The chief executive of Commonwealth Bank, Ralph Norris, took a potshot last week at companies that announced big changes involving large-scale job cuts, suggesting it signalled they had not been managed well over a period of time.   

His comment was in response to how the bank would manage its business in the face of near-stagnant loan growth.

It is true strong management involves continuously looking for ways to enhance processes through good and bad cycles.


But there are some industries where the goalposts can move unexpectedly. In the case of the manufacturing industry - or more importantly, exporters - the rise of the Australian dollar was the culprit, and in the case of carbon emitters, a change in government policy would ultimately test their traditional business case.

It is at this time of year when large companies are announcing their 2010 financial year profits that redundancy bombshells tend to drop. Over the past couple of weeks, however, there have been more than the usual.   

The hardest hit have been those in the manufacturing industry, with the biggest cut so far being announced by OneSteel, which will shed 400 jobs. However, there is an expectation of carnage from Australia's largest steel maker, BlueScope, when it completes a review of its operations and announces its results on Monday.   

Last week Penrice Soda unveiled plans to axe 10 per cent of its workforce. Glassmaker Viridian will eliminate 100 jobs nationwide while the closure of Shell's Clyde refinery has taken 250 positions.   

The economics have changed for these businesses, and the types of jobs lost are unlikely to return. The tragedy is that they are not being replaced by new manufacturing systems - there is no migration to a smarter process or innovative set of products.

For the most part, the industry has not reinvented itself but rather left itself exposed to competition from emerging low-cost manufacturing countries.

Due to the global uncertainty and slowing demand for products, cracks are appearing in the manufacturing industry. But the job losses are not confined to this sector alone. Qantas announced this week that it would shed 1000 jobs, having already completed several smaller but significant culls over the past five years. 

The airline blames international competition and lower offshore wage rates for its dilemma. Having fought with its staff over pay and job security for years, it has decided to overhaul its flagship international brand and create a new low-cost airline in Asia.

Last month the international food conglomerate Heinz said it was reorganising its production around the world as part of a productivity initiative - closing its plant in Shepparton and laying off 146 workers.

Even Westpac foreshadowed job losses this week but gave no indication of how many positions would be eliminated.   

It would be better for the broader economy if these were just one-off cases reflecting poor management or a change in corporate strategy. And some are.

But the number of recent job cuts is widespread enough to constitute a trend - and one that does not augur well.

July employment statistics indicate that job growth has stalled and full-time unemployment is inching up to levels higher than were predicted in the May budget.   

At the same time, the job market is softening. We do not get to hear about the thousands of small businesses that are cutting back on staff until this information makes its way into the official statistics.

To date, we have seen no major job losses from the big end of the troubled retail market but, anecdotally, small retailers also are letting staff go.

Already this year several mid-sized retail companies, including the bookseller Borders and clothing group Colorado, have closed. 

While employment fundamentals relative to most Western economies remain strong, the general level of low growth outside the mining industry will continue to put pressure on the unemployment rate.

The concern is that soon there may come a point when labour-hungry industries such as mining and business services will no longer be able to absorb the positions left vacant by the rest of the economy.

Yesterday's wage growth figures were also a little weaker than expected, which may represent early signs of the slowing demand for jobs feeding into wages. Strong employment is an important fuel for the economy.

According to Goldman Sachs, statistics show a marked slowdown in wage growth and follow last week's sharp deceleration in inflation expectations.

It believes these figures set us up for a rate cut in September to ''short circuit a negative feedback loop developing between weaker demand, falling asset prices, job losses and worsening household and business confidence''.