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Mass Layoff Statistics
Table 1. Selected business functions involved in nonseasonal extended mass layoff events, selected quarters, 2008 and 2009(Number of reports)
Selected business functions by business process (1) Total Main Secondary
II
2008
I
2009(r)
II
2009(p)
II
2008
I
2009(r)
II
2009(p)
II
2008
I
2009(r)
II
2009(p)
Total(2)
1,979 7,705 4,680 768 2,576 1,643 1,211 5,129 3,037

Producing goods/providing services

                 
Construction activities
233 443 344 216 413 317 17 30 27
Producing goods
195 1,021 579 172 942 535 23 79 44
Providing services
27 130 75 8 75 42 19 55 33
Accounting services
35 171 107 4 10 10 31 161 97
Contracted services
35 131 103 23 106 79 12 25 24
Engineering services
28 162 102 4 41 17 24 121 85
Entertainment services
7 38 20 5 27 17 2 11 3
Facility maintenance services
58 219 168 4 8 11 54 211 157
Financial management
12 57 33 - 4 2 12 53 31
Financial services
31 75 47 26 48 29 5 27 18
Food and cafeteria services
28 67 27 19 20 14 9 47 13
Health care services
18 24 26 18 20 19 - 4 7
Housekeeping services
7 47 36 1 9 4 6 38 32
Lodging services
9 41 18 4 24 11 5 17 7
Maintaining and repairing products
29 49 37 9 14 7 20 35 30
Security services
8 10 8 2 1 3 6 9 5
Assembling products
80 246 161 48 98 87 32 148 74
Fabricating
49 246 164 24 187 128 25 59 36
Quality assurance/quality control
38 193 133 - 2 - 38 191 133
Supervision--first line or direct
79 328 219 - 1 2 79 327 217

Procurement, logistics, distribution

                 
Buying
13 90 32 - 1 - 13 89 32
Distribution
48 134 68 18 25 13 30 109 55
Packing
24 100 59 - 6 5 24 94 54
Receiving
19 170 80 - - - 19 170 80
Shipping
56 248 155 4 20 14 52 228 141
Transporting
59 162 92 27 41 37 32 121 55
Warehousing
54 206 110 21 27 17 33 179 93

General management and firm infrastructure

                 
Administrative support
95 505 298 12 29 20 83 476 278
Clerical support
114 381 251 5 12 10 109 369 241
General management
89 424 272 4 25 15 85 399 257

Human resource management

                 
Human resources, including recruiting
60 248 159 - 2 1 60 246 158
Payroll and compensation
26 75 39 - 2 - 26 73 39
Training
1 17 10 - 2 1 1 15 9

Marketing, sales, customer accounts

                 
Advertising
7 40 11 2 12 5 5 28 6
Billing
18 68 25 - - - 18 68 25
Marketing
19 110 47 2 5 3 17 105 44
Order processing
23 105 51 2 4 1 21 101 50
Selling
59 343 136 27 217 83 32 126 53
Telemarketing
5 6 8 2 2 6 3 4 2

Customer and after-sales service

                 
Call center activities
25 41 36 16 23 24 9 18 12
Customer service
77 212 124 16 29 14 61 183 110
Installing products
11 17 17 4 2 4 7 15 13
Technical support
8 58 41 - 1 3 8 57 38

Technology and process development

                 
Computer systems development
1 12 13 1 4 2 - 8 11
Computer systems maintenance
8 19 15 1 2 - 7 17 15
Data processing
11 26 13 1 2 1 10 24 12
Internet web services
3 6 5 - 2 2 3 4 3
Software development and testing
3 26 10 - 10 4 3 16 6
Software and IT services
21 90 58 7 7 9 14 83 49

Other business functions

16 68 38 9 12 15 7 56 23

Other

                 
Events with nonstandard functions reported
110 361 187 69 237 140 41 124 47
Refusal(3)
5 13 2 5 13 2 - - -
Does not know (4)
29 61 30 29 61 30 - - -

(1) Business functions reported in this table were the most frequently cited functions in 2007. Functions are grouped by business process without regard to the industry of the establishment. Therefore, the process "operations" does not appear.
(2) Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
(3) Excludes events in which the employer refused to participate in any part of the employer interview.
(4) Excludes events in which contact with the employer was not possible.
r = revised.
p = preliminary.

NOTE: Dash represents zero.