The New, New Thing: Layoff Web Sites

I don’t think this is quite what advocates of “creative destruction” have in mind when they talk about the upside of economic turmoil. But it’s worth noting anyway: The daily drumbeat of layoffs, shutterings and other grim economic news has inspired a boomlet in Web sites and services dedicated to tracking them.

A sampling:

• It Died: A deadpool that includes not just Internet companies, but Internet services
• Timely Demise: Dedicated specifically to retail closures
• themediaisdying: A Twitter account that covers…well, you guess

All of these seem to be amateur/part-time efforts. But there’s probably a real, if short-term, opportunity for someone to make a real business out of a comprehensive layoff site–a F***edCompany for our times.

Because, unfortunately, there’s going to be plenty of news to come, especially after retailers digest their holiday sales numbers.

In the meantime, this may be a fraught week for remaining employees at Time Warner’s (TWX) Time Inc., who are still waiting to hear about additional cuts at the magazine publisher.

Several of the company’s titles, for instance, have warned that they’d start firing people this week if they didn’t get enough volunteers to quit on their own.

And of course, I cover this stuff, too. If there’s news you think I ought to be covering, please let me know. You can email me at peter@allthingsd.com, or you can use the new All Things Digital tip box, where your notes will be completely anonymous. Please bear in mind that if you do use the tip box, I won’t be able to follow up with you, unless you include contact information.

[Image Credit: mfx]

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