Job loss roundup: like other roundups, only less fun
By Laura June 
posted Jan 21st 2009 11:45AM
posted Jan 21st 2009 11:45AM
Remember yesterday... when everything was awesome and hopeful? Well, with this morning's coffee came the cold hard truth once more: the economy is seriously stinking up the joint, and it only seems to be getting worse. Logitech's announced their third-quarter earnings (down 70 percent) and simultaneously said it's going to shrug off 600 of its employees, while the folks over at Intel have said they're shutting down a manufacturing facility in the Philippines which houses 1,800 employees. Sony's vaguely announced a "restructuring" which is bound to result in misery and job loss, while Sega confirmed that "about 30" people have been vaporized from the pay sheet. So... everything's cool with this blogging job, right guys? Guys!?
Read - Confirmed: Sega cuts staff
Read - Sony announces restructuring plan
Read - Intel announces RP operation shutdown
Read - Logitech third quarter profits fell 70 percent
Read - Confirmed: Sega cuts staff
Read - Sony announces restructuring plan
Read - Intel announces RP operation shutdown
Read - Logitech third quarter profits fell 70 percent
We call it "group seperation" around these parts...
You call it a "group seperation" around those parts ?
It goes around a lot but it's always seperete.
Everyone, please note that you shouldn't be adding spaces before question or exclamation marks. It looks stupid and it makes you look stupid.
@ jakem,
you're stupid for not noticing their incorrect spelling of "separate." so, stfu.
This is getting annoying. How about starting some black list, lay off over 5% and do not buy from bastards.
The exception might be CEO lay off or overseas but would have to move jobs back from tax shelter to US
We call it a "group seperation" around here...
durrrrrr
I went to college from 1999 - 2005 and then Grad school till 2007 in order to get a M.S. in Physics, and an M.A. in Education - so that I could now be an Assistant Principal in the public school system.
Despite all the people telling me I should be an inventor - or computer tech, I knew long ago times like this were coming - I figured it out the day Bush beat Gore.
You gotta treat your education and career like a investment in a commodity.
Working for the City - as a Science teacher (or Math, or ELL) YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WORK...PERIOD.
How can you beat that many holidays + summer off + my $93,000 a year? I'm sure some people can, But, I like my position just fine !
Plus, teachers get four 12-day vacations + Summers off. You work summer if you want to make that extra $5000
So rather than aiming for the top you settled for not too much, wait and see how that salary looks in 15 years, most teachers I know are sorry they settled for short term pay.
Those who can't teach.
wtf- an assistant principal gets $93,000 per year in the USA! Guess the teachers in Australia are right, a high school principal in NSW gets I think $100,000AUD = $65,000USD. Ordinary teachers here get paid significantly less
if an assistant principal gets 93,000 per year, i wonder how much a principal gets?! please tell me your at a university/college and not high school.
i shouldn't have gotten into programming/web publishing.
I feel bad for the kids at your school. More liberal leadership trying to prepare them for tomorrow. Last time I checked your job was paid by tax revenue. Depending on where you live it could be mine! People out of work=less tax revenue=no more money for Mr. VP. I'm glad you have a job but remember the rest of us pay for it.
Murray
- all that "liberal"/ "conservative" talk doesn't mean shit to me. Obama's president now and neoconservatism has been labeled FAIL - every problem this country has now will be forever blamed on Bush/Cheney and the neocons until Obama either fixes them or makes blunders of his own that standout.
I'm not the least bit concerned.
Maliyke
I am AP in JHS (7-12)
Principals on average make $100,000 - my old principal makes $130,000.
I agree that your education is now a commodity in certain aspects. Certainly a BA/BS is the new high school diploma. I am finishing up my MBA to differentiate myself. It has already paid for itself 2x.
However, with all due respect, I do object to trying to brag about how you don't have to ever worry about having work because you work for the city. The system is fundamentally flawed and I don't think we should be leveraging that for our own personal gain.
