Sign In
SHARE
The Most Depressing Industry Is...
Quick: Which is the most depressing industry to work in? Measured strictly by layoffs, several contenders are locked in a very tight race.
Automakers, of course, are suffering from high gas prices and slumping demand in a weakening economy. Wall Street is shedding bankers and brokers almost as fast as it is unloading illiquid mortgage-backed securities onto taxpayers. And the print media looks to be locked in the inescapable gravity of a black hole of death.
And then there are airlines. When it comes to job cuts, the airline industry may be trailing a bit behind the breakneck pace of Detroit automakers and Wall Street banks in 2008. But it's doing its best to catch up, recent data show.
Continental Airlines announced 3,000 jobs cuts Thursday. Coupled with the 1,000 cuts announced the previous day by United Airlines, the industry has cut almost 22,000 jobs so far this year.
After averaging about 1,300 jobs cuts per month in January and February, the rate spiked to 5,500 from March to May.
If job losses continue at current levels, 2008 would be the second-largest year of job cuts for U.S. airlines since 2001, when the industry cut nearly 100,000 jobs, most of them after the 9/11 attacks.
"The only reason we will not surpass the 2001 record is because the airlines never returned to pre-9/11 employment levels," John A. Challenger of the outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said. "Job cuts are likely to remain heavy, however, for the remainder of the year."
The soaring cost of oil has fueled cuts, and industry executives received more bad news Friday when Morgan Stanley predicted oil could reach the record price of $150 a barrel by July 4, news that helped send the markets into a tailspin.
by Alfonso Serrano F.
Loading...
Thank you for registering as a Portfolio.com Insider. Your comment has been added.
Create Your Public Profile
- ACBJ to relaunch Portfolio.com
- May 20 2009 1:44PM EDT
- 44, Day 97: On Golf, Swine Flu, and a "Hallmark Holiday"
- Apr 26 2009 5:39PM EDT
- 44, Day 96: Where's the Suggestion Box?
- Apr 25 2009 2:10PM EDT
- 44, Day 95: Let Them Have Student Loans
- Apr 24 2009 6:49PM EDT
- Stressing Out Over Stress Tests
- Apr 24 2009 2:14PM EDT
- King of the Private Equity Hill
- Apr 24 2009 8:23AM EDT
- 44, Day 94: What's in Obama's Wallet?
- Apr 23 2009 6:39PM EDT
- Madoff Clawback Campaign Targets Ex-Clients
- Apr 23 2009 3:00PM EDT
- Merrill, Muzzle, and the Mob
- Apr 23 2009 1:45PM EDT
- 44, Day 93: Earthly Concerns
- Apr 22 2009 7:14PM EDT
- Stanford Prosecutor Arrested for Assault
- Apr 22 2009 5:47PM EDT
- IMF Downgrades the Global Economy
- Apr 22 2009 2:00PM EDT
- Ackman Opens His Target Slate to Questions
- Apr 22 2009 11:51AM EDT
- Freddie Mac Acting CFO Found Dead
- Apr 22 2009 8:42AM EDT
- 44, Day 92: About Those Interrogations
- Apr 21 2009 5:53PM EDT
Archive
