55 percent of Renesas, declined to comment on the report.

Hitachi, the world's No. 3 maker of hard drives, has already cut its annual net profit forecast to 15 billion yen from an initial estimate of 40 billion yen, when it reported half-year results in October.

That compares with an average forecast of a 2.3 billion yen net loss in a poll of 11 analysts by Reuters Estimates.

Hitachi, which has been restructuring its hard drive business and gaining profit in its nuclear and thermal power plants, is also suffering from halting orders for automotive equipment and sluggish sales in its flat-panel TVs and other electronics, a Hitachi source said.

Shutoku Watanabe, head of Hitachi's consumer business group, told Reuters this month that the company's annual LCD TV sales would likely be as much as 10 percent below target as consumers hold off on off big-ticket purchases.

Hitachi had already cut its LCD TV sales forecast for the year to end-March to 850,000 units from 1.2 million.

Shares of Hitachi were trading down 0.6 percent against the benchmark Nikkei average, which was up 1.5 percent. (Additional reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Ted Kerr; Editing by Chris Gallagher)


By: Mayumi Negishi and Kentaro Hamada
Copyright 2009 Reuters.

AMD cuts 900 additional jobs

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=UIHN1FSMSEUQEQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=212901009
Dylan McGrath
EE Times
(01/16/2009 1:30 PM EST)

SAN FRANCISCO — Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plans to cut an additional 900 jobs during the first quarter of 2009 as part of a series of moves designed to reduce the chip maker's workforce by about 9 percent, AMD said Friday (Jan. 16).

AMD (Sunnyvale, Calif.) will shed another 200 jobs through a combination of attrition and the previously announced divestiture of its handheld business, the company said.

AMD had two major rounds of layoffs in 2008. Late last year, AMD reduced its workforce by about 600 employees. Last July, it announced the layoff of 10 percent of its workers.

Other cost control measures announced Friday included temporarily reducing employee base pay and suspending some benefits programs. Executive chairman Hector Ruiz and CEO Dirk Meyer will be taking temporary reductions in base salary totaling 20 percent, AMD said.

AMD also said it will cut executive pay in the U.S. and Canada by 15 percent. All other North American employees ineligible for overtime will face a 10 percent salary reduction, the company added.

Outside North America, AMD said it would implement "voluntary pay reduction measures consistent with local policies and regulations."

In a statement, AMD said it had determined to take "difficult, but prudent" actions to reduce costs as the result of the continuing economic downturn.

A spokesperson for AMD said the job cuts would occur across all regions AMD operates in and span all levels of employees.

On Thursday, AMD rival Intel Corp. said its fourth quarter 2008 revenue fell to $8.2 billion, down $10.7 billion from the same period of 2007. But the shortfall was widely expected after Intel cut its guidance for the quarter twice. Despite rumors, Intel has yet to announce any large scale job cuts.

AMD is scheduled to report fourth quarter earnings next week (Jan. 22).

AMD is a distant second to Intel in the microprocessor market. The company made waves a couple of years ago by biting into the No. 1 chip vendor's market share, but has since lost surrendered the gains. AMD said in November it would not make chips for mobile internet devices and smart phones that would compete with Intel's popular Atom chip.

In a landmark move last October, AMD announced it would split into two parts, spinning off its fabs into a separate company backed by the government of Abu Dhabi.

Other large U.S. chip makers are also expected to announced job cuts in the coming days.

Why UMNO defeat in Kuala Terengganu by-election

My personal view the cause is still the same why BN defeat in 8 March 08. And BN didn't change and improve since than.....
You will not improve if you didn't improve and don't know what wrong.
Will not cure if you not able diagnose your problem.
What you think?
Pls give your comment....

Intel claims limited visibility, offers no Q1 forecast

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=RYINNH0X50YHKQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=212900824


Intel claims limited visibility, offers no Q1 forecast
Fourth quarter profit, sales tumble as economy softens

Bolaji Ojo
EE Times
(01/15/2009 5:02 PM EST)

Intel Corp. said it cannot "predict product demand" for the first quarter and has therefore declined to offer its typical revenue and profit forecast but instead will work off a temporary number that calls for a 15 percent sequential sales decline on top of the 19 percent drop from the third quarter of 2008.
The world's biggest semiconductor company is considered the bellwether for the rest of the chip market and its lackluster fourth quarter performance coupled with its unwillingness to offer guidance for the ongoing quarter indicates the industry might be headed for one of its worst recessions in decades.

Intel said fourth quarter 2008 net income fell to $234 million, or 4 cents per share, hit hard by a $1.2 billion loss on equity investments related to its interest in Clearwire Corp.

In the year-ago comparable quarter Intel posted net profit of $2.3 billion, or 38 cents per share. Revenue in the three months ended Dec. 27, 2008 sank to $8.2 billion, down 23 percent as previously predicted, from $10.7 billion in the comparable 2007 quarter.

"The economy and the industry are in the process of resetting to a new baseline from which growth will resume," said Paul Otellini, Intel's president and CEO in a statement announcing the results. "While the environment is uncertain, our fundamental business strategies are more focused than ever."

Intel will need all the weapons in its arsenal to pull through the coming recession. It's not typical, even in the most distressing market environment, for Intel to decline to offer investors and analysts a clear idea of how it expects to perform in a particular reporting period.

