Shake The Layoff Blues | Become A Lobbyist

Times are tough. It seems no job is safe unless you’re in upper-management making decisions on who to cut. However, some weekend research shed light on a career always on the rise. Along with the increasing number of bills spewing from government comes an opportunity for a career in lobbying. It’s not just the usual names crowding the legislative sessions anymore. With a new evolution of environmental law, lobbying is going green!!!

"Because there are so many efforts to appease all of these different interest groups, (policymakers) have to balance that with the goal of doing something to reduce this global warming pollution." Marianne Lavelle, author of The Climate Lobby’s Nonstop Growth.

How do you become a lobbyist? According to B.B. James, “One doesn't start out to become a lobbyist in Washington, DC, or a state capital. Instead, one becomes an expert on something, and then becoming a lobbyist is a natural outgrowth of that expertise.” (link)

I’m not convinced expertise is necessary. The RIAA and MPAA are two examples of lobbying agencies with no expertise in the areas they represent (music and movies). It’s a bad time to work for either of those entities though, they’re making cuts of their own.

Fred Krone asks, “Can you shill passionately? Are you willing to pledge total allegiance to an unseen boss who may ask you to take a fall? Do you have sales experience in your background? Perhaps a law degree? These are the building blocks of a good lobbyist.” (link)

Somewhere between being an expert at something and pledging total allegiance to a boss who may ask you take a fall is the key to becoming a lobbyist. There’s certainly no shortage of them. If you’ve been laid off or are in the process of becoming one of the millions of unemployed, take a look at lobbying as your ticket back into a career.

Got IT? | The layoff picture so far…

Seagate Technology
05/13/2009
1,100 (2.5 percent)
Seagate lays off 1,100 employees

Microsoft
05/05/2009
3,000
Microsoft sends 2nd wave of layoff notices

Hutchinson Technology
04/28/2009
2,000 in total (44 percent)
Hutchinson Tech to cut more jobs

Freescale Semiconductor
04/23/2009
900
Freescale to cut 900 jobs

Yahoo
04/21/2009
675 (5 percent)
Yahoo plans layoff after profit plunges

Toshiba
04/17/2009
3,900
More job cuts at Toshiba

IDC
04/17/2009
82 (5 percent)
Analysis firm IDC cuts 5 percent of staff

Sony Ericsson
04/17/2009
2,000
Sony Ericsson to lay off 2,000 more workers

Wired.com
04/02/2009
3 (12 percent)
Wired.com lays off 12 percent of staff

Agilent Technologies
03/27/2009
2,700
Agilent laying off 2,700

Google
03/26/2009
200
Google cuts nearly 200 sales, marketing jobs

IBM
03/26/2009
5,000
IBM job cuts hit applications services unit, says union

OptiSolar
03/23/2009
200
OptiSolar closes plant

Energy Conversion Devices
03/17/2009
70
Solar stocks go red as gear maker warns

Nokia
03/17/2009
1,700
Nokia job cuts become reality

Spot Runner
03/14/2009
60
Spot Runner...another 60 to lose jobs

National Semiconductor
03/11/2009
1,725 (25 percent)
National Semi to cut a fourth of workforce

Dell
03/11/2009
unknown
Layoffs to hit another Dell plant

RIAA
02/26/2009
Up to 25
Sources: RIAA cuts up to 25 jobs

Enfatico
02/25/2009
80 (8 percent)
Dell ad agency Enfatico lays off workers

Nortel Networks
02/25/2009
3,200
Nortel cuts another 3,200 jobs

Spansion
02/23/2009
3,000 (35 percent)
Spansion cuts 3,000 employees

Micron Technology
02/23/2009
Up to 2,000
Micron to cut up to 2,000 more jobs

Google
02/12/2009
40
Google scraps radio ads

Pioneer
02/12/2009
10,000
Pioneer leaving the TV business

Nokia
02/11/2009
410; 500-700 rotating
Nokia cuts production, closes facility

Forrester
02/09/2009
50 (5 percent)
Forrester to lay off 5 percent

MPAA
02/05/2009
unknown
Source: 'Significant' layoffs at MPAA

Cisco Systems
02/04/2009
Up to 2,000
Cisco: Making lemonade from economic lemons

Panasonic
02/04/2009
15,000
Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs

