GM plans layoffs and benefits reduction General Motors Corp. will begin involuntary layoffs of its salaried and contract workforce beginning late this year and will reduce the benefits available to those who remain, its top executives wrote in a note to its executives. In a note to U.S.-based GM executives signed by Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and President Fritz Henderson, the automaker said "we expect to initiate involuntary separations in some areas of the business, late this year and early in 2009." In addition, the company announced that it will, among other things, suspend its 401(k) match effective Nov. 1; cancel bonuses payable in 2009; cancel its salaried tuition assistance plans beginning Jan. 1, and reduce the length of time it pays workers under its severance and mutual separation programs.
GM plans layoffs and benefits reduction
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Goldman Sachs to cut 10 percent of jobs Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is cutting about 10 percent of its work force amid the ongoing downturn in the credit and lending markets, a person briefed on the plan said Thursday. Goldman Sachs will cut about 3,260 jobs. Goldman's work force, which was at record high levels at the end of the third quarter, will be pared back close to 2006 and 2007 levels. No additional cuts are planned, the person said. This person requested anonymity because the company hadn't publicly disclosed details of the plan.
Short-term loans fall for sixth straight week The Federal Reserve says the amount of commercial paper in the market fell for the sixth straight week. Commercial paper outstanding has shrunk by $61.4 billion to a seasonally adjusted $1.45 trillion in the week ended Wednesday. That is down from $1.82 trillion six weeks ago, and down from $2.2 trillion when the market peaked in the summer of 2007. Commercial paper are short-term, unsecured loans companies get to finance their day-to-day operations. The drying up in demand has accelerated since the September bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The Fed on Monday will start buying commercial paper from highly rated companies unable to sell their paper on the market.
Chrysler to cut jobs at Ohio, Delaware plants Chrysler will cut 1,825 jobs by eliminating one shift at a Toledo Jeep plant and accelerating the closure of its sport-utility vehicle factory in Newark, Del., because of the slowing global economy and a shift toward smaller vehicles. About 825 workers at the Toledo North Assembly Plant in Ohio will be laid off indefinitely as of Dec. 31. The Newark closure also will be effective at the end of the year and affect about 1,000 jobs, the company said Thursday in a news release. The cuts are about 6 percent of Chrysler's U.S. hourly work force of 33,000.
Canada to back bank loans as recession looms Canada's government said Thursday it will guarantee loans between banks, and its central bank said the country -- the United States' largest trading partner -- is on the brink of recession.
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Couple Andrew Holperin and Jennifer Jackl converted a century-old Park State Bank into a one-bedroom, four-bathroom home while preserving some of its best original features.