My wife is a teacher and, unlike many of the teachers at her school, she is damn good. There are women in their late 60s who don't give a care about the kids. They care about making money and using all their sick days. My grandparents were teachers during the depression and taught w/o pay because they, as civil servants, existed for the benefit of the community. Now many of our teachers and "civil servants" are anything but helpful. I am sure you care and I don't mean to dump on you- I wouldn't suggest that you don't care about helping students or anything like that- but the tone of "work for the gov so you can be lazy and never worry about job security" is absolutely 100% the WRONG message to send.
@Flashpont, I'm glad you're making a good living, I really am. But maybe just display a bit of compassion toward those less fortunate instead of judging them on their career path decisions while shamelessly showing off your arrogance. I sincerely hope that you at least put on a false front for your students at school.
@Malikye, it all depends on the school district. I know someone making close to six figures "teaching" at a kindergarten.
First of all, the primary needs of any human being are food, shelter and reproductive freedom. We'd all be bullshitting ourselves if we didn't acknowledge that since that is basically the only reason why any of us work at all. To feed ourselves, to cloth ourselves and to ensure we can have families...etc.
As for the kids... I've steadily pushed my kids to achieve 90% (or better) pass rates, but then again, in Physics - which is optional, most people who get into it pass anyway because of enthusiasm causing them to study hard and work.
I'm in my job because #1 I wanted a good job, #2 I'm helping my community and #3 its got excellent benefits (healthcare, vacations, etc)
I am in no way going to break my back working when I have a mind that can allow me to fufill a niche.
You may think this is stupid, but my motto - which I learned as a kid watching "Ducktales" was when Scrooge McDuck said: "Don't work harder - work smarter".
I live by that.
Nice speak from an assistant principal... Explains a lot about our education system if you ask me.
@ Flashpoint -
1) Bragging about your salary and wise career moves? I could care less how much you make. Plus you could have made your point without throwing numbers out there. Humble you are not.
2) As a well educated public employee of the school system, why are you posting on this blog? Shouldn't you be, oh I don't know doing assistant principal stuff???
3) Cursing in your reply?! It's detention for you buddy!!!!
4) You are the reason why tax payers do not like to increase funding for public schools. Instead of going to the teachers and kids, it goes to paying pricks like you.
@ Flashpoint -
1) Bragging about your salary and wise career moves? I could care less how much you make. Plus you could have made your point without throwing numbers out there. Humble you are not.
2) As a well educated public employee of the school system, why are you posting on this blog? Shouldn't you be, oh I don't know doing assistant principal stuff???
3) Cursing in your reply?! It's detention for you buddy!!!!
4) You are the reason why tax payers do not like to increase funding for public schools. Instead of going to the teachers and kids, it goes to paying pricks like you.
Listen, I believe that teachers should be well paid. In fact, I have no problem with an assistant high school principal making 90k a year. In return, though, teachers should first and foremost be committed to and take pride in making a positive difference in kids' lives, not the fact that they're making a good living for themselves. That's just me, maybe I am just kidding myself.
how come it took you 6 years to graduate college?
The fact that your motto comes from a cartoon already just tells me how educated you really are.
here is a better one than "don't work harder, work smarter".
"Worker harder today to be lazy tomorrow". Which speaking has gotten me the job that I have today, do less work than you and make about 3 times more money. Because working smarter can often times mean cutting corners and not doing things the right way.
Oh and hears is another motto. "Do it right the first time or don't do it at all" Kind of goes with my motto doesn't it.
Smarter is good, doesn't always mean better.
I stopped teaching in the public schools of NC and FL after making no more than $30k/yr.
That with 20+ years experience and a doctorate.
The bennies were good, but fishing for a living beats an inside job.
GRANNY
In FL and most parts of the south, teachers aren't paid alot because the price consumer index is lower and the cost of living is too.
