The scariest part of the World Economic Crisis is starting to hit.

The recent talk about US debt surpassing US$10 trillion, about Wall Street collapsing and big banks falling although scary was a little too big to comprehend and a little far removed for the average man on the street. Unfortunately, the ripples of this recession is far-reaching and in a roll-on effect, the man on the street is getting hit in the most personal way – through his paycheck and pocket.

It used to be that joining a large multinational company or bank pretty much secured you for the rest of your life as these giants will never fall and will always take care of their staff. Unfortunately, many of them were unable to save themselves in this recent economic crisis and have been forced to start cutting staff to save costs.

Read more on whether it might affect you.

Morgan Stanley has started to unveil a big staff cut across all areas of its banking arms. This happened not too long after Goldman Sachs announced cuts of up to 10% of its workforce as the surviving investment banks desperately try to stem losses.

New York Governor David A. Paterson said in late October that Wall Street job losses would top 45,000, and there have been some reports that it could hit as much as 70,000. (source)

Other companies are not spared either as CanWest Global Communications, Canada’s largest media company, announced 560 job cuts. Across our Causeway,  one of Singapore’s biggest banks, DBS has announced over 900 job cuts mainly in Singapore and Hong Kong.

One question everyone probably has now is whether Malaysians will be spared the job axe that is happening all over the world. It is hard to tell but in the coming times, it will be wise to hold on to the job you have and try to save to build a substantial nest egg to protect yourself should the dreaded announcement come in your company.