Human Capital: Page 86

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    Layoff Notices Burn Up Presses

    Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Baldor is reducing headcount through attrition, and not through layoffs.The pace of layoff announcements showed no signs of slowing down in the past week. Once again, a wide array of companies announced job cuts and, in some ca...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 19, 2008
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    Even in Hard Times, Retention’s Not Easy

    A CFO charged with the grim task of slashing head count might be excused for grasping at a silver lining, such as: “At least our top performers will be here, because in this downturn they won’t get other offers.” Even if it happens to not be true.The best talent will always be in demand, in bull ...

    By • Dec. 18, 2008
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending December 19

    • Mobile products company Palm Inc. has named Douglas Jeffries CFO to replace Andy Brown, who will leave in January. Jeffries was formerly CFO of Pacific Ethanol Inc., a corn-based fuel maker, and chief accounting officer for eBay. • Candy-maker Cadbury PLC has hired former Bristol-Myers Squibb...

    By Kate Plourd • Dec. 18, 2008
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    FedEx Delivers Pay Cuts to Save Jobs

    Against the sweep of layoffs on Corporate America, a few companies have taken pains to explain efforts to keep employees on their rolls. The latest, FedEx, announced a series a steps to “minimize job loss” while slashing costs.The package delivery and logistics giant, noting that it is facing “so...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 18, 2008
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    Road Less Traveled: Dollar Restores 401(k) Match

    While many other companies have taken the fast lane to dropping company 401(k) matches in these deteriorating economic conditions, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is driving in the other direction. The Tulsa-based car-rental company said that it will reinstate its 401(k) match program in the new ...

    By Kate Plourd • Dec. 17, 2008
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    Energy Firms Turn Up Heat on Pay Policies

    Almost half of energy companies have more closely aligned executive pay with performance since the Securities and Exchange Commission issued new proxy disclosure rules two years ago, according to a new survey by BDO Seidman.The new rules, with which companies have become compliant only gradually,...

    By • Dec. 15, 2008
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    PBGC Moves to Rescue Lehman Pensions

    The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has acted to save Lehman Brothers’ pension plan — by terminating it.The termination, which takes effect today if approved by the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, comes ahead of a December 22 bankruptcy court hearing on the sale of Lehman’s investment-management...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 12, 2008
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    Axes Sharpen for Executive Bonuses

    Roughly half of 264 companies responding to a Watson Wyatt survey say they will reduce the size of their executive bonus pool from last year.Among the 49 percent that plan such reductions, 30 percent expect a cut of up to 20 percent, 35 percent say they’ll drop bonuses 20 percent to 50 percent, a...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 12, 2008
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    This Week’s Grim Layoff Report

    The job picture was not pretty once again this week. Things were ugliest of all at Bank of America, which late Thursday announced plans to cut up to 35,000 jobs in the next three years. The bank cited its pending merger with Merrill Lynch and the weak economic environment as reasons for the decis...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 12, 2008
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    Nobody Doesn’t Like…Outsourcing?

    Sara Lee announced today that it will cut about 700 back-office jobs and outsource some finance positions.In addition to saving between $200 million and $250 million over the next three years, the company expects to gain more efficiency and flexibility as it cuts positions in North America and Eu...

    By Sarah Johnson • Dec. 11, 2008
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending December 12

    • Oil giant Chevron has promoted treasurer Patricia Yarrington to CFO, starting January 1. Yarrington, who became treasurer last year, will replace Steve Crowe, who is retiring after a 36-year career with Chevron. • Catherine Rice will retire from her position as CFO of commercial real estate f...

    By Kate Plourd • Dec. 11, 2008
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    Job Cuts Hurt Headhunters, Too

    You might think that the higher jobless rates would mean more business for executive search firms, but it’s not so. One of the biggest recruiters, Korn/Ferry International, announced that diluted earnings per share for its second fiscal quarter fell 19 percent, to $0.30 from to $0.37 a year ago....

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 10, 2008
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    Loosen Pension-Funding Rules, Consultants Ask Congress

    With the value of defined-benefit pension plan assets plummeting, a group of benefit-actuarial consulting firms sent a letter on Monday to the Senate Finance Committee asking for an emergency temporary relaxation of Pension Protection Act of 2006 funding rules.Over the past 120 days or so, the av...