I live in NYC
This is like the most ridiculously expensive place - cost of living wise - to live. My property taxes are almost $9000 a year because of the local regs.
As for the rest of you...
You can insult me about my "motto" but at least I have one - and it serves me well
As for my choice of profession and reasons...my students do very well on their state tests - that's why I've been promoted so easily - because I get results.
Its a free market right? I can choose whatever profession, for whatever reason - so long as I get the job done.
@flash
That is a derivative assumption, that the "Consumer Price Index" drives salaries.
Salaries of public school teachers are set by county school boards. Funds for salaries appropriated by county commissions within the limits of what the particular state mandates. These funds come from taxes on properties, usually millages set by those same county commissions within the limits of what the state allows.
That having been said, a precis of school finance is not what I came here for.
I came here to correct your spelling of "alot." Anyone with a Masters should know that "alot" is not one word, but two; viz., a lot.
Good luck in your principalship. Save your money.
LOL, OK, I usually don’t read the comments on the posts here but I knew as soon as I read the headline we would all be privileged to hear some half-assed, uneducated semi-political drivel.
I didn’t, however, know I would be fortunate enough to be graced by flashpoint’s presence. This could be one of the greatest days of my life.
Now, typically flashpoint gets down-voted just on “principal” (get it?) but here we have (more) legit cause and I think we all know that’s obvious.
First off? Don’t embarrass yourself by listing your qualifications and then state how little money you make. Honestly, what kind of barely-adequate middle-America publically-funded school(s) did you attend? As a kid with an undergrad degree I’m doing more than you are and my salary isn’t even on the high end of kids in my field from my school. I know 22-year-old kids getting six-figure salaries excluding stock options, benefits, signing/relocation bonuses, etc.
Some economy, eh? Does it bug you that kids born in 1986 get paid more than you do?
Speaking of stock options, I guess you civil servants must get muni bonds instead, rights? Terrific.
If you’re going to do the “Bush bash”, try harder. The first obvious point, as others have pointed out here, is that you are seriously ungrateful for your relatively cushy job that you have held during Bush’s administration. Seems a little hypocritical. After all, if Bush and his “neocon” cronies actually enacted something (i.e. got it past the libs in the House), you know, economically efficient such as privatizing the U.S. public school system, your ass might be out of a job, huh? Or at least you’d have to actually compete for it based on competency. But under obama, you should feel secure knowing that the inefficiencies, corruption and bureaucracy of today’s public school system will remain intact and well-protected. For someone with such a sweet gig you sure do bitch a lot.
So please, breathe a sigh of relief. We don’t want you flipping out during a school day, after all. Although I’m sure you fit in with all the rebellious teens in school saying things like “Obama’s president now and neoconservatism has been labeled FAIL – every problem this country has now will be forever blamed on Bush/Cheney and the neocons”. That doesn’t at all sound like an angry kid who slams his door and buries his head in his pillow crying after getting grounded. Do you wear a Che Guevara t-shirt and a Castro hat to unofficial school functions?
Now you could very well be a principal of a private institution, but I doubt it seeing as most private schools use terms like “headmaster” or “dean of students” in place of “principal”. Typically, private school teachers get paid less as well (as a result of less BS and bureaucracy…but the students are better prepared for college/life upon graduation…hmmmm) unless you are employed by an ultra-elite school like Exeter or St. Mark’s so your “high” salary questions that notion as well.
I don’t really want to get into how the housing “bubble” problems are the result of Federally-mandated “non-predatory” lending schemes brought about by the dems years ago in order for them to (what else) gain the favor of the “common man” and the general ignorance of the American public. After all, this is America, everyone deserves a house and a car, even if they can’t pay for it, right?
It’s fairly well accepted that your comments draw more ire on this site than relief so you should not at all feel bad/angry about the replies you have earned. And for some reason I don’t think you do.
