Those who think its a question of money are mistaken. This is just a question of who makes the biggest profits next yr! Its becomes fashionable to floss abt profits at the expense of the employees! Sad but true.

its never the best alternatives but CEO's know that it excites the board that they have taken such bold moves...thus extending their own lifetime ...at the expense of small fry!

As for BBK, I think it may be an order from above.. Barclays in the UK is shedding off 1000 employees, so it might be a trickle down effect. This happens especially in multinationals, where the decision to lay off people is made in HQ, and all branches are supposed to implement.

Restructuring can come from two aspects: change of leadership, and cost reduction. For example, change of CEO - the new CEO may have a different structure in mind to improve effeciency. Also, in response to declining sales, management may decide to reduce costs, hence a restructuring.

My experience, whenever someone mentions restructuring, people go home. Not always..but in MOST times, retrenchment will happen.