Layoffs

Washington Mutual Inc., the country's largest thrift, plans to cut 1,200 jobs nationwide. The Seattle company, hit hard by turmoil in the mortgage and credit markets, said some layoffs would be in its home-loan business. Workers in that WaMu unit have been the target of recent layoffs as the company has stopped offering sub-prime mortgages and other risky loans. WaMu said eligible laid-off employees who didn't find other jobs inside the company would receive severance and job-placement assistance.

Swedish truck and bus maker Volvo said it would lay off 1,000 employees at its powertrain unit in Sweden and the United States as the global financial crisis continues to weigh on the demand for heavy vehicles. A Volvo spokesman said the layoffs would affect 100 workers in Hagerstown, Md., as well as 900 in Sweden. Volvo Powertrain makes engines, gearboxes and rear axles for trucks. The Volvo group had previously announced layoffs of 2,000 workers at truck plants in Belgium and Sweden and 1,350 at its construction unit.

Walt Disney Co., looking to rein in costs at its Hollywood studio as it focuses on mainstream movies, is slashing staff by 70% at its Miramax Films specialty label and is substantially reducing the number of pictures it releases. The retrenchment, which has been foreshadowed in Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger's strategy to emphasize family and "branded" films, comes quickly on the heels of the recent ouster of former Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook. The former movie chief left abruptly last month under pressure from Iger, who had been unhappy with the studio's direction and performance.

Workers laid off by California's smallest businesses have a shot at subsidized healthcare under a bill moving quickly through the Legislature. As part of February's stimulus package, some laid-off employees can get the government to temporarily cover 65% of the cost of continuing their health insurance under the federal COBRA law, which allows workers to keep their healthcare coverage but requires them to pay the premiums.

Warner Bros. Entertainment is eliminating 800 jobs, or about 10% of its global workforce, becoming the latest media company to take drastic cost-cutting measures amid a deepening recession. About 600 people will be laid off across all divisions of the studio's operations, and 200 cuts will come from open positions not being filled. Warner's studio headquarters in Burbank will take the brunt of the job losses, with about 450 people being terminated and 150 open positions being shed.

There's a lot less William Morris Agency left to merge with Endeavor. The 111-year-old talent agency Monday laid off more than 120 people, or about 15% of its staff, in preparation for its pending merger with competitor Endeavor. About 40 of the affected employees were agents, and the rest were support staff. The layoffs, which have been expected since the two companies agreed to join forces late last month, hit the motion picture and television talent and literary departments the hardest.

It wasn't that long ago that Orange County's public transit system was named best in the country. Just 2005, in fact. The Orange County Transportation Authority was lauded for its service to the nation's fifth most populous county, logging a record number of bus trips and ridership growth. The agency was leading the way in green technology, the economy was booming and sales-tax revenue was pouring in. OCTA officials celebrated the honor by plastering a gold-medal logo, with their new bragging rights printed across it, onto the agency's 947 buses.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. closed its vehicle design center in Cypress this week, the latest move by an automaker to cut design costs. The closing, which eliminated about 30 jobs, comes as Mitsubishi is consolidating its design work at its corporate headquarters in Tokyo. A Mitsubishi design center in Germany will remain open, but with a greatly reduced staff.

As many as 2,300 teachers could face midyear layoffs because of the state budget crisis, Los Angeles Unified School District officials said Tuesday. The state deficit has created a shortfall of at least $250 million in the school district's nearly $6-billion budget, prompting officials to propose sending the layoff notices to 1,690 elementary school teachers and 600 math and English teachers in middle and high schools.

Seagate Technology has replaced its top two executives and said it planned to cut 800 jobs as the hard-drive maker endures a bruising slowdown in technology spending. In a surprise move, the Scotts Valley, Calif., company announced Monday that William Watkins, Seagate's chief executive since 2004, and Dave Wickersham, the president and chief operating officer, had both left the company, effective immediately. The company also announced that it planned to cut 10% of its 8,000 U.S.-based workers.