JESSE JACKSON JR. BLAMES iPAD FOR HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT

You know how ebooks are gradually taking over paper books as the most popular format for the consumption of the written word? Well, that's bad, mmkay? Publishers, librarians, and booksellers are losing their jobs and It's all entirely the iPad's fault. Forget the Kindle's millions of sales, the iPad did it. In a technophobic rant to rival all technophobic rants that have come before it, Illinois Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. accuses the iPad's popularity for the current level of unemployment in his nation, before proceeding to sculpt a rickety argument about how the First Amendment to the US Constitution is being exploited for the benefit of China. Check out the spectacle for yourself:

NOKIA TO CUT 800 MORE JOBS

Nokia confirmed Tuesday that it plans to cut approximately 800 jobs in its home country of Finland. The newly confirmed work force reductions are in addition to the 1,800 jobs Nokia announced it would have to cut this past October. Nokia said it has concluded negotiations with employee representatives, and it will give affected workers between five and 15 months salary as severance. Nokia stated that the new round of layoffs will begin in January 2011, and it hopes some of the laid off employees will be relocated elsewhere in the company. [BGR]

RUMOR: YAHOO TO LAY OFF 2,500

A rumor is making the rounds that managers at Yahoo! have been told to start deciding which staff need to go. The reason? Yahoo!’s upper management is set to cut 20% of its staff, or around 2,500 people.

Although not official yet, TechCrunch has been told this is happening from two independent sources. Yahoo! has used the common response of not commenting on rumor or speculation. If it’s going to happen it won’t be long before former Yahoo! staff start talking about it, though.

The rumor comes a few days after Google decided to give all its staff a 10% pay raise and $1,000 to spend over the holidays. Clearly they have been doing a lot better than Yahoo! for quite a while now.

We really hope this rumor isn’t true for the sake of the staff who will lose their jobs. But at the same time there’s a lot of talented people at the company who should have no problem finding alternative positions. Maybe they can use Yahoo! Hotjobs to find another employer. [Geek]