United Technologies will cut another 1,500 this year and next on top of the 900 positions it has already eliminated in 2010, the company said Monday.

The industrial conglomerate last week posted almost a 14 percent increase in second-quarter net income, citing a "relentless focus on cost." It cut deeply into its payroll during the worst of the recession, cutting 11,600 jobs last year.

The economy - slowly coming out of the recession.

The company - posting stronger earnings.

The decision - ax more workers. (??!!!?!??!?)

The result - more unemployed people dragging down the economy.

The future - 9%+ unemployment becoming a way of life as more jobs are shipped over-seas and companies continue to get more productivity out of an ever-decreasing amount of employees.

Why?  Workers are scared out of their minds to lose their job in this waste-land of a job market, so they will do whatever is necessary to keep their position.  Increased productivity due to fear.  Putrid.

There's one scene which shows the Prince finally growing up and going from a carefree playboy to taking over for his sick father.  He just came back from spending time on his girlfriend's small ranch and experienced first hand how hard life is for the independent worker.

He's mediating a meeting between major management and labor representatives and says we have 12 hours or something before all hell brakes loose.  Then goes in to describe what he saw on the ranch.  How the money they take in gets divided up for taxes and feed and maintenance, etc. until each side agrees to give in a little bit and then he makes up the difference on taxes or something.

That scene needs to be shown over and over again until everyone gets it.  We're all in this together, labor, management, investors, and government.  Not one will exist without the other and we all strive with each other.

When a company experiences upsets in its business like falling sales, greater competition, or higher costs it has to make changes in order to remain profitable. Fixed costs such as rent, property tax, insurance, interest on loans etc a business has little control over so they focus on variable costs to keep the company in the black. Payroll unfortunately is a variable cost. In profitable times most of a company's focus is on sales and production and employment rises to keep production up and provide nonessential tasks.

Let's make you an executive of ShowMeTheMoney Inc. Your sales of Coffee Party Napkins have fallen and investment activity has gone flat. What do you do?

Eliminate all stock dividends and drive away money you need to continue in business?

Buy cheaper materials and hope the public doesn't notice the inferior product?

Lower everyone's pay to make up the difference for the lost sales and hope your skilled employees don't scatter to other jobs. I'll make this easy for you. It's a non-union plant so there isn't a contract and you aren't at risk of a strike.

Eliminate non-essential jobs. This naturally will include production floor workers as well as managerial positions. Every one left shoulders the additional work but you keep 80% of the work force employed.

Cut back other expenses like sales travel, employee benefits and other expendable costs.

Do nothing and hope your still in business when the economy recovers.

Or _______________?

IMO Companies are not expanding because there is so much uncertainty in the market. They are building cash reserves because they want to be able to survive if the economy falters more. The Federal government hasn't done much to inspire confidence in the market.

Investors will generally be ok because the Gov't will never let the stock market completely tank and most have enough capital to withstand some bad investments.

The general worker whose salary has been relatively stagnant since the Reagans years...well what are they supposed to do?  Credit isn't as easy to come by...and if you can get it.  Utility bills just keep going up and up incase you haven't noticed.  Health care costs always rise.  So after all of these companies become "lean and mean", #1 who will be left to buy the products and services those companies produce? [not the laid off HD workers, that's for sure];  #2 who will help the laid off workers who can't take care of themselves because of all of those years of low wages? [not the Gov't if conservatives have their way]

Let me guess - the private sector will find a way.  Right?

Please, provide some insight into these...slight...problems.

I personally still believe that Capitalism is an unsustainable system. Due to the requirements for quarterly growth, in times of economic downturn (as at present), the only solution available is to downsize. That is solely a short term solution for profits, and hurts the economy (and thusly the company) in the long term.

I see the merits of that argument, but it doesn't lessen my worry. It's as though there are two different economies operating side-by-side in the United States. In  LaborLand, wages are stagnate, job opportunities are low, and people are getting laid off day after day. At the same time, what's bad for LaborLand is good for CapitalVille. By cutting labor costs, profits go up, enriching managers and the company's shareholders. There's a complete disconnect here. The little economic recovery we're experiencing is almost entirely one-sided. LaborLand continues to get screwed, to the benefit of the residents of CapitalVille. Meanwhile, the preoccupation with the deficit means that Washington will likely not undertake any serious measures to help out the people of LaborLand. The extension of unemployment benefits barely got through, and that's a drop in the bucket compared to what we really need. No one's talking about a New Deal 2.0 or a 21st-century WPA to put people to work building stuff. All we have is the same hopeless reliance on the "invisible hand" to maybe make things right one day.

DuPont, which has announced thousands of job cuts over the past year, reported that second-quarter income nearly tripled, as revenue surged in most of its businesses. The results were led by revenue gains in the Asia Pacific region. DuPont didn't announce any hiring plans.

Thanks for accepting the sacrifice of your jobs.  We won't be needing you back now that we are on more stable ground.  We like profits.  Don't you?!  Oh, you have no job.  Sounds like your problem.  Maybe your community can help you.  Oh, most of your community is jobless as well?  Sounds like you should move.

The company was just as loyal to it's employee as it was to it's stock holder, we're all in it together.

I don't know what happened, but I believe Reaganomics changed all that.

When I went to China to commission a caster, on the walkway was a sign in Chinese, translated to read, Ma Steel takes care of it's employees, so it's employees take care of Ma Steel.  We're all in it together.  We don't sacrifice one for the other.  Loyalty begets loyalty.

Does this sound familiar? What does a job in a corporate setting do? It dehumanizes people. It makes them a part of them system in which their individuality does not matter. They are a cog or gear. The concept that profit mattering and people not is dehumanizing. This system turns away from people and focuses on profits. The system is set up such that the longer it runs the more dehumanizing it is. People are shed like chafe to increase profits. Unions tried to mitigate this evil, but for the most part have been marginalized. So we need to look this beast in the teeth. It is about to eat us all. Anyone below a certain tax bracket does not matter. Your humanity is not important to business or most folks in Government. You are grist for their mill and they will happily grind you down to use to line their pocketbooks. The system is entrenched. It is impossible to remove within the existing infrastructure. We may be able to do things to delay it's inevitable outcome, but we cannot stop this beast from eating itself. We can passively wait for it to kill itself through it's own greed. There are other options, but they are extreme. So we have front row seats to watch the greatest nation in the world fall into ruin. If Republicans gain seats in November, it will speed up the process. If Democrats hold on or gains seats they can delay it. So what's it going to be?

I posted this in the wrong thread before.... sorry.