The Sacramento Bee, Calif., Bob Shallit Column.

By Bob Shallit, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 21--CUTBACK STUNNER: This week's announcement about more cutbacks at NEC Electronics was kind of a stunner. Since a reorganization that took effect Nov. 1, the company - wholly owned by NEC Corp. of Japan - has been doing well, especially in making custom chips for the auto industry.

So when a series of companywide staff meetings was scheduled, many employees actually thought they might be getting a bonus. An attaboy at the very least. Instead, what they heard was news of more layoffs and significant cutbacks in benefits for those remaining.

"The employees who …