Crikey has been following the jobs fallout since early January, with ten items to date on the jobs crisis threatening to derail both Kevin Rudd’s claims to economic omnipotence and Corporate Australia’s claims to social responsibility.
Here, in alphabetical order, is the total toll to date sourced from a range of media reports and Crikey’s tips box.
Have you or someone you know been sacked? Send your tales of job cut woe to boss@crikey.com.au with “sackwatch” in the subject field and we’ll keep the list updated as a handy HR reference point.
AAMHatch: 11 staff reportedly sacked at the mining technology company
AAPT: have slashed jobs in middle management and account management in Australia, with roles shipped to the Philippines, according to a tipster
ABS ordered to stop job cuts: 180 jobs lost in March currently the subject of a brawl with the union with another 60 roles said to be on the chopping block
ACP: Over 30 staff have been cut from ACP’s women’s titles, ahead of a major restructure of its sales force
AGC: 300
Air Radiators: 30 jobs gone at its Geelong plant
Alchemia: Announced to the ASX last year that it was laying off 30 staff or 60% of its workforce
Alcoa: Portland aluminum smelter said yesterday said it would curtail production by up to 15 per cent with more that 600 staff employed at the firm
AMP: Had dismissed 300 staff by December last year
Anglo American: 1000 extra jobs to go across its global operations. The losses come in addition to 10,000 cuts announced previously in its platinum division.
ANZ: poised to chop more than 50 roles from its financial planning arm, with the bulk of the jobs to be cut in NSW and Victoria. The lender’s back office function is also under threat with 500 jobs on the chopping block. 800 jobs have already gone from middle management.
APAC: 80
APN News & Media: 600 jobs slashed over the past three years
Ausenco: 50 staff hived off from Mining project manager’s Perth office
Australia Zoo: Irwin-helmed Sunshine Coast attraction to sack 26 staff and stop expansion plans
Australian Bureau of Statistics: Will sack 200 staff over the next 12 months, as controversy swirls over the its ability to maintain data accuracy amid the downturn
Australian Red Cross: Will reduce the number of national fundraising positions by 30 at the end of June, according to a tipster
Australian Taxation Office: 133 regionally-based jobs and 143 workers at its Melbourne office to cut costs
Axa Asia Pacific: 90 staff cuts announced in December
Ballarat gold mine: 200 workers retrenched from struggling mine
Bank of Queensland: cutting 150 jobs from Brisbane HQ, or 10% of its workforce, despite well paid CEO David Liddy remaining a member of Queensland Premier’s Anna Bligh’s “Job squad”.
Bankwest: Parent Commonwealth Bank has confirmed its subsidiary will cut 400 jobs, including 250 in Western Australia
BDO Kendalls: 12 accountants let go after end-of-year performance reviews
BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA): 400 workers told to take for a month beginning on from June
BHP Billiton: 3400 locally and 6000 globally with up to 900 miners to go if the mining multinational acts on plans to close its Yubulu nickel smelter in Queensland. 1,800 jobs were lost after the miner closed its Ravensthorpe nickel plant in January as the global nickel price fell off a cliff.
Blake Dawson: More staff likely to go from the top-tier law firm, in addition to the 125 already laid off, with the final figure said to be close to 200
BlueScope Steel: 40 redundancies have been announced at steelmaker amid industrial action. Western Port steelworks in Victoria will stop production over Easter, the second temporary shutdown at the plant in recent months with staff told to double their annual leave on half pay.
