Goodyear Tire Also Lays Off 500 Employees
Toy Manufacturer Announces Layoffs
Layoff Wave Follows Big Tech and Financial Sectors
The large-scale layoffs sweeping through American companies are now extending beyond big tech and the financial sector to the manufacturing industry.
Tire company Goodyear Tire and Rubber announced on the 27th (local time) that it plans to lay off about 500 full-time employees, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the same day.
Local media such as WSJ and Bloomberg analyzed this as a cost-cutting measure in response to weakening demand and rising prices.
Goodyear forecasted that "tire demand in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region has decreased by 12%, resulting in an operating loss of $80 million in this region alone last quarter."
Accordingly, the company said that the fourth-quarter performance is expected to fall significantly short of previous forecasts.
Richard Kramer, CEO, stated, "Due to the uncertain short-term macroeconomic outlook and the ongoing impact of inflation, this difficult decision was necessary," citing the demand slowdown in Europe as a key reason for the workforce restructuring.
Goldman Sachs Executes Largest Layoffs Since Financial Crisis
Since last year through early this year, Silicon Valley big tech companies and Wall Street financial firms like Goldman Sachs have successively announced large-scale layoffs, and recently, similar plans have emerged in other industries.
Goldman Sachs carried out layoffs of 3,200 employees, the largest scale since the 2008 global financial crisis. The total number of layoffs since last fall has reached 4,000.
The day before, Dow Chemical announced plans to lay off 2,000 employees, and toy manufacturer Hasbro announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees.
New York Stock Market Rises... "Too Early to Be Assured"
However, the U.S. stock market has shown an upward trend so far this year.
On the 27th (Eastern Time), at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,978.08, up 28.67 points (0.08%) from the previous session.
The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose 10.13 points (0.25%) to 4,070.56, and the Nasdaq index closed up 109.30 points (0.95%) at 11,621.71.
The Dow rose 1.8% just this week, the S&P 500 increased by about 2.5%, and the Nasdaq rose 4.3%. The Nasdaq index has risen for four consecutive weeks.
Experts on the New York stock market said that despite concerns about corporate earnings, the relatively strong economic indicators led to a relief rally, but worries have not been completely eliminated.
Carol Slif, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of BMO Family Office, told MarketWatch, "Today's GDP shows that the economy remains relatively strong despite the Fed's aggressive measures."
Christopher Zuk, Chairman of CAZ Investments, said, "This is a bit of a relief rally." However, he added that corporate earnings and guidance, combined with the Fed's tightening, remain major concerns for investors.
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