By refusing to provide even a wide sales forecast range this time, Intel is basically indicating demand has stalled and visibility into OEM component requirements has fogged up completely.

"Due to economic uncertainty and limited visibility, Intel is not providing a revenue outlook at this time," the company said. "For internal purposes, the company is currently planning for revenue in the vicinity of $7 billion."

What's clear is that Intel's capacity utilization has fallen very sharply and won't recover immediately. The company said first quarter gross profit margin "is expected to decline to the low 40s primarily due to higher underutilization charges and 32 nanometer start-up costs."

Intel's fourth quarter 2008 gross profit margin fell as expected to 53.1 percent, from 58.1 percent in the 2007 comparable quarter. The company whittled down R&D as well as other operating costs during the recently ended quarter continuing a trend analysts expect will accelerate in the current difficult environment.

For 2009, Intel said it expects R&D and marketing, general and administrative charges will be between $10.4 billion and $10.6 billion. Capital spending is "expected to be flat to slightly down from 2008," Intel said.

Spansion exploring sale, halts interest payments

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10143577-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Posted by Brooke Crothers


Spansion said Thursday that it is exploring a merger or sale, as the flash memory chip company delays interest payments on notes.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company announced that it has been "exploring strategic alternatives, including, but not limited to, opportunities to merge with or sell to similar U.S. or foreign businesses."
Spansion, one of the largest flash memory suppliers, was formed by the integration of Advanced Micro Devices' and Fujitsu's flash memory operations in 2003. The company has posted a long string of losses as it has struggled to turn a profit in the fickle NOR flash memory business.
NOR flash is used in set-top boxes and cell phones but addresses a much different market than its better-known cousin, NAND flash. NOR is typically used to store and run computer code, while NAND is used for large-capacity storage, just like hard disk drives.
Spansion received a lukewarm response to its IPO in 2005.
The company said Thursday that it has engaged Barclays Capital "to assist the company in exploring these strategic alternatives," the company said.
In connection with this, Spansion has initiated discussions to begin an "organized process of potential balance sheet restructuring opportunities" and will delay making the interest payment on its outstanding 11.25 percent senior notes due 2016, which is due January 15, the company said.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Thursday lowered its corporate credit rating on Spansion to "D" from "CCC" and the issue-level rating on the company's 11.25 percent senior unsecured notes due 2016 to "D" from "CC."
After a string of quarterly losses, Spansion, according to reports, is also considering Chapter 11 protection.

全球经济不景延伸 大年2电子厂裁119人

全球经济不景延伸　大年2电子厂裁119人

二零零九年一月十四日 凌晨十二时五分



（双溪大年13日讯）双溪大年工业领域吹裁员风。这个月份有2家从事电子领域行业的工厂分别裁退99人及20人，总数达到119人。

人力资源局副高级董事莫哈末惹吉斯阿都拉今天在双溪大年办事处对媒体透露，这2家分别在双溪大年工业区设厂的台资商，经裁退119名员工。

此外，他说，GREEN POINT PERCISIOUS除了在本月9日裁退99名员工外，也将在这个月杪裁退另外226名本地员工，这样一来，该公司裁退的员工高达325名。

这家公司总共有1223名员工，其中789名为本地员工，其余434名为外劳，而2天前裁退的99名员工属于主管级、技术人员以及行政管理人员等，而即将裁退的226名员工则为操作员，他们是属于公司合约承包商所聘请的员工。

不过，被裁退的99名员工也获得公司的赔偿，公司总共付出总额高达53万3102令吉48仙的赔偿金。

由于这家台资商在裁退员工时没有根据劳工法令行事，因此，他说，人力资源局将采取行动追究此事，必要时将在1955年劳工法令第63（1）条文下提控雇主，罪成可被罚款最高1万令吉。

此外，他说，另外1家裁退20名员工的厂商为FEITI METAL。

此前，他说，该局也经接获双溪大年6名雇主依合法程序在今年1月份裁退165名员工，其中156名为本地员工，另外9名为外劳。

而在暂停生产方面，有4个雇主经向该局报备，所涉及的员工高达507名，其中22名为外劳。

与此同时，他说，从去年10月迄今，人力资源局经为80名失业的员工找到新工作。

因此，他呼吁那些被裁退的员工，无论是主管或技术人员或蓝领阶级者都可到人力资源局登记，以便该局安排合适的就业机会。

此外，那些失业的员工也可通过网上查询，以寻找工作机会，有关网页为www.jobsmalaysia.gov.my。

未依据劳工法令条文裁员　人力局追究3厂商

人力资源局副高级董事莫哈末惹吉斯阿都拉指出，该局将对3家厂商在没有依据劳工法令的条文下裁退员工一事展开追究。

他说，该局接获这3家公司的员工投诉，指有关雇主没有给予足够时间的通知，就裁退他们。

因此，他表示，该局将对此展开调查，一旦调查结果显示雇主违约，将依法提控。

他今天在双溪大年人力资源局办事处召开记者会对媒体公布这项讯息。

另外，他说，该局也接获投诉指位于吉中马莫1家生产纤维的外资厂商在2个星期前裁退45名本地员工。

他说，这家从事纤维的工厂是在去年12月中在没有预先通知的情况下裁退45名员工。

有关公司共有323名员工，据了解管理层接下来将大幅度裁员，不过人力资源局经