Happy Holidays!!!
Also see: E-Bay's E-Dump
"Ebay will cut 1,000 full-time jobs, acquire payment firm" by Bloomberg News | October 7, 2008
NEW YORK - EBay Inc., whose shares are trading at an almost six-year low, will cut 10 percent of its workforce and agreed to buy two payment and classified advertising companies for $1.34 billion as sales growth slows at its Internet marketplace unit.
EBay will purchase online-credit service Bill Me Later for $945 million and merge it with its Paypal payment division. The company also agreed yesterday to buy Denmark's Den Blaa Avis for its newspaper and the country's two biggest classified websites for $390 million in cash.
One thousand full-time employees and about 600 temporary and part-time workers will be laid off as San Jose, Calif.-based eBay seeks to reaccelerate sales that rose at the slowest pace since 1998. The job cuts, which will be completed by year-end, will cost eBay $70 million to $80 million pretax, most of which will be recorded in the fourth quarter, and lead to annual savings of about $150 million. --more--"
Kraft is doing the same thing:
Kraft Foods Inc. said it is cutting 400 jobs in North America to reduce costs. A Kraft spokeswoman said the layoffs will represent about 1 percent of the company's North American workforce, adding that the layoffs will take place across the board in all geographies but will mainly affect employees in Chicago; Madison, Wis.; Tarrytown, N.Y.; East Hanover, N.J.; and Toronto offices. The largest US food and beverage maker is in the middle of a three-year transformation to improve sales and profits by lowering costs, launching products, and boosting marketing (AP)."
