Thousands have lost their jobs after directors ordered rapid cost-cutting moves in the wake of a global economic downturn.

Heads of companies will usually say their first responsibility is to their shareholders. This offers little comfort to the workers whose livelihoods are taken in the process.

Experts say Sussex has fared better than other parts of the UK in the downturn, thanks to the high population of local government staff, a sector of the economy which is less susceptible to changes in consumer and investor confidence.

The trouble in the economy, which has led to a string of Sussex companies axing staff, began last year when the US economy began a slowdown.

At first this seemed to have little to do with workers in Sussex but the knock-on effect has been disastrous.

Many companies in the last few years both home and abroad jumped on the bandwagon of the telecommunications boom. The prospects looked good so money for investment plans was easy to come by.

Manufacturing also changed direction to improve their own business prospects.

However, their investments were never realised and they failed to make the profits they had hoped for.

They began to suffer the burden of extra staff taken on and these workers are now being laid off.

The obvious casualties are technology and telecoms workers and new media staff but the knock-on effect has led to job losses in manufacturing and the travel market.

The less certain people are about their future, the less they travel.

BOC Edwards, which employs more than 1,200 people in Sussex at five sites, diversified during the Eighties and began to focus the majority of its business on semiconductors for the electronics industry on the back of the boom.

It moved away from its traditional market of vacuum pumps for the industrial, chemical and scientific markets and is now one of the companies laying off staff, announcing at least 165 redundancies.

American Express, which employs 3,000 people in Brighton, also looks set to make job cuts. Some estimate it could be as many as 300 in a global cost-cutting drive of 6,100 redundancies.

As Brighton and Hove's largest private employer, American Express has been a major presence in the city for almost 30 years and celebrates 25 years in Amex House in 2002.

It has had a significant impact on the local business community and has pledged a future commitment to Sussex.

More than 80 per cent of its employees are local residents and one in ten Brighton businesses is a supplier to American Express, so there are a great many livelihoods dependent on its success.

The telecoms and technology sectors have suffered badly after a worldwide economic slowdown and many jobs have been lost in Sussex with employers including Ericsson and Hosiden Besson announcing redundancies.

It is easy to point to the terror attacks on America on September 11 as the main cause of the downturn but the slimming down of companies began months before that.

The attacks made economic troubles much worse, especially in the airline industries.

More than 10,000 Sussex jobs face the axe since September 11, according to Sussex Enterprise, which represents the interests of 5,000 businesses across the county.

Some analysts believe many of these would have happened anyway. Mark Froud, head of policy at Sussex Enterprise, said airlines planned to slim down before September 11 and predicted they would begin to get back to normal passenger levels in two to three years.

He said many companies in Sussex have been hit by the slump in the telecommunications sector.

He said: "The consequences are that the supply taken on to fulfil the investment plans is no longer needed.

"That is because the slowdown has happened faster than anybody thought. There has been a rapid slowdown in consumer spending in the US.

"However, up until very recently the job losses primarily in manufacturing have been matched by an increase in service-sector jobs.

"I think that is why we have not seen huge increases in unemployment levels despite redundancies but I think unemployment will increase in the next few months.

"We expect the Sussex economy will grow by 1.8 per cent this year but only by 1.3 per cent next year but that means it is still growing."

Pam Foden, executive officer of the West Sussex Economic Forum, said: "Locally, we are fortunate to have built up a diverse economy with strong representation in the financial services, pharmaceutical, electronics, care and growing automotive sectors.

"Many of these are strong companies and should be able to weather this difficult period we are presently experiencing."

Babak Sobagar, senior lecturer in economics at the University of Brighton, said: "I would be surprised if a downturn can be avoided.

"A lot of the sectors in Sussex are prone to changes in demand and are sensitive to that by their very nature."