Huge job cuts around the world

PHOTO

Construction equipment maker Caterpillar, which has operations in Australia, is cutting 20,000 jobs worldwide. [Reuters]

AUDIO from Connect Asia

Massive US job cuts

Created: 27/01/2009

Last Updated: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:22:00 +1100

Companies around the world have slashed more than 70,000 jobs in a single day as the global economic slump deepens.

No sector has been immune from the new wave of job losses.

Construction equipment maker Caterpillar, which has operations in Australia, is cutting 20,000 jobs worldwide.

Drug manufacturer, Pfizer, will shed 19,000 workers when it completes a takeover of a rival drug giant Wyeth.

Other firms axing jobs include car maker General Motors, banking and insurance group ING, and electronics company Philips.

US President Barack Obama says the job losses are more than simply numbers on a page.

"These are working men and women whose families have been disrupted and whose dreams have been put on hold," said Mr Obama.

US companies say they expect to shed many more workers in the months ahead.

Japan auto

Meanwhile, leading car makers in Japan say they are planning to have cut 25,000 jobs by the end of March.

Despite being in better shape than the big three US car-makers, Japan's auto manufacturers are taking drastic measures to weather the global financial storm.

A survey of Japanese auto makers has found they expect to slash 25,000 jobs by the end of the Japanese financial year in March.

The survey says the leading 12 auto manufacturers also plan to cut their combined production by at least three million cars from their original output targets.