18,000 -- Coming Into Focus -- Not A Bakken Story -- Cisco Announces Pending Layoff of 5,000

Update

July 12, 2011: Wow! Cisco has doubled the number of potential job cuts to 10,000.

Networking equipment company Cisco Systems Inc could eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs, or about 14 percent of its workforce, to revive profit growth, Bloomberg said, citing two people familiar with the matter.

As many as 7,000 jobs would be eliminated by the end of August, the people told the agency. Cisco is also providing early-retirement packages to about 3,000 workers who took buyouts, according to Bloomberg.

Early on Monday, Reuters reported that Cisco may slash about 5,000 jobs to meet Chief Executive John Chambers' goal of slashing costs by $1 billion.

Original Post

Until recently I had not really followed jobs numbers, unemployment, etc., except for the big picture. Like billion and trillion, I could never really get my arms around unemployment numbers, or jobs numbers. But with recent news, the numbers are starting to come into perspective.

For example, "everyone" opined (shouted?) that the June jobs numbers were horrendous. This was the report in which only 18,000 "new" jobs were reported in the month of June, 2011, when analysts had forecast 90,000.

18,000. It sounds horrendously low for a country the size of the United Stated, but can 18,000 be put into perspective?

With the last space shuttle launch, it is estimated that upwards of 8,000 jobs in Florida will be lost "directly" with the demise of this single program, and that another 20,000 "indirect" jobs could be lost. It would be close to impossible to quantify the lost revenue in establishments that survive, but cater to the employees of NASA that will be let go.

One contractor in New Orleans will let go 1,300 out of a workforce of 1,900 when the space shuttle program ends.

18,000. The number is starting to gain perspective.

We have not yet begun to see the number of state employees across the nation that will be let go now that the stimulus money is starting to run out. Minnesota alone could account for a number that puts "18,000" into perspective. The stimulus money was geared for a) shovel-ready jobs (which didn't exist); and, b) to save the jobs of state employees long enough until the economy recovered (which it hasn't).

And today, Cisco announces that it may soon cut 5,000 jobs. A number, "18,000," that was only ethereal a few days ago is becoming clearer, sharper.

It will be interesting if analysts project an increase in "new" jobs for the month of July, August, September. Federal jobs, state jobs, private sector jobs, Cisco. Hmmm. Clearer, sharper.