Table 2. Business processes involved in extended mass layoff events, by reason for layoff, second quarters 2011 and 2012 (1)
Reason Extended mass layoff events Total business process Core processes Support processes
Strat. Mgmt. Procurement, logistics, distribution Ops. Product development Marketing, sales, account management Customer and after-sales service General managment and firm infra-structure Human resource management Technology and process development
Second quarter 2012(p)

Total business process

 1,476 1,982 15 127 1,243 79 51 141 237 63 26

Business demand

 477 641 6 23 461 31 9 33 47 22 9

Contract cancellation

 31 50 1 2 29 3 - 3 7 2 3

Contract
completion

 311 366 - 9 305 12 3 12 14 10 1

Domestic competition

 (2) 1 - - - - - - 1 - -

Excess inventory/
saturated market

 (2) 7 - 2 3 - 1 - 1 - -

Import
competition

 - - - - - - - - - - -

Slack work/
insufficient
demand/non-seasonal business slowdown

 131 217 5 10 124 16 5 18 24 10 5

Organizational changes

 77 187 3 14 67 7 15 20 42 11 8

Business-
ownership
change

 16 42 1 3 16 3 5 3 9 2 -

Reorgan-
ization
or
restructuring
of company

 61 145 2 11 51 4 10 17 33 9 8

Financial issues

 75 163 5 11 59 9 8 26 33 8 4

Bankruptcy

 14 30 2 2 11 1 2 3 6 1 2

Cost control/cost cutting/
increase
profitability

 36 69 1 5 26 2 4 12 16 2 1

Financial difficulty

 25 64 2 4 22 6 2 11 11 5 1

Production
specific

 (2) 23 - 1 14 - - - 4 2 2

Disaster/Safety

 (2) 4 - - 2 - - 1 - 1 -

Seasonal

 656 920 1 76 616 30 16 52 108 18 3

Other/
Miscellaneous

 175 44 - 2 24 2 3 9 3 1 -
Second quarter 2011

Total business process

 1,810 2,285 17 141 1,418 97 70 184 275 52 31

Business demand

 517 689 8 32 470 25 13 47 64 19 11

Contract cancellation

 30 48 1 3 26 3 1 3 8 3 -

Contract
completion

 317 400 3 14 300 16 6 18 27 12 4

Domestic competition

 - - - - - - - - - - -

Excess inventory/
saturated market

 (2) 3 - - 1 1 - 1 - - -

Import
competition

 (2) 4 - 1 2 - - - 1 - -

Slack work/
insufficient
demand/non-seasonal business slowdown

 166 234 4 14 141 5 6 25 28 4 7

Organizational changes

 70 154 3 9 57 12 7 17 36 5 8

Business-
ownership
change

 17 35 1 3 13 3 3 3 8 1 -

Reorgan-
ization
or
restructuring
of company

 53 119 2 6 44 9 4 14 28 4 8

Financial issues

 117 263 1 29 108 17 19 29 44 9 7

Bankruptcy

 26 54 - 4 21 2 5 11 10 1 -

Cost control/cost cutting/
increase
profitability

 61 126 - 15 59 9 9 7 18 5 4

Financial difficulty

 30 83 1 10 28 6 5 11 16 3 3

Production
specific

 33 50 1 3 31 2 - 3 6 1 3

Disaster/Safety

 11 16 1 - 9 - 2 1 2 1 -

Seasonal

 773 1,062 2 66 713 40 27 83 114 16 1

Other/
Miscellaneous

 289 51 1 2 30 1 2 4 9 1 1

Footnotes:
(1) Data were reported by all states and the District of Columbia.
(2) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(p) = preliminary.

NOTE: Dash represents zero.