Boart Longyear: 2000 jobs scrapped despite delivering a 92.3% rise in profit in the 12 months to 31 December
Boeing: 90 jobs lost from its Brisbane operations in addition to 500 workers already sacked from a subsidiary
Boom Logistics: Melbourne crane business has taken 18 cranes out of service, with 31 jobs lost
Bosch: Car parts maker has announced it will cut 170 jobs at its Melbourne plant
BP Australia: Around 100 chopped last year from its corporate and regional retail sections, with rumours of more to come this year
Bradken: Wodonga steel foundry closed last month with 21 permanent staff let go
Brambles: 750 job cuts announced world-wide as millions of patented CHEP pallets lie idle in storage
Brookfield Multiplex: Staff sacked each month since August with around 250 white collar workers already dumped
BT Financial: The Westpac wealth management business arm has sacked more than 300 financial advisers over the last six months
Bush’s Pet Foods: Victorian exporter has cut 60 jobs
Cadbury Schweppes: 330 staff gone, according to a report
Carter Holt Harvey: 90 jobs lost at timber products maker in South Australia’s south-east
Caterpillar: Machinery manufacturer is shedding 280 jobs at end of this month, raising questions about the plant’s long term future
Cayes Engineering: 14
CDE capital: Mining contractor has put off 30 staff at its McArthur River Mine
Central Coast Sun-Weekly: Fairfax-owned NSW masthead has shut its doors
Centro Properties: 20 head office staff gone as part of debt stablisation plan although senior executives appear to have escaped the carnage
Challenger: Financial services firm set to announce more sackings after hiving off 174 positions, or 18% of its workforce last year
Citrix: 10% of global workforce has been retrenched with the software firm employing 160 staff across Australia and New Zealand.
Clough: Engineering contractor has axed about 75 jobs in its Perth and Bangkok operations
Codan: The Adelaide satellite equipment maker has cut 24 jobs in a tanking market
Compass Resources: 250 jobs at Browns copper, nickel and cobalt mine have been lost
Computer Sciences Australia: Roughly 150 and 170 staff set to be made redundant with a salary freeze in place
Consolidated Minerals: 133
Constellation Wines: More staff could go in addition to 350 staff already retrenched after parent company announced 5 per cent of its 9000-strong global workforce would go
Cook’s Construction: Approx 500 people have been made redundant over the past 3 months
Corrs Chambers Westgarth: 14 lawyers
CSR Monier: 12
CSR: Building products and sugar maker axed 539 jobs and cut its full year profit guidance by up to 20%.
David Jones: 150 head office jobs cut alongside floor staff.
De Longhi: Household appliance maker said to be temporarily sacking 400 workers at its radiator unit.
Deacons: 15 property and finance lawyers
DLA Phillips Fox: 12 lawyers
Don’s Smallgoods: 640 staff off-loaded
Drivetrain Systems International: Stricken Albury-based car parts manufacturer has sacked 630 employees but has recently found a buyer to preserve the roles of 167 workers still on temporary contracts
Eastmon and Rabbit: Photo processing outlets will be shutdown nationwide sometime this year, according to a source. Only some staff have been told of the closures.
EDS Australia: Fresh round of cuts with around 250 staff sacked in addition to 500 redundancies announced since November last year, as foreshadowed by Crikey
Electrolux: 44 jobs in Australia and New Zealand
Electronic Arts: Local top-level management have been shown the door after the software firm’s Canadian arm sacked 55 workers
Ernst & Young: About 40 from the Brisbane office and 100 from its Melbourne office, according to multiple sources
Fairfax Media: Kalgoorlie’s Golden Mail closed with six staff members laid off. More job cuts mooted in Australia and New Zealand to add to 550 staff sacked last year as part of its ‘Business Improvement Program’.
Figgins Holdings: 76 staff gone after 43 Shoobiz stores and four Evelyn Miles boutiques closed across Australia
Flight Centre: Travel oligopolist has so far cut approximately 100 Australian jobs and up to 1,000 internationally
Fonterra: New Zealand-owned dairy group will shed up to 140 jobs when it closes ice-cream-making operations at its West Australian plant
Ford Credit Australia: 160 jobs as local operation pares back to bare-bone levels
Ford: 350 workers from its Geelong and Broadmeadows plants
Foster’s: More than 300 jobs lost in an attempt to save $100 million as wine brands and vineyards ditched.
