Social Media : Facebook META slashes another 10.000 jobs

Facebook parent Meta is slashing another 10,000 jobs, about as many as the social media company announced late last year in its first round of cuts, as uncertainly about the global economy hits the technology sector particularly hard.

The company announced 11,000 job cuts in November, about 13 per cent of its workforce at the time. In addition to the layoffs, Meta said Tuesday that it would not fill 5,000 open positions.

The company, based in Menlo Park, Calif., said Tuesday it will reduce the size of its recruiting team and make further cuts in its tech groups in late April, followed by its business groups in late May.

Read more at: https://www.cbc.com

The Netherlands: Shell cuts 900 jobs in the Netherlands as part of global restructuring

Shell is cutting some 900 jobs in the Netherlands as part of its earlier announced global reorganisation, website Nu.nl and the Financieele Dagblad said on Wednesday. The job losses, which do not include people working at petrol stations, will cut the company’s workforce in the Netherlands by some 10%, Nu.nl said.

Read more at: Shell cuts 900 jobs in the Netherlands as part of global restructuring - DutchNews.nl

Sweden - Furniture Industry: Ikea to slash 7,500 jobs, focus on smaller stores in city centers - by James Rufus Koren

Furniture giant Ikea plans to cut 7,500 jobs worldwide as part of a plan to cater more to online customers, the company said Wednesday.

The shakeup at the Swedish firm, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, shows that even Ikea - known for its massive suburban stores and affordable assemble-yourself furniture - is not immune to the online competition that has affected other brick-and-mortar retailers.

Most of the job cuts will not hit Ikea's retail workers, but rather those in office positions including human resources and communications, the Journal said.

Read more: Ikea to slash 7,500 jobs, focus on smaller stores in city centers

US Automobile Industry: Ford cutting 1,400 jobs - by Chris Isidore

The company said Wednesday that it expects to use early retirement and other buyout packages to cover most of the cuts. Most of the workers will depart by the end of September.

The reductions will mostly be in North America and the Asia Pacific region. The automaker's product development unit and Ford Credit will be spared, as will operations in Europe and South America, which have already cut staff, and Africa and the Middle East, where Ford is trying to grow.

The company said Wednesday that it expects to use early retirement and other buyout packages to cover most of the cuts. Most of the workers will depart by the end of September.

The reductions will mostly be in North America and the Asia Pacific region. The automaker's product development unit and Ford Credit will be spared, as will operations in Europe and South America, which have already cut staff, and Africa and the Middle East, where Ford is trying to grow.

The cuts do not include the hourly workers on the assembly lines at American factories, who have union protection. About 57,000 members of the United Auto Workers union work at the company.

General Motors and Fiat Chrysler have cut hourly jobs since the end of last year, as the first decline in U.S. auto sales since 2009 has resulted in excess inventories of new cars on dealer lots. 

Read more: Ford cutting 1,400 jobs - May. 17, 2017

German engineering firm Siemens cuts thousands of jobs

German firm Siemens has confirmed it is to cut 7,800 jobs worldwide.

The statement from Europe’s biggest engineering company, announcing the losses said the move was to streamline administrative functions and overhead costs.

About 3,000 positions will go in Germany, most of them white collar workers. The cuts, which represent about two percent of the workforce, had been expected.

Chief executive Joe Kaser announced last year that the company needed to eliminate jobs in a bid to slash about one billion euros in costs, to combine some of its divisions and to refocus its business portfolio.

Siemens is active in several sectors including energy, medical equipment, scanning systems for industry and in transport.

Read more: German engineering firm Siemens cuts thousands of jobs | euronews, world news

Banking Industry -the Netherlands: ING to cut 1,700 jobs, take $400 million charge

ING Group NV, the Dutch bank, says it will cut 1,700 jobs, or 2.7 percent of its workforce, to cut costs.

An additional thousand jobs will be lost at external suppliers, the bank said in a statement Tuesday.

ING said the cuts are part of a move to expand its digital banking operations and jobs will be lost "at the headquarters of ING Retail Banking and in the back offices, call centers and IT departments."

The company will book a 320 million euro ($400 million) charge to cover costs, and expects to save 270 million euros annually from 2017.

Earlier this month, ING paid back the last of a 10 billion euro bailout it received from the Dutch state during the financial crisis of 2008.

Read more: ING to cut 1,700 jobs, take $400 million charge

Britain: Lloyds Said to Cut 9,000 Jobs Amid Online Banking Shift - by Stephen Morris

Britain’s largest mortgage provider, will announce about 9,000 job cuts next week as its customers increasingly shift to online services from branches, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

The bank will detail the cuts, a target for branch closures and the increasing automation of its services as part of a new three-year plan on Oct. 28, when it releases third-quarter results, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the strategy hasn’t been finalized.

Chief Executive Officer Antonio Horta-Osorio, 50, has been seeking ways to bolster earnings to help return Lloyds to full private ownership and resume dividends. The bank, which has about 88,000 full-time employees, has eliminated more than 37,000 jobs since its government bailout in 2008, with the latest plans shaping up as the biggest round of cuts since at least 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read more: Lloyds Said to Cut 9,000 Jobs Amid Online Banking Shift - Bloomberg