Business processes involved in extended mass layoff events, by reason for layoff, third quarters 2008 and 2009

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Mass Layoff Statistics

Table 2. Business processes involved in extended mass layoff events, by reason for layoff, third quarters 2008 and 2009 (1)
Reason	Extended mass layoff events	Total bus. process.	Core processes					Support processes
Reason	Extended mass layoff events	Total bus. process.	Procure., logistics, dist.	Operations	Product develop.	Mktg., sales, account mgmt.	Customer and after- sales service	General mgmt. and firm infra-structure	HR mgmt.	Tech. and process develop.
Third quarter 2009 (p)
Total business process	1,776	2,198	170	1,342	57	79	92	308	82	68
Business demand	850	1,215	84	812	24	33	38	146	40	38
Contract cancellation	45	68	3	40	2	3	4	10	2	4
Contract completion	254	297	15	248	1	4	3	21	4	1
Domestic competition	4	5		4				1
Excess inventory/ saturated market	17	28	5	16	3	3		1
Import competition	3	3		3
Slack work/ insufficient demand/non-seasonal business slowdown	527	814	61	501	18	23	31	113	34	33
Organizational changes	106	236	25	86	6	13	21	54	19	12
Business- ownership change	21	55	7	20	1	3	6	11	5	2
Reorgan- ization or restructuring of company	85	181	18	66	5	10	15	43	14	10
Financial issues	165	337	33	154	17	18	18	63	19	15
Bankruptcy	19	39	3	19		1	2	9	4	1
Cost control/cost cutting/ increase profitability	97	198	20	90	13	12	11	36	10	6
Financial difficulty	49	100	10	45	4	5	5	18	5	8
Production specific	14	32	2	14	2	3	2	8		1
Disaster/Safety	4	6		4	1			1
Seasonal	258	317	22	245	7	8	8	25	2
Other/ Miscellaneous	379	55	4	27		4	5	11	2	2
Third quarter 2008 (p)
Total business process	1,581	2,035	160	1,147	45	89	94	329	103	68
Business demand	642	947	68	610	23	29	24	131	37	25
Contract cancellation	44	71	3	42	2	2	3	13	3	3
Contract completion	195	217	6	190	1	1	3	10	2	4
Domestic competition	(2)	5	1	2	1			1
Excess inventory/ saturated market	(2)	17	4	6	1	1		4	1
Import competition	12	30	7	12	1		1	5	2	2
Slack work/ insufficient demand/non-seasonal business slowdown	382	607	47	358	17	25	17	98	29	16
Organizational changes	122	294	27	100	11	16	29	69	21	21
Business- ownership change	20	43	3	16	1	3	2	11	4	3
Reorgan- ization or restructuring of company	102	251	24	84	10	13	27	58	17	18
Financial issues	192	435	40	170	8	33	30	97	37	20
Bankruptcy	42	113	10	40	2	9	9	25	12	6
Cost control/cost cutting/ increase profitability	92	196	21	75	3	15	13	46	13	10
Financial difficulty	58	126	9	55	3	9	8	26	12	4
Production specific	30	48	5	28		3		8	2	2
Disaster/Safety	32	16	1	6	1	2	1	3	2
Seasonal	216	251	16	207	2	4	7	13	2
Other/ Miscellaneous	347	44	3	26		2	3	8	2
Footnotes: (1) Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia. (2) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. ^p = preliminary. NOTE: Dash represents zero. For unabbreviated business process titles, see Table 3.