41. So many companies have laid off thousands of employees and improved their profitability that experts now regard hostile deals and streamlining as corporate obligations. 42. Some higher-rated companies are also laying plans to borrow. 43. Some mutual fund companies are laying low. 44. Some high-profile companies are still laying off workers. 45. Some industry observers even suggest the Internet company could be laying the groundwork for a civil suit against Microsoft. 46. Such a strategy may be appropriate, as the companies are laying the foundation for takeoff when the Japanese markets revive. 47. The company laid off a tenth of its Fort Worth manufacturing work force in the fall. 48. The company laid off a tenth of its North Texas manufacturing work force in the fall. 49. The company has been laying its own plans for acquisitions as part of a broader corporate restructuring. 50. The company has laid off some employees in the last year but has hired almost as many, the company official said. |