Uncle Sam Leads The Pack In Job Cutting

Staff reductions. Job cuts. Layoffs. Right-sizing. Restructuring.

Euphemisms for firing workers have become painfully commonplace in recent years, as all sorts of employers have eliminated jobs to deal with the recession and weak economic recovery.

Plenty of big companies have led the way with massive layoffs, but the organization that has announced the largest reductions over the past five years may surprise you. It’s Uncle Sam.

Msnbc.com asked outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas to compile a list of the employers that have publicly announced the most job cuts from the beginning of 2007 through the end of 2011. Challenger relies on public announcements and news reports to compile its data and checks those against government-mandated layoff notices when available.

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