In the aftermath of the most recent layoff announcement, workers have begun making anxious calls to placement agencies.

The wave of layoff announcements in the last two months did not help either.

Despite a wave of corporate layoff announcements, job growth has remained strong.

The layoff announcement appeared aimed at showing that Sears was finally serious about major job cuts.

It was Aetna's fourth big layoff announcement this year.

Even in difficult times, many analysts say, a torrent of layoff announcements can overstate the economy's problems.

Often, the layoff announcements are not quite what they seem.

Consumers treated layoff announcements as being of little import to them, and lower interest rates kept housing booming.

And a handful of those who made it wondered aloud whether they would have jobs upon their return, in light of the various layoff announcements.

But there is a new and, in many ways, more disruptive element to the latest round of layoff announcements.