Like many struggling businesses, book publishers are cutting costs and trimming work forces.
Companies have been trimming work forces for months now, to control costs and stay competitive in a weak economy.
Unemployment has risen to 7.2percentt and could top 9percentt in the next year; employers are trimming work weeks and laying off workers by the thousands; and people's retirement accounts have been devastated by the turmoil in the financial markets.
While G.M. has trimmed work schedules in its European plants and announced plans to shut down one German factory by 2016, industry analysts contend that broader cuts are needed to make the unit profitable.
Cigna, the No. 3 insurer behind Aetna and the UnitedHealth Group, provides employers with managed health care coverage, group life, accident and disability insurance, pension, 401(k) and other benefits plans that could be affected by trimmed work forces.
In its summary of the survey, I.A.V.A. noted that because many local, state and federal agencies have been trimming their work forces, "the threat to veteran employment may grow".
German manufacturers are still mired in a recession and are trimming back work forces.
The company is closing a total of 599 stores and trimming its work force by 57,000.
At present, however, the company is holding to its target of trimming the work force by 15,000.
The two banks will consolidate some functions, trimming their work force of 5,500 by several hundred jobs, Fred Goodwin, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, said.
The telephone company has been trimming its work force over the last three years in an effort to better compete with new rivals in international, cellular and domestic calling services.
