Table 2. Business processes involved in extended mass layoff events, by reason for layoff, second quarters 2008 and 2009 (1)
Reason Extended mass layoff events Total bus. process. Core processes Support processes
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.
Second quarter
2009 (p)
Total business process 2,994 3,931 304 2,320 110 143 147 604 168 135

Business demand

1,342 2,009 140 1,281 49 46 48 296 74 75

Contract cancellation

71 125 10 68 3 2 4 25 6 7

Contract
completion

 292 340 11 284 3 2 4 27 4 5

Domestic competition

- - - - - - - - - -

Excess inventory/
saturated market

 25 47 6 25 3 - - 7 1 5

Import
competition

 6 20 4 6 1 1 - 4 2 2

Slack work/
insufficient
demand/non-seasonal business slowdown

948 1,477 109 898 39 41 40 233 61 56

Organizational changes

149 331 31 134 7 22 19 77 25 16

Business-
ownership
change

26 57 4 24 - 4 4 14 5 2

Reorgan-
ization
or
restructuring
of company

123 274 27 110 7 18 15 63 20 14

Financial issues

264 607 57 227 26 46 39 124 51 37

Bankruptcy

48 155 18 45 4 13 11 33 21 10

Cost control/cost cutting/
increase
profitability

147 292 27 120 19 24 16 58 11 17

Financial
difficulty

 69 160 12 62 3 9 12 33 19 10

Production
specific

 8 17 3 8 - 1 1 3 1 -

Disaster/Safety

3 2 - 2 - - - - - -

Seasonal

671 877 66 627 26 27 32 88 10 1

Other/
Miscellaneous

 557 88 7 41 2 1 8 16 7 6
Second quarter
2008
Total business process 1,756 2,204 145 1,400 54 81 103 303 86 32

Business demand

566 742 34 535 20 25 21 77 18 12

Contract cancellation

22 43 2 21 1 3 2 8 4 2

Contract
completion

 211 227 3 206 3 1 2 9 1 2

Domestic competition

1 3 1 1 - 1 - - - -

Excess inventory/
saturated market

 8 22 2 8 2 2 1 4 2 1

Import
competition

 13 26 3 13 1 1 - 7 1 -

Slack work/
insufficient
demand/non-seasonal business slowdown

311 421 23 286 13 17 16 49 10 7

Organizational changes

122 262 25 93 6 16 23 62 25 12

Business-
ownership
change

20 34 2 13 2 3 1 10 3 -

Reorgan-
ization
or
restructuring
of company

102 228 23 80 4 13 22 52 22 12

Financial issues

120 277 33 102 6 21 17 67 26 5

Bankruptcy

23 64 9 21 2 4 4 12 9 3

Cost control/cost cutting/
increase
profitability

55 113 9 45 4 9 6 33 5 2

Financial
difficulty

 42 100 15 36 - 8 7 22 12 -

Production
specific

 24 39 3 23 1 1 2 6 2 1

Disaster/Safety

6 11 1 6 1 - - 2 1 -

Seasonal

651 832 47 621 20 14 38 79 13 -

Other/
Miscellaneous

 267 41 2 20 - 4 2 10 1 2

(1) Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: Dash represents zero. For unabbreviated business process titles, see Table 3.

 

Last Modified Date: November 24, 2009