Big Firms Deepen Job, Wage Cuts (hasn't been wielded broadly since the Great Depression)

[Omaha Steve]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123215257196692249.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

By CONOR DOUGHERTY

Strapped U.S. companies, while continuing to slash their work forces, are deploying a once-rare tool to trim labor costs -- pay cuts.

On Friday, microchip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., said it would temporarily cut pay between 5% and 20% for workers and executives. The chip maker also said it would eliminate 1,100 positions.

That news was part of yet another round of large job cuts by big-name businesses.

ConocoPhillips said Friday it would lay off 4% of its work force -- about 1,350 workers -- in the largest hit to the job market to date from plunging oil prices. Pfizer Inc. is planning to lay off a third of its sales force, as many as 2,400 positions, according to a person familiar with the situation. The announcement came days after the pharmaceutical giant cut some 800 research jobs. Car rental firm Hertz Corp., a subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings Inc., will cut 4,000 positions, and Insurer WellPoint Inc. announced 1,500 layoffs.

Electronics retailer Circuit City confirmed Friday its plans to liquidate, putting more than 30,000 jobs in jeopardy -- potentially one of the largest single blows to the labor force so far in the recession.

In addition to layoffs, companies are increasingly trimming wages, a tactic economic historians said hasn't been wielded broadly since the Great Depression.

FULL story at link.