As the global financial meltdown weighed heavily on sales and profits all throughout 2009, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Fruit of the Loom and carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries posted the biggest job cuts among the parent company's divisions.

Fruit of the Loom, manufacturer of underwear and other clothing items, axed as many as 7,944 jobs last year, or 23% of its staff, and Shaw cut 3,482 jobs, or 12% of the employee base, as has been shared in Berkshire's February
27 yearly report.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based firm, which is run by billionaire Warren Buffet, shared that its overall staff strength declined by some 9.7% last year, or 23,970 jobs. The figure is exclusive of the staff that the company had gained through its acquisition of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. last month.

"Berkshire Hathaway has not been able to repeal the laws of economics, and the laws of economics are that when demand is down you have to reduce the costs. In a period of unusually low demand you are going to have to try to reduce all non-essential staff. We are seeing that at Berkshire businesses", said Guy Spier, a principal at Aquamarine Funds LLC.