Futuris Automotive: Supplier to Holden says it will cut 90 staff because of the carmaker’s decision to halve shifts
GBS Gold: 300 workers sacked after firm entered receivership
GE Capital: Local interest-free finance and credit card specialist set to cut 400 jobs
GEMCO: BHP Billiton-owned miner has put off 200 contractors and a few direct employees
Genalysis: 80 jobs gone from WA laboratory
GeoScience Australia: 150 staff, about 20% of the agency’s workforce, have been told their contracts will not be renewed when they expire in June this year
GHD: The engineering firm has cut staff by 600 across its Australian operations, including 100 staff in Sydney, 100 in Melbourne and close to 100 in Brisbane
Goodman Fielder: 400 staff set to go this year as bakeries close
Google: Shutting its Melbourne office and consolidating local roles with 15 positions set to go
Grampians Wool Industries: 40 jobs lost at wool processing plant in rural Victoria
Great Southern Limited: Albany-based agribusiness group has removed seven workers
Hans Smallgoods: 400 workers at Sydney processing plant to lose their jobs after a buyer for the factory wasn’t forthcoming
Harvey Beef: West Australian meat exporter has slashed120 full-time and 40 contract positions from its Perth plant
Harvey Norman: Five office supply stores shut and ten retail stores in the firing line with hundreds of jobs on the chopping block. 45 jobs went when the Domayne store in Sydney’s Campbelltown closed.
Hassell: Architectural design and drafting firm Hassell has made 40 workers redundant out of a total workforce of about 200 in Sydney, according to a source
Hatch: Engineering Consultants have let 200 engineers, draftys and other office staff go in Perth and Brisbane
Holden: Local employees on tenterhooks with 26,000 non-US job cuts mooted by parent General Motors before the end of 2009
Hyder Consulting: Sydney Harbour Bridge engineering consultants to axe 440 jobs in Australian and the UK
Iluka: 200 positions lost across Western Australia at its mining operations
Incat: Tasmanian boat builder reduced casual workforce by 100 late last year, joining rival Riviera in cutting staff as luxury purchases fall off the consumer radar
Incitec: Temporary job losses in the Moranbah community in Queensland as construction of new chemical plant delayed
Independent contractors: Mark Latham’s “army” of 2 million independent contractors could be struggling for work, and might not be reflected in the official statistics
Infosys Technologies: Tech firm’s workforce cut by around 5%, or around 18 staff
Ingram Micro: Chip manufacturer has sacked 16 staff under pressure from its US parent
Intabill: e-Commerce mogul Daniel Tzvetkoff’s firm has sacked 96 staff and ditched sponsorship of his V8 Supercar team.
Job Network: Last week’s announcement that only 72% of current providers have had their contracts renewed puts the heat on excluded operators, leading to hundreds or perhaps thousands of redundancies
Kimberley Diamond Company: 36
Kleenmaid: 150 staff will lose their jobs after the Queensland-based kitchen and laundry appliance firm was placed into voluntary administration
KPMG: 101 staff sacked from its Sydney and Melbourne offices in previously-unannounced purge. Perth office has made around 50 positions redundant, about half from the audit division. “Some staff were offered redeployment to their Risk Advisory Services division. The whole thing has been handled appalingly given the extreme workloads many of these same staff were saddled with up until recently”, a tipster said.
Lane Walker Rudkin Sportswear factory: 60 jobs cut after the firm entered receivership
Lend Lease: Property developer said it was slashing 1700 jobs worldwide and around 350 in Australia.
Linwar Securities: 50% ANZ-owned brokerage has retrenched two analysts
Locker Group: 13
Logica: IT company sacked 44 staff last November and at least two more employees since then
Lonely Planet: 50 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, hived off, mostly from its online division, as revealed by Crikey
Lowan Whole Foods: 27 jobs gone after Victorian plant in Nhill shut down
Lyco Innovations: Ballarat-based firm has entered receivership with the future 80 jobs uncertain
Macarthur Coal: 180 jobs on the back of tumbling commodity prices
Macmahon Holdings Limited: BHP contractor has slashed 360 jobs at two Central Queensland mines due to the economic crisis, part of an estimated 3,300 job cuts across BHP’s Australian operations. The company previously sacked 420 workers
Macquarie Group: 30 gone from the Funds Management Group, 20 hived off from Macquarie Capital plus at least 100 others over the rest of the group. More mass redundancies are likely to add to the 1,000 staff already quietly laid off.
Matilda Minerals: 12 full time workers on the Tiwi Islands
Maunsell AECOM: laid off 40 staff from their Melbourne office on the Tuesday before Christmas. Many of the redundancies were former Earthtech staff, who never received back paid salary increases that had been promised. Further sackings took place during March in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. It is rumoured that the company was required to cut costs by 10%.
