Nov 20, 2008 4:36 pm US/Pacific
Bay Area Job Market Bleak, Survey Finds
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
In conducting its quarterly Business Confidence Survey released Thursday, Bay Area Council found business confidence among San Francisco Bay Area CEOs has reached its lowest level ever, and views of a darkening economy are leading to a wave of employee layoffs.
Of the 509 CEOs and top executives in the nine Bay Area counties surveyed by the Bay Area Council, a public policy group, 90 percent responded that they believe economic conditions to be worse now than six months ago. Another 40 percent of those responding said they plan to lay off employees.
Executives in San Mateo and San Francisco counties were even more likely to be planning lay offs, with 60 percent saying they expected to decrease their workforces over the next six months.
Retailers going out of business, like Mervyn's, Shoe Pavilion and Circuit City, reflect a downturn in the industry to be hardest hit by a pessimistic economy. Fifty percent of retailers across the Bay Area are reportedly planning layoffs.
Circuit City executives plan to close nine out of 19 stores operating in the Bay Area, though the exact number of employees to be displaced has yet to be calculated.
"We have not broken out any head counts on the store closings," said Jim Babb of Circuit City corporate communications, who added that Circuit City has plans to close about 25 stores statewide.
Mervyn's, a discount clothing and home decor retailer based in San Francisco, announced today that more than 2,500 employees will have lost their jobs by the time the company closes its doors for good in the beginning of next year.
Only 10 percent of Bay Area retailers plan to increase their workforce in the next six months, according to the survey.
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