White-collar workers feel the heat

This trend has shown up in earnings announcements, too. After eliminating about 500 corporate positions last September, the retail chain Gap plans to make even more job cuts on that side of the business, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

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3M, which has been hit by the decline in electronics sales, plans to lay off 6,000 workers globally, but with a focus on reducing the size of its corporate center.

Amazon’s Whole Foods Market laid off a few hundred corporate employees who made up 0.5% of its entire workforce, according to an executive memo sent to staff this month. The memo noted that the layoffs wouldn’t close any stores or affect any distribution center workers.

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Earlier this year, General Motors planned to cut the jobs of salaried workers and executives. After 5,000 buyouts from white-collar workers leaving, however, the company was able to avoid layoffs altogether.

The noticeable weakening at the higher end of the salary scale also reflects the need for companies like carmakers to keep meeting consumer demand even as they cut back on expenses.

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