Maxitrans: More than 50 workers were sacked from the Ballarat-based truck trailer company
Melba Industries: 170 jobs on the chopping block with the essential services clothing contractor placed in administration
Melbourne’s Southern Star Observation Wheel: 90 staff offered packages after the $100 million Docklands white elephant was shutdown indefinitely when structural deficiencies were revealed
Metso Minerals: 2 being made redundant
Microsoft: Local headcount to be substantially reduced in line with global plans to lay-off 5,000 workers
Miric Industries: 80 jobs to go as manufacturing firm enters receivership
Mitre 10: 80 back office staff to be scrapped by the end of June following a high-level review
MLC: The NAB-owned wealth management arm has cut its full timers by 209 to 3,661 staff
Moly Mines: 70
Mt Gibson Iron: 200 to go
Myer: 100 staff made redundant as part of private equity-influenced cost-cutting drive
National Australia Bank: Has slashed 625 jobs over the last year and is set to close 35 branches nationwide as customers shift from dreary tellers to internet and phone banking
NEC: Technology company set to axe about 100 jobs at its head office in Melbourne as part of 153 R&D roles to go across the country
Newcrest Mining: 400 at Telfer mine
News Corporation: Confirmed it will lay off staff in Australia as part of a global cost-cutting plan. Crikey had previously reported that News job losses would hit 800 in Australia, a figure denied by local lieutenant John Hartigan. Recently, The Australian sacked several production staff at the same time high profile columnists D.D. McNicoll and Elizabeth Wynhausen were being called into editor Chris Mitchell’s office to be regaled with the bad news. Meanwhile, The company is reportedly offering 50 redundancies at the Herald Sun as part of plan to combine all of News features under newly appointed national features boss Alan Oakley. Also Herald Sun and Sunday Herald Sun sports staff will go on seven-day roster, according to a tipster. Editorial Assistants’ shifts on the Sunday Herald Sun have been cut in half as revealed by Crikey.
Nifty Copper Mines: 26
Ninemsn: 5% of its staff or about 20 positions gone
Nissan: 50 staff from its Victorian aluminum casting plant laid off with its Dandenong head office about to shed 20% of its staff, according to a source.
Nokia: Phone maker will retrench 450 workers worldwide, although the Australian toll is unknown at this stage
Norilsk: World’s biggest nickel producer has suspended production in Western Australia, resulting in 330 redundancies
Nyrstar: 250 contractors at Hobart zinc smelter told not to show up for work with management aiming to cut production by 30% with 60 more jobs set to go over the next 18 months
OneSteel: Chief executive says cuts will impact on “a lot” of the steelmaker’s 11,000-strong workforce, amid concern over interest coverage ratios. 800 jobs have been lost since output was slashed last November by 300,000 tonnes
Orica: “Hundreds” globally but local toll yet to be confirmed
OZ Minerals: 1200 local job losses at debt-ridden miner, with wholesale board and management changes mooted following asset writedowns.
Pacific Brands: 1850 blue collar workers famously told their time is up, despite former CEO Paul Moore receiving pay outs totaling $17 million when the firm re-listed on the ASX in 2004 following a disastrous private equity buyout
Panasonic: 15,000 jobs hived off worldwide with local losses possible
Panoramic Resources: 60
PaperlinX: Future of 400 workers at Burnie and Wesley Vale plants under a cloud as the company conducts a review of the plants left out of the sale of its subsidiary Australian Paper to the Japanese
Perpetual: 40 funds management roles gone
Peters Ice Cream: Has shut Perth production with 140 jobs lost
Photon Group: The marketing services firm retrenches 129 people, or 5%, of its local workforce
Pioneer Electronics Australia: 15 jobs have already gone at Pioneer Electronics Australia after global decision taken to scale back staff
Pitcher Partners: 12 senior audit staff sacked, although this was later denied by the firm
PMP Limited: Printer slashes 32 out of 112 jobs from its Wacol operation near Brisbane with 44 to go from its Adelaide plant with 67 permanent jobs to go from PMP’s Clayton printing plant in Victoria.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers: 170 staff have been ousted to add to 40 cuts last November while 5000 full-time staff will take up to three weeks of unpaid leave in an attempt to save costs.
