Word: caterpillar
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Layoffs at big companies are so common now that it is novel when a day goes by without Microsoft (MSFT), Caterpillar (CAT), or Macy's (MC) letting thousands of people go. There are a relatively small number of America's largest companies which will almost certainly not have significant layoffs. One of them might close an office in Turkey, another could replace telephone operators with an automated system, but each is in a unique position that makes it highly unlikely for them to want or need to fire employees...
...Obama, whose chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and legislative liaison Phil Schiliro personally oversaw the negotiations on the Hill, hailed the agreement, saying it will help companies like Caterpillar, which announced 20,000 layoffs last month. "Just today, the CEO of Caterpillar said that if this American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is passed, his company would be able to rehire some of the employees they've been forced to lay off," Obama said. "It's also a plan that will provide immediate tax relief to families and businesses, while investing in priorities like health care, education, energy and infrastructure that...
...move is opposed by most Republicans, and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has demanded that it be stripped from the bill. Major U.S. companies like General Electric and Caterpillar have also opposed the provision, saying it will hurt their ability to win contracts abroad - and impose layers of bureaucracy on what is already likely to be a cumbersome contracting process...
Last week was brutal for the workplace, with U.S. companies - like Caterpillar, Boeing, Sprint Nextel and Target - cutting more than 80,000 jobs all told. Losing your paycheck in a recession is certainly awful, and those who hold on to their jobs are no doubt better off than their fallen colleagues. But watching colleagues pack their things and go - and dealing with guilt that it wasn't you, anxiety that you might be next, exhaustion from the extra work you must take on and even envy of those who get to leave such a sullen environment - that's not much...
...Caterpillar is the ultimate hardware maker, fashioning massive steel earthmovers in vast factories that spark and clang, Microsoft, which recently announced its first serious job cuts, is the behemoth of software, silently manipulating ones and zeros. Worlds apart, they've come together in the layoff business. Whether a company chops trees (Weyerhaeuser) or prices (Target), whether it sells Lipitor (Pfizer) or lumber (Home Depot), whether it services oil rigs (Baker Hughes) or cell phones (Sprint Nextel), job one is cutting payroll...