Mikeyy
Pearl Diver
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- Dec 7, 2006
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I just came across this story.
Gem grader GIA cuts jobs at Carlsbad headquarters
By Penni Crabtree, staff writer
2:00 a.m. December 24, 2008
The Gemological Institute of America, the nation's top rater of diamonds, has cut 117 jobs at its Carlsbad headquarters, citing the global recession that has taken the sparkle out of the jewelry trade.
The nonprofit trimmed 11.3 percent of its 1,642 worldwide employees last week as part of a cost-cutting plan that also reduces work hours for some remaining employees, imposes a 10 percent pay cut on executives and halts company contributions to employee 401(k) retirement plans.
?It was a really, really sad day, and we did everything to avoid it,? said Laura Simanton, a spokeswoman for GIA, which employed 976 people in Carlsbad before the cuts. ?But the diamond and gemstone industry has been having a difficult time. The pipeline is not flowing.?
That pipeline ? from the stones that come out of South Africian diamond mines, to diamond cutters and polishers in India, to swank jewelry stores in Manhattan ? has been squeezed by the credit crisis and softening demand for luxury goods.
This year, De Beers, the world's largest producer of diamonds, said it would cut diamond mine production and reduce the amount of unpolished stones that it auctions off.
That move was taken in part to buoy slumping prices, but the company also said its customers, those who cut and polish gems before reselling them, are lowering inventories at the request of their lenders.
GIA's place in the pipeline also has been disrupted. The nonprofit generates much of its revenue from fees imposed for grading and rating diamonds and gemstones.
In addition to the employee reductions at its Carlsbad headquarters, GIA cut 36 jobs at its New York office.
?There are significantly fewer stones going into the pipeline, which reduces the number of stones going through our labs,? Simanton said. ?And that means a significant reduction in our operating revenue.?
GIA, founded in 1931, created the diamond mantra of color, clarity, cut, and carat weight and a grading system to value them.
Gem grader GIA cuts jobs at Carlsbad headquarters
By Penni Crabtree, staff writer
2:00 a.m. December 24, 2008
The Gemological Institute of America, the nation's top rater of diamonds, has cut 117 jobs at its Carlsbad headquarters, citing the global recession that has taken the sparkle out of the jewelry trade.
The nonprofit trimmed 11.3 percent of its 1,642 worldwide employees last week as part of a cost-cutting plan that also reduces work hours for some remaining employees, imposes a 10 percent pay cut on executives and halts company contributions to employee 401(k) retirement plans.
?It was a really, really sad day, and we did everything to avoid it,? said Laura Simanton, a spokeswoman for GIA, which employed 976 people in Carlsbad before the cuts. ?But the diamond and gemstone industry has been having a difficult time. The pipeline is not flowing.?
That pipeline ? from the stones that come out of South Africian diamond mines, to diamond cutters and polishers in India, to swank jewelry stores in Manhattan ? has been squeezed by the credit crisis and softening demand for luxury goods.
This year, De Beers, the world's largest producer of diamonds, said it would cut diamond mine production and reduce the amount of unpolished stones that it auctions off.
That move was taken in part to buoy slumping prices, but the company also said its customers, those who cut and polish gems before reselling them, are lowering inventories at the request of their lenders.
GIA's place in the pipeline also has been disrupted. The nonprofit generates much of its revenue from fees imposed for grading and rating diamonds and gemstones.
In addition to the employee reductions at its Carlsbad headquarters, GIA cut 36 jobs at its New York office.
?There are significantly fewer stones going into the pipeline, which reduces the number of stones going through our labs,? Simanton said. ?And that means a significant reduction in our operating revenue.?
GIA, founded in 1931, created the diamond mantra of color, clarity, cut, and carat weight and a grading system to value them.
