Layoffs | featured news

Striking French workers of an American manufacturing company looked likely to hold their boss hostage for a second night on Wednesday after locking him in for more than 24 hours, as nationwide anger mounted over layoffs.

There's something about being naked that makes a person forget a layoff, pay cut or a shrunken retirement account.

The practice gives workers some security but, over time, employee morale still suffers.

Microsoft Corp has dropped an attempt to recoup some severance money from 25 recently fired workers it mistakenly overpaid.

Microsoft says some of 1,400 employees laid off last month accidentally got too much in severance pay -- and now it wants money back.

Farewell e-mails become an art form in this age of pink slips. Some are funny, some are sad -- and some are just plain furious. It was not the most eloquent subject line for a farewell e-mail to 5,000 co-workers: "So long, suckers! I'm out!"

The downturn has sent a wave of concern through the community of immigrant workers who hold the visa, which companies can use to hire skilled noncitizens. Though there is no official tally of visa holders who have been laid off, 'It's happening every day,' said one immigration lawyer.