Electronic Arts
02/03/2009
1,100 (11 percent)
EA cutting 1,100 jobs

NEC
01/30/2009
20,000 (13 percent)
NEC to cut workforce by 20,000

Novell
01/30/2009
100 (3 percent)
Novell lays off just under 100 workers

Teradyne
01/30/2009
532
Boston.com: Teradyne will shed 532 jobs

Citrix Systems
01/30/2009
490 (10 percent)
Citrix to reduce staff by 10 percent

STMicroelectronics
01/28/2009
4,500
STMicro reports loss, lays off 4,500

AOL
01/28/2009
700
AOL to lay off 700 employees

SAP
01/28/2009
3,000
SAP plans job cuts, despite solid earnings

News Corp.
01/26/2009
100
News Corp. lays off 5 percent at digital unit

Texas Instruments
01/26/2009
12 percent
Texas Instruments cutting jobs as profits plunge

Sprint Nextel
01/26/2009
8,000
Sprint Nextel to cut 8,000 jobs

Philips
01/26/2009
6,000
Philips to cut 6,000 jobs

IBM
01/24/2009
More than 2,800
IBM quietly lays off North American staff

Microsoft
01/22/2009
5,000
Microsoft cutting 5,000 jobs on weak results

Ericsson
01/21/2009
5,000 (6 percent)
Ericsson to cut 5,000 jobs

Logitech
01/19/2009
550 to 600
Logitech to cut up to 600 jobs

AMD
01/16/2009
1,100 (9 percent)
AMD to trim 1,100 jobs, initiate temporary pay cuts

Autodesk
01/15/2009
750 (10 percent)
Autodesk to cut 750 jobs, lowers earnings outlook

Cymer
01/15/2009
100 (10 percent)
AP: Cymer to cut jobs, spending as demand plummets

Motorola
01/14/2009
4,000 (6 percent)
Motorola plans another round of layoffs

Plantronics
01/14/2009
18 percent
Plantronics to layoff 18% of global workforce

PlanetOut
01/14/2009
50 percent
Sources: Heavy layoffs at PlanetOut

Google
01/14/2009
100
Google lays off 100 recruiters

Oracle
01/14/2009
500
Report: Oracle cuts workforce by 500

GreenFuel Technologies
01/13/2009
19 (50 percent)
Algae front-runner GreenFuel slashes staff

Lexmark
01/13/2009
375
Bloomberg: Lexmark sales miss forecast; 375 job cuts planned

Seagate
01/12/2009
800 (10 percent)
Seagate replaces Watkins as CEO

Dell
01/08/2009
1,900
Dell's Ireland plant to shed 1,900 jobs

Lenovo
01/08/2009
2,500 (11 percent)
Lenovo to cut 2,500 jobs amid restructuring

One Laptop Per Child
01/07/2009
32 (50 percent)
OLPC slashes workforce in half, cuts salaries

Motion Computing
01/07/2009
30 (25 percent)
Motion Computing cuts about 30 workers

EMC
01/07/2009
2,400 (7 percent)
EMC to cut 2,400 from workforce

Turning Technologies
01/07/2009
31
Vindy.com: Turning Tech layoff hits 31

Borland Software
01/06/2009
130 (15 percent)
VMware hires away Borland CEO

HelioVolt
01/06/2009
15
Two Austin employers announce job cuts

LiveJournal
01/06/2009
About 12
LiveJournal deletes 'about a dozen' jobs

Logitech
01/06/2009
15 percent of salaried staff worldwide
Logitech to slash 15 percent of workforce

Lenovo
01/05/2009
200 staff in Beijing offices
Lenovo rumored readying layoffs

Microsoft
01/01/2009
Unknown
Microsoft planning big layoffs for January?

