Inside these posts: job cuts

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Acco Brands to cut 2% of jobs

Office products maker Acco Brands said it would eliminate about 2 percent of its jobs and incur about $6 million in pre-tax costs in 2011 as it enforces a cost savings plan in its European business. Get the full story »

Motorola Solutions lays off 175 from WiMax unit

Motorola Solutions has laid off 175 employees in its networks business, which is slated to be sold to Nokia Siemens Networks in a $1.2 billion deal.

Motorola Solutions spokeswoman Tama McWhinney said the cuts took place in January and affected workers in Arlington Heights, as well as Fort Worth, Texas, and Tempe, Ariz. The company maintains a presence in all three cities. Get the full story »

Continental to cut 500 jobs in moving HQ

United Continental Holdings Inc.’s Continental Airlines will cut about 500 jobs at the carrier’s Houston offices between April 1 and June 30, the Houston Chronicle reported Monday, citing a letter from Continental to the Texas Workforce Commission.

Around the time of its Oct. 1 merger with United Airlines to form the biggest U.S. carrier, Continental said it would continue to employ its Houston-based management and administrative workers through March. Get the full story »

Planned U.S. layoffs rise 20% in January

The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms in January rose 20 percent from the previous month to 38,519, but the tally was still the lowest for a January since at least 1993, according to a report released on Wednesday. Get the full story »

Disney confirms layoffs in video game unit

The Walt Disney Co. is confirming layoffs amid a restructuring of its video game division, a money-losing unit that is focusing more on mobile and social games and away from expensive-to-produce console games.

The company didn’t specify the number of people affected, however. Get the full story »

Career Ed to cut 600 jobs in latest cost reduction

Career Education Corp.  said Wednesday that  it will cut its U.S. work force by 7 percent, or 600 positions, as the for-profit educator looks to reduce costs in the face of slowing enrollment growth.

The company, whose schools include Le Cordon Bleu North America and American InterContinental University, said the reductions will roll out over the next few months. Career Education will book a charge of up to $8 million in its fiscal fourth quarter on severance and related costs. Get the full story »

American Express to cut 550 jobs in restructuring

American Express Co.  said Wednesday that it will cut about 550 jobs as part of restructuring efforts. At the same time, the company also projected fourth-quarter earnings that slightly missed Wall Street estimates.

Shares recently fell 2.5 percent, to $45.21. Get the full story »

Novartis to cut 1,400 sales positions from U.S. unit

Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said Tuesday it will eliminate 1,400 U.S. sales jobs by Jan. 1.

The company said it will cut the jobs from the sales force of its general medicines business, as sales at that business will be hurt after the patent on its high blood pressure drug Diovan expires. Novartis said it plans to focus more resources on its primary care and specialty care businesses.

Blue Cross sets small layoff for spring

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois said Thursday that it will cut more than 90 jobs in its Chicago-based individual policy business as part of an ongoing companywide consolidation plan.

The company said 92 jobs at its Chicago facility would be affected by spring of 2011. However, the company said, 75  will be added to its Hallmark Services Corp. subsidiary in  Naperville and another 11 will be added to a facility in Abilene, Texas.  Get the full story »

Aon to cut up to 1,800; HQ being ‘worked out’

Aon Corp., a Chicago-based insurance brokerage and consulting firm, said it will cut 1,500 to 1,800 jobs globally over the next three years as part of its merger with Lincolnshire-based personnel consulting company Hewitt Associates.

It also said the headquarters decision for Aon Hewitt — the consulting arm — is “being worked out.” Aon is currently headquartered in one of the tallest buildings in Chicago.

The restructuring of the combined workforce and of the merged firm’s real estate holdings will cost $325 million, of which $180 million will be due to employee severance costs. Get the full story »

Planned layoffs up slightly in private sector in Sept.

The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose slightly in September, though it was the second lowest level of the year, a report Wednesday said.

Employers announced 37,151 planned job cuts last month, up 7 percent from the 34,768 job cuts reported in August, according to the report from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Get the full story »

Abbott to cut 3,000 jobs globally, none in Lake Co.

Drug and medical product giant Abbott Laboratories said this morning it would cut about 3,000 jobs worldwide. But there will be no reductions in Lake County, home to the company’s sprawling Abbott Park headquarters.

The cuts, which amount to about 3 percent of its global workforce, come in the wake of its acquisition earlier this year of Solvay SA’s drug business. Abbott has 93,000 employees worldwide, including 13,000 in Illinois that are largely at its campus just east of the Tri-State Tollway. Get the full story »

Boeing slims down military aircraft business

Boeing Co. is slimming down its military aircraft business and cutting workers as the U.S. tightens defense spending and profit margins shrink.

Boeing’s military division makes the well-known Chinook transport helicopters, as well as the C-17 transport and the F/A-18 fighter-bomber.

The job cuts will start with 10 percent of the group’s executives. Boeing didn’t say how many more workers will lose jobs. It will consolidate six divisions of the business into four. Get the full story »

Takeda to cut hundreds of jobs in Chicago area

By Bruce Japsen | The looming decline in sales from the blockbuster diabetes drug Actos
figured into Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s decision Wednesday to slash
nearly 1,600 U.S. jobs — including hundreds in Chicago’s northern
suburbs.

Japan’s largest drug maker operates from its U.S. base in Deerfield
under the name Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. It faces
competition in the next two years from upcoming generic versions of its
flagship product, the diabetes prescription Actos.

Get the full story »