The serial layoffers at Seagate will be trimming 2.5% of their workforce by the end of July. The company has already laid off over 3,000 workers and cut 25% from its labor costs, but things apparently keep getting worse for the hard-drive maker. Seagate has lost money over the last two quarters — will this latest round help the company become profitable? Probably not in the short-term since the company will pay $72 million in severance and fees to fire the 1,100.

[MarketWatch] Seagate to fire another 1,100 workers in cost-cutting move

Bank of America is refusing to give laid off employees permission to accept other jobs in the financial field unless they give up their compensation agreements or their right to sue the bank. Apparently, the company is classifying fired employees as ‘resigning’ if they go to work for a competitor, and thereby relinquishing their right to sue the bank. According to a lawyer who is representing fired BofA employees: “What Bank of America is doing is warping the statute to their advantage.”

A company flack said that this characterization of the bank’s practices were “inaccurate” but wouldn’t comment further.

[Reuters] BofA presses fired staff to give up right to sue

Dell has confessed to the Winston-Salem city council that it has laid off 260 employees, leaving the factory with 1,140 workers left. The company built its factory in Forsyth County, North Carolina when it was offered $280 million in incentives. However, according to the agreement, the company must employ 1,700 workers by September 2010 in order to keep receiving the money. Looks like they’re going the wrong way…

Pop quiz: will the company start hiring like mad or start outsourcing like gangbusters before the deadline? Considering the fact that this is the second round of layoffs in two months, I think it’s safe to say we have some clues…

[Yahoo Finance] Dell reports 260 job losses to NC city council

After posting a second-quarter profit drop of 11%, Microsoft has announced that it will be cutting 5,000 employees over the next year and a half. 1,400 will be cut today, but it isn’t yet known in what divisions the axe will fall. The move doesn’t come as a total surprise — Wall Streeters have been calling for layoffs since last year.

Mr. Softie expects to save $1.5 billion per year after the firings.

[Columbus Business Journal] Microsoft cutting 5,000 jobs

Radio oligarch Clear Channel Communications has axed 1,850 employees effective immediately. Employees found out yesterday in an email sent from company CEO Mark Mays. A company flack refused to break down the layoffs by divisions or geographic regions so we’re left guessing. Anyone catch that memo? Send it our way.

[Salt Lake City Tribune] Clear Channel cuts 1,850 jobs

Intel has announced a major slowdown in its production of chips which will affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees. The company will be closing plants in Malaysia, the Philippines and will also be shutting down its last Silicon Valley-based factory. Employees in Oregon and Santa Clara, California will also be displaced because of the industry slowdown — only some will be offered other positions.

[Yahoo Finance] Intel to shut sites and cut up to 6,000 jobs

According to WebGuild, Google has been quietly laying off “temporary” workers — some of whom have been working for five years! The company has apparently used sneaky legal maneuvering such as shifting temp workers from job to job in order to keep some workers classified as “temporary”. Lately, however, they have been getting rid of the permanent temps en masse — 10,000 according to WebGuild.

Anyone have any dirty Google stories? We’re listening.

Thanks for the heads-up from D

A tipster writes in to tell us that UnitedHealth Group is cutting all raises from the bottom up, and have laid off 16 in their Oldsmar, Florida office. Anyone else have any info? give us a buzz.

Boeing has announced that it will be cutting 4,500 employees from its passenger jet business, mostly from factories in the Seattle area. The laid off employees will get 60-days notice, and will be released in the second quarter.

Company flacks tried to spin the news as a positive development for Boeing’s customers. As if laying off factory workers would “enable [Boeing] to continue focusing on development programs, airplane deliveries, productivity improvements and quality, as well as customer support.”

Drug store Walgreen’s has announced that they will be cutting 9% of their corporate management staff, 1,000 people. The company is giving management employees until February to retire with higher severance — after that, they’re going to start sacking people on “unfavorable” terms.

Walgreen has called its plan to save $300 to $400 million per year its “Rewiring for Growth” campaign. They might as well just cut to the chase and call it “firing for growth.”

[Yahoo Finance] Walgreen will cut 1,000 management jobs in 2009

Aluminum smelter Alcoa will be cutting 15% of its workforce, closing plants, and selling assets in a desperate bid to reduce expenses. Last time the company had firings, they blamed the power company for the layoffs — their scapegoat this time is “the dynamic market” (?)…

Alliterative CEO Klaus Kleinfeld hopes that Alcoa will be able to “adjust capacity to meet any future changes in demand and seize new opportunities.” I wonder if he’ll adjust his take-home pay of $10,353,636.00?

[WSJ] Alcoa to Cut 15% of Work Force, Unload Assets

A tipster has give us a heads-up that the layoffs that were announced last month have begun at at&t. The axe is mostly falling in the company’s shrinking traditional phone businesses. If anyone has any more info, you know who loves you.

Health insurer Cigna will be laying off 1,100 employees “as a response to the economic downturn.” The cuts will be completed by the middle of 2009, though it’s not known what employees will be affected — a company flack said that those decisions haven’t been made yet.

Chief Executive Officer H. Edward Hanway had this to say:

“Given the unprecedented economic situation we and our customers are facing, these actions are essential to ensure we can meet their needs for high value, cost effective products and services.”

I wonder if one of the “essential actions” Eddie will take will be to lower his $28.82 million in compensation…

[Austin Business Journal] Cigna cutting 1,100 jobs

Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Brad Reback has published a report that says layoffs at Microsoft “would be a healthy move for the company.” His math calls for a 10% reduction, which would amount to 9,100 axed employees, and an approximate 10-cent gain in earnings-per-share. According to Reback, the move would be a “signal that profitability is more important than revenue growth during this very difficult time.”

A hiring freeze has been in place for some divisions since October, but this is the first call I’m aware of for heads to roll at the company. We’ll see what develops.

Ashford Hospitality, a hotel real estate trust, is laying off an undisclosed number of employees, axing its dividends, and implementing a salary freeze. The company was unreachable for details so it is not known how many employees will be cut, or how much scrilla the company hopes to save.

CEO Monty Bennett made this buzzword-saturated statement:

“We will continue to be proactive in all measures to best position the company for near term sustainability.”

[Yahoo Finance] Ashford Hospitality cuts jobs, halts dividend