AMD
12/28/2008
100 additional, making 600 total since November
AMD cites $70 million in fourth-quarter costs

Unisys
12/22/2008
1,300; 4 percent
Reuters: Unisys slashes 1,300 jobs

Western Digital
12/17/2008
2,500; 5 percent
Reuters: Western Digital warns on revenue, will cut jobs

Midway Games
12/16/2008
180; 25 percent
Reuters: Midway Games to cut jobs, take charge

Laird
12/16/2008
5,000; nearly 50 percent
Reuters: Laird announces 5,000 job losses as sales slump

WebMD
12/16/2008
4 percent to 5 percent
PaidContent: WebMD to cut up to 5% of staff

Gaia Interactive
12/15/2008
13 percent
VentureWire: Gaia lays off staff

Alcatel-Lucent
12/12/2008
1,000 managers, 5,000 contractors
Big revamp for Alcatel-Lucent, with Web 2.0 spin

CBS Interactive
12/11/2008
Undisclosed
All Things D: CBS Interactive/CNET Re-Org: The Complete Memo

SGI
12/11/2008
225; 15 percent
Silicon Graphics adjusts business plan

Yahoo
12/10/2008
1,520
Yahoo pink slips issued, recruiters circling above

Sony
12/09/2008
16,000 total
Sony to lay off 8,000 full-timers, 8,000 others

Netflix
12/08/2008
50 people
Neflix cuts 50 tech jobs; streaming issues linger

Level 3 Communications
12/08/2008
450; 8 percent
Denver Business Journal: Level 3 cutting 450 jobs

BMC Software
12/05/2008
350 (6 percent)
AP: BMC Software to cut 350 jobs, 6% of workforce

RealNetworks
12/04/2008
130 (7 percent)
Sources: Layoffs hit RealNetworks

Viacom
12/04/2008
850 (7 percent)
Viacom lays off 7 percent of workforce

AT&T
12/04/2008
12,000 (4 percent)
AT&T lays off 12,000

Adobe
12/03/2008
600
Adobe warns of shortfall, job cuts

Carlyle Group
12/03/2008
about 100 (10 percent)
Bloomberg: Carlyle Cuts 10% of Workers, Including U.S. LBO Jobs

Analog Devices
12/03/2008
about 20
EE Times: Analog Devices shutters DSP design center

Sage North America
12/03/2008
150
Sage North America Reports 2008 Results

Gawker Media
12/02/2008
"a few"
Gawker Media's rolling layoffs continue

Intrinsyc
12/01/2008
95 (30 percent)
680 News: Intrinsyc cuts global workforce 30 percent

Fring
11/27/2008
10 (20 percent)
Fring cuts staff by 20 percent

Technorati
11/25/2008
6 (12 percent)
Technorati trims workforce, cuts pay

TiVo
11/25/2008
7 percent
TiVo profits from EchoStar litigation

Palm
11/21/2008
up to 10 percent of 1,050
Palm orders layoffs as Apple and RIM take toll

Buzznet
11/21/2008
10 (11 percent)
Valleywag: Music community Buzznet lays off 10

LodgeNet
11/21/2008
170
Argus Leader: LodgeNet cutting jobs

Lam Research
11/20/2008
600 (15 percent)
Reuters: Chipmaker Lam Research cuts 600 jobs

Akamai
11/20/2008
7 percent
Akamai to cut 7 percent of workforce

Lawson Software
11/19/2008
200 (5 percent)
AP: Lawson Software shares tumble after job cuts

Pillar Data Systems
11/18/2008
150 (30 percent)
SJ Mercury News: Pillar Data Systems lays off 30% of staff

KLA-Tencor
11/18/2008
900 (15 percent)
SF Business Times: KLA-Tencor to cut 15% of people

Sun Microsystems
11/14/2008
6,000 (15 percent to 18 percent)
Sun restructures, lays off up to 6,000