Qantas: 1,750 jobs gone on top of 1,500 other staff sacked last year as international business collapses
Queensland Magnesium: 130 contract workers gone from its Kunwarara mine and Parkhurst processing plant in Rockhampton
Redbank Mines: 6 full time copper mine workers gone
Rio Tinto: 8,500 jobs in the firing line as part of plans to reduce its global workforce by 14,000. 500 jobs have alread gone from subsidiary Alcan’s Yarwun Two site alongside 700 jobs lost in central and far north Queensland
Riviera: Only 650 staff remain at the boat builder, down from 1200 employees last year
Sandvik Mining and Construction: 70 retrenchments Australia-wide after the firm sacked 32 staff in March. Plans to move Mining equipment manufacturing operation to new built facility in China later this year, axing a further 80 jobs in Newcastle.
SAP Australia: 40 employees gone over the last month, part of a global plan to retrench 3000 staff worldwide in response to the global credit crunch. In Australia, even staff with current clients have not been spared the chop
Sensis: Telstra subsidiary has cut around 200 jobs from its head office in Melbourne
Sinclair Knight Merz: 10% of workforce made redundant, despite the company paying shareholders an almost 100% dividend on equity plus a 20% equity premium in December
South Pacific Tyres: 600 workers gone from factory in Melbourne’s north
St Barbara Mines: 45
Star Track Express: 400 freight staff under threat as volumes collapse in the wake of the GFC
Stramit: 8 domestic plus 10 workers on 457 visas
STW group: Marketing group has hived off 17 jobs across the company
Suncorp: 1500 staff to go, according to internal memos
SunRice: Will cut 36 jobs in the next six weeks from Leeton processing plant
Sydney Trading Post: Significant job losses announced on Monday, according to a tipster
Talisan Minerals: 200 jobs to go
Telstra: Departing CEO Sol Trujillo’s legacy set to live on with plans to remove 4000 permanent employees and 10,000 contractors still on the drawing board. Previously, the company had created a blueprint to lay off 12,000 staff by 2012. 100 technicians set to lose their jobs in coming weeks, according to internal documents.
The Australian Public Service: Around 3,000 jobs reportedly hacked from the public service owing to the infamous “efficiency dividend” — or “inefficiency dividend” — depending on who you talk to. Jobs are expected to come under further pressure as Lindsay Tanner’s “razor gang” gains momentum in the lead up to the budget.
The construction industry: 50,000 jobs already gone in Queensland with thousands more nationally
The finance industry: 9000 workers have lost their jobs in the past six months, according to the Finance Sector Union
The insurance industry: Expects employment to fall by about 1,080, or 2.6%, this financial year
The manufacturing industry: 42,000 jobs had been shed in the manufacturing sector in the past six to nine months, according to the Australian Industry Group
The resources industry: Mining companies have cut more than 10,000 jobs since last June, says the Minerals Council of Australia. Another 10,000 more jobs to be lost over the next 18 months, according to BIS Schrapnel
The steel industry: Australian Workers Union says up to 1,000 steelworkers could go as global demand dives
The tourism industry: 29,000 jobs on the chopping block if the recession deepens, according to a report with two-thirds of all tourism operators to cut their workforce as international visitors tail off, according to the Tourism & Transport Forum
Thiess: The CFMEU says 40 workers have been sacked Burton Downs Mine, west of Mackay, with tipsters claiming “a lot” of jobs were made redundant in January
Transpacific Industries Group: Garbos told to take 2 weeks annual leave before June 30, effectively reducing the workforce from 7000 to 6000 for 14 weeks
UBS: Investment bank to cut around 500 jobs in Australian as the finance industry falls off a cliff
United Construction: 19
United Group Resources: Going from 100 to 43 and finishing apprentices up early
Virgin Blue: Will axe up to 400 jobs after the airline decided to ground five aircraft. Management is also said to be trying to find a way of sacking 50 pilots, despite reports suggesting redundancies will be limited.
