Table 2. Business processes involved in extended mass layoff events, by reason for layoff, third quarters 2009 and 2010 (1)
Reason Extended mass layoff events Total business process Core processes Support processes
Strat. Mgmt. Procurement, logistics, distribution Ops. Product development Marketing, sales, account management Customer and after-sales service General managment and firm infra-structure Human resource management Technology and process development
Third quarter 2010 (p)

Total business process

 1,297 1,498 11 103 958 45 48 96 173 44 20

Business demand

 468 630 5 36 430 21 13 38 58 21 8

Contract cancellation

 32 47 - 3 31 2 - 1 8 2 -

Contract
completion

 235 278 1 10 219 5 5 16 11 7 4

Domestic competition

 - - - - - - - - - - -

Excess inventory/
saturated market

 3 4 - - 3 - - - 1 - -

Import
competition

 - - - - - - - - - - -

Slack work/
insufficient
demand/non-seasonal business slowdown

 198 301 4 23 177 14 8 21 38 12 4

Organizational changes

 72 159 3 14 60 10 9 14 34 9 6

Business-
ownership
change

 16 40 1 4 13 3 3 2 10 3 1

Reorgan-
ization
or
restructuring
of company

 56 119 2 10 47 7 6 12 24 6 5

Financial issues

 105 222 3 24 93 5 15 20 45 11 6

Bankruptcy

 13 31 2 4 11 1 1 3 6 2 1

Cost control/cost cutting/
increase
profitability

 60 140 1 16 54 3 12 12 30 7 5

Financial difficulty

 32 51 - 4 28 1 2 5 9 2 -

Production
specific

 (2) 32 - 4 14 3 2 3 4 2 -

Disaster/Safety

 (2) 1 - - 1 - - - - - -

Seasonal

 364 431 - 25 348 6 8 16 27 1 -

Other/
Miscellaneous

 270 23 - - 12 - 1 5 5 - -
Third quarter 2009 (r)

Total business process

 2,034 2,386 (3) 180 1,472 59 77 96 337 91 74

Business demand

 941 1,331 (3) 87 900 24 33 40 163 42 42

Contract cancellation

 48 71 (3) 3 43 2 3 4 10 2 4

Contract
completion

 283 331 (3) 15 276 1 4 4 25 4 2

Domestic competition

 4 5 (3) - 4 - - - 1 - -

Excess inventory/
saturated market

 17 28 (3) 5 16 3 3 - 1 - -

Import
competition

 3 3 (3) - 3 - - - - - -

Slack work/
insufficient
demand/non-seasonal business slowdown

 586 893 (3) 64 558 18 23 32 126 36 36

Organizational changes

 113 248 (3) 25 91 6 12 21 58 22 13

Business-
ownership
change

 21 55 (3) 7 20 1 3 6 11 5 2

Reorgan-
ization
or
restructuring
of company

 92 193 (3) 18 71 5 9 15 47 17 11

Financial issues

 172 351 (3) 35 160 18 18 18 67 20 15

Bankruptcy

 19 39 (3) 3 19 - 1 2 9 4 1

Cost control/cost cutting/
increase
profitability

 99 202 (3) 21 91 14 12 11 37 10 6

Financial difficulty

 54 110 (3) 11 50 4 5 5 21 6 8

Production
specific

 15 37 (3) 3 15 2 3 2 9 1 2

Disaster/Safety

 4 6 (3) - 4 1 - - 1 - -

Seasonal

 286 350 (3) 24 271 7 8 9 28 3 -

Other/
Miscellaneous

 503 63 (3) 6 31 1 3 6 11 3 2

(1) Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
(2) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(3) Identification of data by this business process began with first quarter 2010 data.
r = revised.
p = preliminary.

NOTE: Dash represents zero.