Rearden Commerce
11/14/2008
10 percent
Valleywag: Rearden Commerce cuts 50 people

Applied Materials
11/12/2008
1,800 (12 percent)
Applied Materials cutting 12 percent of workforce

National Semi
11/12/2008
330
Reuters: Nat Semi cuts revenue view, plans job cuts

Wired.com
11/11/2008
3 of 28
Wired.com trims editorial staff by 10 percent

Current Media
11/11/2008
20 percent
Layoffs hit Al Gore's Current Media

Six Apart
11/11/2008
8 percent
Six Apart: Changes at Six Apart

Tucows
11/11/2008
15 percent
Restructuring at Tucows

Circuit City
11/10/2008
20 percent
Circuit City files for bankruptcy

BitTorrent
11/10/2008
50 percent
After a tough year, BitTorrent replaces CEO again

Insight
11/10/2008
240 (4 percent)
East Valley Tribune: Insight Enterprises lays off 240

Honeywell
11/07/2008
700
Phoenix Business Journal: Honeywell moving 700 jobs out of Phoenix

Zappos
11/06/2008
8 percent
Letter to Zappos employees

Veoh
11/05/2008
20 (20 percent)
Veoh lays off 20 percent of workforce

LinkedIn
11/05/2008
36 (10 percent)
LinkedIn slashes 10 percent of its workforce

Cadence
11/05/2008
625 (12 percent)
Cadence Design cuts 625 jobs

Anadigics
11/05/2008
100 (15 percent)
Anadigics cuts 15 percent of workforce

AMD
11/05/2008
500 (3 percent)
AMD slashes 500 more jobs

Nokia
11/04/2008
600
Hundreds of Nokia jobs under threat

THQ
11/03/2008
4 to 5 studios
Kotaku: THQ Shuttering Four to Five Studios?

Tektronix
11/03/2008
150
Tektronix announces fresh layoffs

Spot Runner
11/03/2008
115 (about 30 percent)
TechCrunch: 115 people lose their jobs at Spot Runner

Nortel Networks
11/03/2008
1,300 (5 percent)
Nortel earnings tank

YouSendIt
10/31/2008
20 percent
VentureBeat: YouSendIt trims 20 percent of staff

Aliph
10/31/2008
25 people
Layoffs hit Bluetooth headset maker Aliph

Motorola
10/30/2008
3,000
Motorola's struggle for survival

Freescale
10/30/2008
2,400 (10 percent)
Freescale dragged to loss; will lay off 10%

Symantec
10/29/2008
4.5 percent cost savings
Symantec layoffs coming

Avalanche Studios
10/28/2008
77 of 160
Avalanche Studios lays off nearly half of staff

Revision3
10/27/2008
9 people, 5 shows
Video start-up Revision3 joins the layoff club

Helium
10/27/2008
30 percent of 110
F***dStartups: Helium.com huge layoff

BroadSoft
10/24/2008
about 12
GigaOM: BroadSoft cuts jobs as sales slow

Comcast Spotlight
10/24/2008
300+ of 3,500
Broadcasting & Cable: Comcast Spotlight cuts positions

ADC Telecoms
10/23/2008
300-350
AP: ADC expects fiscal 2008 loss, plans job cuts

Xerox
10/23/2008
3,000
Xerox to cut 3,000 jobs

Avid Technology
10/23/2008
500
Form 8-K: Results of Operations and Financial Condition...

Nokia
11/04/2008
600
Hundreds of Nokia jobs under threat

Tektronix
11/03/2008
150
Tektronix announces fresh layoffs

Spot Runner
11/03/2008
115 (about 30 percent)
TechCrunch: 115 people lose their jobs at Spot Ru

Circuit City
11/03/2008
17 percent
Circuit City to close 155 stores

THQ
11/03/2008
4-5 studios
Kotaku: THQ Shuttering Four to Five Studios?

