There is not even a single person or a company who is safe from the clutches of recession. Employees are losing their jobs every second and are struggling to find new jobs. The current scenario has been illustrated in the cover story of the February issue of the Business Today Magazine, titled Job Loss: Are You Next?

The story has been covered in such a way that it is sure to run a chill wave down your spine. You just cannot help, but exclaim at the real instances of lay-off and retrenchment present in the cover story. The story offers not one, but many such real instances where right from newly appointed freshers to experienced top level managers, all are going through the same trauma of job loss.

The story also presents a graphical presentation of the new job generation. It compares the job generated in the year 2007-08 which was around 9.7 lakh with the jobs generated in the year 2008-09 which was only 6.7 lakh. It also reveals a shocking figure of the jobs loss in the first quarter of 2009. This figure is estimated to be around 80,000.

In addition to this, the story also offers small insets on how the companies are making lay-offs lesser painful for its employees and how the employees can retain their jobs amidst this grim situation of recession.

The cover story also reveals that though the job cuts, on an average, have not exceeded 5-10 per cent of any company’s payroll (except in cases where the entire business or division has been shut), the insecurity is affecting the behavior of the remaining 90-95 per cent of employees. It is the ‘What if-I-am-the-next’ syndrome that has restrained people from spending on things that they would shell out money for without a thought just a few weeks ago.

The cover story is well supported with the related stories, making it all the more hard hitting. One such related story is the `5 lakh to 50 lakh’. This story presents a recent survey by the Ministry of Labor and Employment which states that almost half a million jobs were lost in the three-month period from October to December 2008. The story also reveals that sectors, such as mining, textiles, metals, gems & jewelery, automobile, and transport were the worst affected sectors. Yet, another story `There’s life after lay off’ points out what a person must do to begin afresh after his lay-off. This is not all, the magazine offers more than half a dozen stories related to the cover story, making it a must to read for all.

The magazine not only talks about the effects of recession on companies and its employees, but also on sensex and the markets. Its story `Markets head south amidst volatility’, talks about the volatile market trade during recession. The magazine also offers various other stories related to the Indian markets, foreign markets, and the rupee.

The magazine also features a story on the Ambani brothers. The story `Ambanis may reunite on mother’s 75th birthday’ points out that the two Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, who parted their ways in 2005, will once again come together on the occasion of their mother’s 75th birthday.

There are various other stories on how to find a job and the IT sector which will make this issue helpful for most of the people during this time of recession.