layoffs

Say it ain't so: Robin Givhan has been let go from her position as the special correspondent for style and culture at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. She'll leave the company at the end of the year.

Daily Intel reports that Givhan is among the employees of The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company laid off on the second day of its ongoing staff reductions. The layoffs come after Newsweek announced that it would stop printing and merge with the Beast's online platform.

"I plan to work on my book about the 1973 Versailles fashion show and look for a new job," Givhan said.

She joined Newsweek at the end of 2010 and had previously been the fashion editor of The Washington Post. In 2006, Givhan became the first and only fashion journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize "for her witty, closely observed essays that transform fashion criticism into cultural criticism."

Photo via Givhan's Facebook page.

In one fell swoop, Myspace decides to cut 47 percent of its staff to try to save the struggling company. Five-hundred people are being cut from a workforce of more than 1,000 people. Although the number is definitely huge, I must say that the news isn't shocking as Myspace has been on a gradual decline and unable to keep up with the competitive Facebook. I used to have a Myspace account but kind of forgot about it once Facebook came along. The great thing about Facebook is that everyone is on it, and it continually changes to keep up with the times. Myspace, on the other hand, seems pretty static.

It's not surprising that the recently laid-off employees of Myspace are having a really tough time. TechCrunch has an email from someone claiming to be one of the casualties of the staff cuts. He or she says, "The people who were in charge and responsible for the continued failure will still be in charge, with new titles and raises, clearly intent on taking as much personal value as they can from the company before it dies completely at their hands. And the hard working, loyal employees that worked their butts off, took time away from their families to *actually* try to turn the company around by building and launching the new Myspace, will be looking for jobs."

The writer's bitterness is clearly obvious, but I'm wondering, are you surprised by the news or was it something you expected?

It was layoff mania on last night's Mad Men. Don Draper's advertising agency had to start downsizing to stay afloat, and plenty of people feared losing their jobs. To top it all off, because of Don's latest publicity stunt (a write-up in The New York Times in which he claims to refuse to work with tobacco companies because of moral reasons), Don is no longer a client of Faye's. That's because the psychiatrist's firm did not want to alienate the tobacco companies.

However, Faye seemed happy about it and considered it a good trade — although she lost one of her best accounts, she'll be able to date Don in public. Do you think this is a good trade?

Photo courtesy of AMC

There's no sugarcoating this sad news in candy land: after more than 100 years, Milton Hershey's original chocolate factory, located in Hershey, PA, will be closing its doors and laying off nearly half its workforce.For the past century, the factory has been an American landmark and tourist destination for chocolate lovers all around the world. But Hershey reps say the factory, which was first built in 1903, is now too outdated to accommodate modern equipment that's necessary for production. To stay competitive with other major players (such as rival Kraft, which recently bought out Cadbury), Hershey will move to a new $300 million facility currently being built outside of town with new equipment that will require less manpower. As a result, the company is also laying off 500 of its 1,100 workers.

Hearing that the pair of smokestacks at the corner of Cocoa and Chocolate avenues will no longer be a part of the chocolate-making process left a bitter taste in my mouth, yet I suppose it's just a testament to how much commerce has changed in today's economic climate. Are you just as disappointed to hear of the news?

If so, you may be feeling the effects of our current recession for years, or even decades, to come. NEET is a British term for young people of leisure — those "not in employment, education, or training" — and their numbers are growing.

Since this recession has seen more hiring cutbacks than layoffs, those attempting to enter the workplace for the first time (like recent graduates) have been hit the hardest. As a result, the number of 16- to 24-year-old NEETs has risen by 20 percent since the recession began in 2007. Even more startling? A study on grads who entered the workforce during the last bad recession, in the early 1980s, reveals that they were still making less money 15 years later than those who graduated during better economic times.

Are you a NEET, or do you know someone who is?

JamieToBeSchiwy shared these smart tips in the Thrifty Tips — Getting the Most Out of Life!!! group.

My husband was suddenly laid off from his job (only hours of warning) and my monthly paycheck was already gone leaving us hardly any money to live off of. The first ten things that I did seem small, but helped us survive the month wait, and currently helps us stretch my paycheck.

1. Cash in your coins — We had jars of coins waiting to be rolled and plenty of money from different countries we had visited. With free coin papers from our bank we spent the night rolling our coins. Together with the foreign currency we had $250 just laying around.
2. Eat everything in your pantry — I know this seems really simple, but it is shocking how many times we go to the grocery store and neglect some of the essentials in our pantry. Using our crockpot and allrecipes.com (use the advance search button to customize recipes based on what you have in the house), freezing meals and leftovers, making stock out of vegetable scraps (eHow has a great article), using our bread machine, and using our food processor to turn stale bread into bread crumbs we cut our grocery bill down by $1000. In April we spent a mere $100.
3. Cable is completely unnecessary — We haven't had cable for years because it just isn't necessary as there are plenty of shows available from networks online and all new episodes are posted the day after they air.

To see the rest of of the list, keep reading.

The recession has affected us all in one way or another — if you haven’t experienced salary freezes or cuts, layoffs, or home foreclosures over the past year or so, odds are someone you know has.

But, what about the recession’s less tangible effects? A New York Times/CBS News poll released this week explores the emotional fallout of being unemployed, and the results are sobering. To see some of the results, read more

Despite optimistic news that approximately 38 percent of employers are planning on extending offers to some of their laid-off workers as business conditions improve, workers continue to be affected by layoffs and fear job security. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in September. Unfortunately, SavvySugar Community member PinkTulip is one of the many workers who was laid off recently. She shares her story:

I worked full-time as a professional educator in an elementary school — in a position where I was stretched very thin and rarely could make time for lunch. I'm going on five months of being unemployed due to budget cuts in the district I was working for. There are days I enjoy sleeping in and watching morning TV while searching the nearly 10 online job sites I frequent every day, morning and night, but then there are other days where I feel so bummed out. . . . Anyone ever feel the same?

A special thanks to PinkTulip for being honest about her situation and sharing her story. I know it isn't easy, and I have heard many friends express the same mixed feeling of being relieved to not face the daily grind while unemployed, but understandably stressed to find another position. I suggest checking out past job search coverage and advice for support and keeping up your healthy search efforts. It sounds like you are working diligently to remain upbeat and find a new position, and I applaud your efforts.

Have you or someone close to you been laid off? Join the Laid-Off Ladies group in the SavvySugar Community for support.

Many of you are starting or returning to a grad program in the Fall, but graduate school isn't the only option out there. An increasing amount of working professionals and laid-off employees are turning to community college courses as a way to remain competitive in an overcrowded job market.

Certificate programs, additional coursework in your current field, or classes in a new field can all increase your career options and make you a more appealing candidate. And since community colleges don’t carry the price tag of four-year universities, you don’t have to sink deep into debt in your quest for knowledge.

Would you consider taking community college courses to further your career or get ahead in the job market?

Friday is the most popular day for employers to announce layoffs. I suppose this is less disruptive to the office as a whole — the laid off workers are left with the weekend ahead of them, while those left behind have a couple days to absorb what those losses mean. But really, if the pink slip were to make its way to me, I'm not sure the day of week would really make a difference. What's your take?