Break.com
10/23/2008
11 of 80
Break.com lays off 11

Eons
10/23/2008
8 of about 33
The Boston Globe: Eons eliminates eight jobs

Dell
10/22/2008
8,900
The Register: Dell: 'We will out-pace the rest of the industry'

SanDisk
10/22/2008
TBA
SanDisk layoffs in the works

ManiaTV
10/22/2008
20 of 70
NewTeeVee: ManiaTV lays off 20, to reduce orig

iMeem
10/22/2008
25 percent of 80
Imeem jumping on the layoff bandwagon

Mahalo
10/22/2008
10 percent
Calacanis.com: Tough times, hard decisions

HP
10/22/2008
24,600 over three years
HP to slash 24,600 jobs following EDS buy

Ticketmaster
10/21/2008
35 percent
F***edStartups: TicketMaster.com laying off 35%

Comcast
10/21/2008
300
AP: Comcast to cut up to 300 jobs in eastern di

Manhattan Associates
10/21/2008
6.5 percent
Reuters: Manhattan Associates hit by slump

Softchoice
10/20/2008
6.5 percent of 958
Toronto Star: Softchoice cuts staff by 6.5 percent

Veoh
10/20/2008
0
UPDATE: Layoffs at Veoh, or not?

Wikia
10/20/2008
3
UPDATE based on personal interview with Jimmy Wales

Autotrader
10/20/2008
69
Orlando Business Times: Autotrader to close c

Texas Instruments
10/20/2008
possibly 300
TXCN: Hundreds face pink slips at TI

Sony Ericsson
10/17/2008
2,000 globally
Bloomberg: Sony Ericsson Reports Smaller Loss Than Anticipated

Sprint
10/17/2008
ongoing
KMBC-TV: Sprint plans 'gradual layoffs'

Jaxtr
10/17/2008
13
13 employees laid off at VoIP start-up Jaxtr

Zivity
10/17/2008
33 percent
Zivity lays off a third of staff

Zillow
10/17/2008
25 percent
Zillow lays off 25 percent of staff

SearchMe
10/17/2008
20 percent
Search engine startup SearchMe cuts 20 perce

Heavy
10/17/2008
14 percent
Downturn strikes again: Heavy lays off 14%

Lenovo
10/17/2008
50 in Morrisville, N.C.
WRAL: Lenovo to lay off 50 workers at Morrisville headq

MPC Computers
10/17/2008
200
Idaho Business Review: Details released on MP

Hi5
10/16/2008
10 percent to 15 percent
No Hi5's today

Sirius XM
10/16/2008
50
Sirius XM makes cuts to XM in D.C.

Pandora
10/16/2008
20
Pandora cuts 20 employees

Adbrite
10/16/2008
40 percent
'Layoffs are not a statement about performance'

Actel
10/16/2008
10 percent
EE Times: Actel cuts 10% of workforce

Tesla Motors
10/15/2008
Detroit office
Automaker lays off Detroit office with blog post

SkyRider
10/15/2008
All
P2P start-up SkyRider has shut down

Appcelerator
10/15/2008
6
Tough times, tough decisions

Jive Software
10/14/2008
33 percent
Jive Software lays off 1/3 of staff

Redfin
10/14/2008
20 percent
Redfin blames economy in layoffs

Qimonda
10/13/2008
3,000
Qimonda: Qimonda announces global restructuring program...

Seesmic
10/10/2008
7
Tough times. Tough decisions

Lulu
10/09/2008
24
Lulu cuts jobs as revenues slow

Micron
10/09/2008
15 percent
Micron to cut workforce by 15 percent, slash flash output

eBay
10/06/2008
1,000
eBay buys Bill Me Later, lays off 1,000

Gawker Media
10/03/2008
14 percent
Gawker Media to lay off 14 percent of editorial

Entellium
10/03/2008
95 percent
Workers get ax at software maker Entellium

[reposted from CNET News – 05/13/09 - http://news.cnet.com/tech-layoffs/]