Flattened by Xerox, knocked out by Merck, Genie's out of Genie,

This is a follow-up to yesterday's piece, "Goldman 'Sacks,' eBay bids audieu, Tellabs 'disconnects' - But well-oiled McD is heating up."

Xerox Corp. plans to cut 3,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its work force, because a slowdown in orders from large U.S. companies has dragged down the printer and copier maker's profit margins.

The once-hallowed firm Merck and Co. has announced that it plans to reduce its workforce by 12%, which means that 7,200 people will be let go. The industry has shed about 100,000 jobs in the last five years, according to Viren Mehta, founder of Mehta Partners, a strategic and investment advisory firm that focuses on the pharmaceutical industry.(NYT).

Genie Industries has laid off another 375 employees in the second round of job cuts in less than four months. The company, which makes aerial lifts, platforms and light towers, said Wednesday that it was being hurt by the global economic slowdown and the near-freeze in the credit markets. That has limited its customers' ability to order new equipment. Genie said the cuts represent about 18 percent of its work force in Redmond, which had about 2,400 production and office workers. It also has cut about 100 jobs at its Moses Lake plant, where it had about 650 employees. In July, Genie's parent company, Terex Corp., laid off 120 full-time workers and an undisclosed number of part-time workers in its aerial platforms division.

Telecommunications equipment maker ADC expects to cut between 300 and 350 jobs, or about 3 percent of its total work force. It said in a statement that it expects most of the planned cuts to take place in North America.