Table 1. Selected business functions involved in nonseasonal extended mass layoff events, selected quarters, 2008 and 2009

(Number of reports)
Selected business functions by business process (1) Total Main Secondary

IV
2008
III
2009(r)
IV
2009(p)
IV
2008
III
2009(r)
IV
2009(p)
IV
2008
III
2009(r)
IV
2009(p)

Total (2)

 5,277 3,115 2,498 1,938 1,171 918 3,339 1,944 1,580

Producing goods/providing services

Construction activities

 454 320 301 428 313 280 26 7 21

Producing goods

 812 374 281 762 352 259 50 22 22

Providing services

89 68 60 44 35 32 45 33 28

Accounting services

107 65 58 12 7 4 95 58 54

Contracted services

103 96 96 77 68 65 26 28 31

Engineering services

77 67 48 10 19 11 67 48 37

Entertainment services

30 17 12 27 17 11 3 - 1

Facility maintenance services

177 100 87 7 6 6 170 94 81

Financial management

23 22 11 2 2 1 21 20 10

Financial services

53 35 19 31 24 11 22 11 8

Food and cafeteria services

60 44 29 24 20 9 36 24 20

Health care services

15 29 18 14 18 14 1 11 4

Housekeeping services

 19 24 19 6 4 4 13 20 15

Lodging services

46 18 18 15 10 9 31 8 9

Maintaining and repairing products

 59 33 26 12 7 6 47 26 20

Security services

26 20 15 7 11 8 19 9 7

Assembling products

143 68 58 68 25 17 75 43 41

Fabricating

126 68 54 71 48 36 55 20 18

Quality assurance/quality control

116 81 67 - 1 - 116 80 67

Supervision--first line or direct

 237 155 100 2 - - 235 155 100

Procurement, logistics, distribution

Buying

 48 18 17 1 1 1 47 17 16

Distribution

 80 33 39 18 8 6 62 25 33

Packing

 66 32 25 7 4 3 59 28 22

Receiving

 110 54 29 2 - 1 108 54 28

Shipping

 166 91 73 17 12 6 149 79 67

Transporting

 109 52 52 34 22 20 75 30 32

Warehousing

 141 69 61 18 12 12 123 57 49

General management and firm infrastructure

Administrative support

 303 190 137 18 13 12 285 177 125

Clerical support

311 143 105 7 3 1 304 140 104

General management

 283 174 129 23 6 4 260 168 125

Human resource management

Human resources, including recruiting

 181 97 85 2 1 - 179 96 85

Payroll and compensation

 70 37 23 - - - 70 37 23

Training

 11 8 5 - 2 - 11 6 5

Marketing, sales, customer accounts

Advertising

 13 9 6 3 2 1 10 7 5

Billing

 26 10 15 - - - 26 10 15

Marketing

 45 24 22 4 3 - 41 21 22

Order processing

56 28 28 1 2 2 55 26 26

Selling

 169 58 55 101 32 24 68 26 31

Telemarketing

 4 6 4 3 4 3 1 2 1

Customer and after-sales service

Call center activities

 24 26 29 19 16 19 5 10 10

Customer service

 123 102 74 13 10 7 110 92 67

Installing products

 17 11 14 3 1 2 14 10 12

Technical support

 35 25 26 - 1 2 35 24 24

Technology and process development

Computer systems development

 6 5 7 3 2 1 3 3 6

Computer systems maintenance

 10 14 9 2 1 - 8 13 9

Data processing

 12 13 9 - - - 12 13 9

Internet web services

 3 3 3 1 - 1 2 3 2

Software development and testing

9 7 5 3 1 3 6 6 2

Software and IT services

 48 41 25 10 7 2 38 34 23

Other business functions

 26 31 10 6 18 2 20 13 8

Other

Events with nonstandard functions reported

258 135 74 173 91 54 85 44 20

Refusal (3)

 9 6 8 9 6 8 - - -

Does not know (4)

 56 21 16 56 21 16 - - -

(1) Business functions reported in this table were the most frequently cited functions in 2007. Functions are grouped by business process without regard to the industry of the establishment. Therefore, the process "operations" does not appear.
(2) Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
(3) Excludes events in which the employer refused to participate in any part of the employer interview.
(4) Excludes events in which contact with the employer was not possible.
r = revised.
p = preliminary.

NOTE: Dash represents zero.

 

Last Modified Date: February 25, 2010