Job losses: When it gets personal

The downturn is now gripping the labour market FOR many Britons, especially workers and those looking for jobs, the past few days were when it all sank in. Falling GDP is one thing, a worry to be sure but still abstract. Lay-offs are another, evoking the insecurity of the recession in the early 1990s. Scarcely a day goes past now without an announcement of job cuts. On November 13th BT, a telecoms company that has cut 4,000 jobs since April, said it planned to get rid of a further 6,000 by next spring; most of the losses, which include workers employed by outside contractors as well as the firm’s own staff, will be in Britain. On November 17th Citigroup outlined big job losses around the world; among these will be some of the American bank’s 11,000 employees in Britain. The following day Wolseley, a building-materials firm, said that it would cut around 2,000 British jobs. ... (link)