Pink Slip Monday

Will January 26, 2009 be remembered as the day corporate America slashed the most jobs ever? It's hard to say exactly, but let's hope there aren't too many more days like this one in our future.

Trolling through the headlines, here is a roundup of the carnage:

--Caterpillar eliminates 20,000 jobs.

--Sprint Nextel shows 8,000 workers the door.

--General Motors to lay off 2,000 more workers in Michigan and Ohio.

--Pfizer will eliminate 19,000 when it closes five factories after closing its deal to acquire Wyeth.

--Home Depot will let 7,000 workers go.

Several European companies also let the pink slips fly today, including ING, Royal Philips Electronics and Tata Steel.

The number of layoffs announced this morning was so large it prompted President Obama to address them in a briefing on new environmental policy.

In fact, today might not be worst we'll see. According a report released this morning by the National Association of Business Economics, this year is shaping up to be more dismal for workers than previously expected. Thirty-nine percent of executives polled said they expect to see job reductions at their firms this year, up from 32 percent in the previous poll.

It was the most pessimistic survey result since NABE began it in 1982.

by Megan Barnett