    By • Dec. 10, 2008
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    Silver Lining? Global Woes Boost Accounting Profession

    In the aftermath of this year’s worldwide financial woes, accountants are gaining an ever-higher demand and respect for their services, according to a recent survey. They will be expected to focus more of their attention on compliance and risk issues, says a report published this week by the Inte...

    By Sarah Johnson • Dec. 10, 2008
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    A Survey Offers a Glimmer of Hiring Hope

    Even as the drumbeat of layoffs grows more insistent, one report suggests that the unnerving trend may abate sooner than many experts fear.According to Manpower Inc.’s quarterly Employment Outlook Survey of global hiring trends, the number of U.S. companies planning no change in their hiring inte...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 9, 2008
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    The Double-edged Sword of Head Count Cuts

    ‘Tis the season for layoffs.Scrooge-like as it seems, Christmastime is traditionally when companies, particularly those with calendar year-ends, send out pink slips en masse. And this year’s Yuletide carnage promises to be dire. The first two weeks of December alone saw announcements of some 34,7...

    By • Dec. 9, 2008
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    Director’s Cut

    For Ken Hanna, one is the magic number. According to the outgoing CFO of UK-based confectionery group Cadbury, gone are the days when finance chiefs would entertain thoughts of having a portfolio of half a dozen or so non-executive director (NED) roles. “More than one is too much in today’s envir...

    By Gabor Taroczy • Dec. 8, 2008
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    More Firms Quit the 401(k) Match Game

    More companies are looking beyond layoffs and pay cuts to achieve cost savings — for example, by freezing their company matches on 401(k) plans and leaving participants with less than they expected in their defined contribution plans.An employer, which is not obligated to contribute at any partic...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 8, 2008
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    Winners and Losers

    As the downturn thrusts finance chiefs into the spotlight, with cost-cutting and restructuring rife across the corporate world, some will shine brighter than others. Some executives have burnished their reputations under the pressure of the past 12 months, while others have faded away.In the high...

    By Gabor Taroczy • Dec. 8, 2008
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    This Pink Slip’s for You

    Three brand name companies — led by the recently merged Anheuser-Busch InBev — accounted for 8,000 layoffs on Monday as the December totals announced by companies continued to swell. The Belgian-Brazilian beverage giant said that its U.S. operation will cut about 1,400 salaried positions in its b...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 8, 2008
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    Atos Origin’s Eric Guilhou

    It’s been both a demanding and varied year for Atos Origin, what with a wide-ranging turnaround plan, negotiations with activist shareholders and the task of running the technology behind the Olympic Games. Life won’t get easier for the €6 billion Paris-based IT services company yet. “Atos Origin...

    By Tim Burke • Dec. 8, 2008
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    Blame Game

    These days finding a defined-benefit pension scheme still open to new members is as rare as a UFO sighting. And those who claim to have seen either are often considered mad.But too many companies “set up defined-contribution [DC] schemes and just walk away,” according to Andy Cheseldine, a senior...

    By Jason Karaian • Dec. 8, 2008
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    Layoff Report: November Was Bad, December’s No Better

    The job picture gets uglier by the week and doesn’t figure to bottom out for some time. In November payrolls plummeted by a stunning 533,000 jobs and the unemployment rate surged to 6.7 percent, the highest since October 1993. This is the largest drop in jobs since December 1974.In fact, Bloomber...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 5, 2008
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    Ace Signs a Mr. Fixit to Work with Its CFO

    Ace Hardware Corp. signed on a new vice president of finance to report to the CFO it named last March, continuing its efforts to shore up the department a year after a restatement due to a huge accounting error.The hardware cooperative named Rick Affolter as vice president of finance. He will rep...

    By Stephen Taub • Dec. 4, 2008
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    CFOs on the Move: Week Ending December 5

    • Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia CFO Howard Hochhauser announced his resignation. Controller Allison Jacques will fill in on an interim basis until a successor is found. Hochhauser, with the company since 2000, served as vice president of finance and investor relations before taking the top fin...

    By Kate Plourd • Dec. 4, 2008