While I do appreciate the novelty of your Disney-inspired take on capitalism you are undoubtedly an example of why our public school system (again, assuming you work for the state) and as a result its products is in deep trouble. What I find terrific about this whole situation is that I’m sure all your students and staff know about your education, pedigree, etc. and are thinking “man, Mr. flashpoint has all this education, pedigree, etc. and he’s just a civil servant. Why should I work hard and go to college to do that?”
Instead of being an “inventor” or whatever you have taken a coward’s way out and accepted mediocrity. And you project that to your students and staff every day.
Some inspiration you are.
Now please, get back to managing preteens and under-appreciating your teachers. Us grownups have work to do.
"Working for the City - as a Science teacher (or Math, or ELL) YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WORK...PERIOD."
Try telling that to the teachers and governement workers in California who may very well get IOU's along with their pay stubs. Nothing is secure forever, and deciding to settle rather than living up to your true potential (not to mention your sizable education investment) is foolish.... Unless you have a passion for what you are doing and truly feel called... step out there and take some risks for crying out loud!
Failure is part of success and without it you are nothing more than a drone who will one day look back on his life and feel utterly unfulfilled, and that is bad for everyone who knows you.
You guys can say whatever you want to say...fine.
Simple fact is, I acquired a set of skills that - IN THIS ENVIRONMENT - keeps me viable.
This is survival of the fittest baby.
@Flashpoint,
I'd like to see how long your job last if your board of directors seen your forum posts here on engadget...
You call it a "group seperation" around there...
I'm very curious to find out what photograph you will use when engadget has to 20% of its staff.
A photoshopped face of the ones involved would be very funny. In an Engadget way, of course.
@giuliop -
Sad thing is, the Photoshop dude would probably be the first to go. :-(
j/k, you guys will be fine. I personally wouldn't mind seeing a certain other blog disappear though.
Umm, Apple isn't doing so hot either lately...
Actually they're up a $1.86 as of this posting. Still only at 80$ when they hit $200 a few months back.
You're complaining because Engadget is making light of the situation- so you'd rather they not report this news, or they'd rather report it in a bland way ("Logitech and Intel are laying off employees. Intel employees in the Philippines don't have a place to live now. Go back to work.")?
I don't think they were being disrespectful. The picture signifies hard times. People who read Engadget want to be entertained and informed. That's all they were providing.
Sega is cutting jobs? Does this mean Sonic and Knuckles will be waiting at the soup line?
No loss if someone from engadgets get kicked out, every articles reads like it was written by the same person.
How many people does Engadget employ anyway? Way too many I'll bet.
It seems that the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) is starting to reach the real economy across the globe. I'm from Brazil and here is the same, lot of unemployment and by judging this first days of the year the outlook is very grim. There's much more pain yet to come.
Fasten your seat belts.
Yeah it's odd that the entire planet is having the same issues. But there are still the same amount of people that there were a couple years ago with the same demands so this will all level out. I think the planet will have to live more modestly though so even though we have all these layoffs now we'll need people back in a couple years but will probably not grow as fast/much as we did in the past. No longer is "the sky's the limit". I'd say the limit is just below the sky for a while...
Loss, loss, loss, cut, cut, cut, I sort of get numb, instead of get mad.
Job's gone, life goes on. don't loss all your fun, for things cannot be undone.
I lost my job ....then I found it.... it was in my hand the whole time!
Gosh I feel silly when I do that!
A hand job?
Hand Job: "Shaking hands with the unemployed."
My wife got laid off in October, I got laid off on January 9th. The job market in Chicago is very tough at the moment.
Hang in there, man!
sorry to hear that man. it's tough everywhere.
I'm not too worried. I thought we were headed to something bad economically, so I accelerated my house payments in the salad days and paid my house off a few months before the economy went to hell. I then paid off all my credit cards too. So I am in the situation that I could get by just fine flipping burgers if I needed to.
I can't remember the last time we went out to eat.