Vision Australia: Not-for-profit group announced it is sacking 130 staff, around 90 of which are in Victoria
Vodafone: Hundreds of jobs to be excised nationally after its merger with Hutchison Telecoms. The combined group is weighed down by 3,700 employees and 400 stores with the “3” brand set to be phased out.
Wattyl Group: Have laid off 23 frontline field sales people, taking the total for the past 4 months to about 100 staff
Webforge: 2 made redundant
Wesfarmers: 200 jobs gone from its Kmart head office, including a number of senior staff, according to a source
Westpac: Big Four bank has already hived off 800 full time equivalent positions with more jobs to go in the second half, despite a solid profit result. 5,000 jobs could be lost as part of the St George takeover.
WesTrac: 75
Windimurra: 200
Wizard Home Loans: 50 back-office staff to go from parent company GE Money in transition to new ownership under Aussie Home Loans
Xstrata: 150 workers gone at is Handlebar Hill lead and zinc mine near Mt Isa, adding to 530 job losses at other Queensland operations
Yaffa Publishing: Australia’s largest independent magazine publisher based in Sydney (think AdNews, Australian Defence Magazine, Fishing World, Nature & Health, to name a few), has suffered a 20% drop in advertising revenue in the past twelve months. It recently closed its Melbourne office and sacked four full-time staff working there. With other capital city offices still in operation, more bad news is expected.
Yahoo7: 10% of staff, or about 30 people already gone last with more cuts imminent
Youth unemployment: 10,000 people aged 15 to 19 are set to join the jobless ranks every month over the next year
Australia Council — Staff from the Sydney-based took industrial action last week over impacts that a 20% staff cut late last year is having. “Staff have been working long hours, nights and weekends. We’ve had members reporting to us doing 12 and 14 hour days,” said Nadine Flood from the CPSU.
SA Health Department — The first 64 of 430 jobs to go have been announced from the South Australian Health Department with casualties including the Aboriginal Health Division. The public sector isn’t so safe afterall.
Tasmania Public Service — While the final figure of 800 jobs hasn’t been reduced, the Tasmanian State Government are finding a multitude of ways to save money on wages. Most prominent among these will be avoiding replacing staff who quit or move elsewhere.
NSW Support Teachers — The NSW Teachers Federation says the State Government is planning to give up 1830 support teachers jobs by 2010 despite denials from the Minister.
Media Monitors — Sources say 100 pink slips will be handed out over three months across Australia. Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth offices will be reduced to one full time staff member and one part time staff member with a dozen redundancies in Sydney. Operations will be focused to Sydney and Melbourne as well as moved offshore to Wellington and Malaysia offices. The board has allegedly blamed the rise of AAP, Google News and the economic downturn.
Gunns — While management is making assurances that the plant won’t be closed, 22 voluntary redundancies are being called for from the North-west decorative veneer mill in Tasmania.
BHP Billiton — Having promsed to re-deploy as many as possible of the 650 full-timers who lost their jobs with the closure of the Ravensthorpe nickel project in January, only 110 have been given new roles, according to a story in The West.
Centennial Coal — More bad news in the mining industry with NSW mines potentially enduring up to 89 job cuts.
Solar Industry — Feet-dragging with ETS regulations means hundreds of jobs in the solar industry are at risk. “It’s not good when a political football is created over something that’s so good for the environment.” says Guy Montgomery of Solar XPress.
Alcoa — While the official line remains that discussions are underway, sources say that Alcoa’s plans to cut jobs are more than just “mooted”. Up to 98 jobs at the Point Henry smelter and up to 41 jobs at the Portland smelter remain on the line, in a town that already took a heavy hit with Ford job-cuts.
Mint Wireless — Tips indicate this software business offed another 5 staff yesterday, following a series of rolling redundancies. They are now looking to appoint administrators.
Borders — Aside from shaving back on casual staff, sources say the bookstore franchise is retrenching all 25 Business & Education managers Australia wide, forcing store managers to pick up the work
National Foods — Blaming the economic turn and simple demand/supply sums, National Foods is offing one fifth of its production workforce of 175 based in Berri.
Air France — Not filling vacancies as they arise is a trend not confined to Australia. Air France are set to lose 3000 jobs through attrition says the Associated Press.
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