January 26, 2009 3:25 PM

The hits keep on coming
Posted by Jesse Nunesat 3:25 PM

Today was not a particularly good day to be a worker in the United States.

Major layoffs were announced by a number of companies across the country and it seems not a single industry has been untouched as the recession deepens every day.

The AP reports on today's bloodbath:

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., which is buying rival drugmaker Wyeth in a $68 billion deal, and Sprint Nextel Corp., the country's third-largest wireless provider, said they each will slash 8,000 jobs. Home Depot Inc., the biggest home improvement retailer in the U.S., will get rid of 7,000 jobs, and General Motors Corp. said it will cut 2,000 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio due to slow sales.

Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment, announced 5,000 new layoffs on top of several earlier actions. The latest cuts of support and management employees will be made globally by the end of March. An additional 2,500 workers already have accepted buyout offers, and ties have been severed with about 8,000 contract workers worldwide. In addition, about 4,000 full-time factory workers already have been let go.

Just last week, Microsoft Corp. said it will slash up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months. Intel Corp. said it will cut up to 6,000 manufacturing jobs and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said it would get rid of 1,000 jobs, on top of 1,500 axed late last year.

Not included in the AP report were a couple of smaller layoff announcements with a larger local impact. Waltham-based biopharmaceutical company Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced a workforce reduction of around 107 employees and Chelmsford-based Brooks Automation, Inc., which makes software and equipment for chip manufacturers, announced plans for 350 worldwide job cuts.

For a quick recap of some of the more notable layoffs in the Bay State over the last couple of months, click here.

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