Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Alaska: The University of Alaska Southeast shutdown their bookstore, due to crashing revenues.
Arizona: After 25 years Phoenix based SkyMall now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. It’s directly connected to Xhibit’s bankruptcy. Xhibit took over SkyMall in 2013. Xhibit administrators say the Too Big to Jail banks refuse to continue debt funding their operations.
California: The state Employment Development Department revealed that a piss-poor 700 jobs were created in December, so much for Xmas season holiday hires. In Azusa, aviation staffing contractor G2 Secure Staff issued a WARN saying they will render 106 people jobless by March! In Palo Alto, internet ‘cloud’ service company VMware issued a WARN saying they will render 114 people jobless by March! In San Francisco, clothing store Gap issued a WARN saying they will render 108 people jobless by March! In Santa Clara, semiconductor maker Tabula issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in March, 120 jobs lost! In San Diego-South Park, after six years Alchemy Dining announced it will shutdown in February. The co-owners said the economy is so bad, and competition so tight, that it’s not worth pouring money back into the restaurant: “We were noticing there was a decline in sales because of the market and age of our business, and just the general environment changing because of the amount of new restaurants in San Diego in general….We recreated the restaurant a number of times, from farm-to-table to street food to a neighborhood feel, and we got to a point where we would have had to sway a lot further and we made a choice not to.”
Connecticut: In Hartford, after 15 years Jojo’s Coffee Roasting shutdown. The pissed-off owner directly blamed the suck-ass economy, asking where’s the gott damned recovery: “The last six months have been the toughest for us businesswise…People say, ‘It’s up and coming its up and coming’. Well, it’s been up and coming for 15 years now! It’s not up and coming, I can tell you that!!!”-Bill Sze
Florida: In Maitland, data company Windstream issued a WARN saying they will layoff 62 people between March and May.
Illinois: What automotive industry recovery? Moline based farm vehicle maker Deere (formerly John Deere) announced they will kill off more jobs, this time 900 people across two states will become jobless by March! In Chicago, after 50 years independent Family Pride Finer Foods grocery store announced shutdown, 35 jobs lost. The current owner blamed “competition” pointing out that there are now competing ‘big box’ grocery stores within “a two mile radius” of his store. The Peruvian owned “intimate supper club “ Monari’s 101 announced it will shutdown in Spring. The owners said over the past two years they’ve tried to sell the restaurant with no takers, and they can’t wait any longer so they’ve decided to retire. The FDIC seized Highland Community Bank and turned over assets to United Fidelity Bank. U.S. Steel announced they will shutdown their tin factory and layoff 369 people, blaming the crashing prices of metals!
Kansas: Textron Aviation is taking over the Wichita UTC Aerospace operations, which will result in layoffs.
Kentucky: In Louisville’s upscale retail Highlands area, restaurant Palermo Viejo announced it will shutdown in February: “I wanted to thank the Louisville community for the opportunity to share my family’s food for the last 14 years. There are certain reasons why I am closing. But the most important is my family has sacrificed so that I can live my dream. I have come to a point where I feel they have sacrificed enough…….I plan to look into leasing the property.”-Francisco Elbl
Louisiana: Harrisonburg based oil logistics company Tomahawk Resources now chapter 11 bankrupt busted in Texas. It might be connected to the company being fined for improper disposal of waste at its Texas operations, not oil prices. Reports say GE (General Electric) will shutdown its Pineville factory, 300 jobs will be lost! GE paid $3-billion USD to take over the factory in 2010. GE administrators say no final decision has been made, but the employees say they are planning for the worst.
Michigan: In Jackson, after nine years Caffe Lilla shutdown, local news reports claim the owners refuse to say why. What housing market recovery? The tax auctions of homes in Detroit are now considered failures. In 2014, 394 homes were put up for auction, but so far only 138 auctions have actually been closed! Too Big to Jail Independent Bank Corporation shutdown six offices. Bank administrators implied that less and less people were putting their hard earned money into banks that don’t pay any interest on their savings.
Missouri: Newspaper publisher Gannett shutting down their Saint Louis Offset operations, 28 jobs lost. At one point 70 people were employed. It sounds like Gannett wants to sell the property, which is estimated to be worth $3.4-million. U.S. Steel shutting down their more than 30 years old Granite City coke ovens, 176 jobs lost in March! Law firm Green Jacobson shutdown due to being hit with a $10.5-million judgement. The questionable attorneys are already working for other law firms.
New Jersey: Legal drugs pusher Merck issued a WARN saying 172 people will become jobless by March!
New York: Time-Warner owned Sports Illustrated laid off the last of its in-house photographers, in total 36 people were let go. In Long Island, food producer Organic Avenue laid off 38 employees. In Batavia, prison contractor Valley-Metro Barbosa Group shutdown due to loss of contract, 256 jobs lost! In West Nyack, Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge (aka Cambridge University Press) issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in June, 42 jobs lost. In NYC, New York Life Insurance issued a WARN they will layoff at least 29 people by the end of the year. In Syracuse, after a little more than two years ‘outerwear’ clothing store Quicksilver shutdown in the Destiny USA center. The Great American Cookie store also shutdown in the Destiny USA mall.
North Carolina: What housing market recovery? In Franklin, hardwood flooring maker Shaw Floors announced they will layoff 25 employees by February.
Ohio: Ann’s Hallmark in Xenia Towne Square shutdown. It’s not the only store that has vacated the Xenia Towne Square; Rite Aid, Fulmer and Kmart have all left as well.
Pennsylvania: California based Chevron laid off 162 people working their natural gas ops in Moon! Chevron administrators admitted to local news that the layoffs were started back in November (when WTI oil prices averaged between $80 and $70 per barrel) as part of their overall corporate restructuring: “As a part of this restructuring, Chevron is taking steps to streamline its organization and ensure our workforce is the right size for expected activity levels in this region, which are lower than originally anticipated.”-Trip Oliver, who indicated that even at $80 per barrel the U.S. oil industry was losing money big time
Texas: In Houston, Hercules Offshore announced a second round of layoffs. They are shutting down five oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, affecting about 1250 employees! But wait, don’t blame low oil prices. Company administrators have revealed that permits to operate have been drastically cut, saying they’ve been able to get permits to operate only two rigs since June 2014! British empire Canada based petroleum company GasFrac now chapter 15 bankruptcy busted. The company made the bankruptcy filing in the U.S. state of Texas, where 46 jobs are threatened. The fracking company is also officially bankrupt in Canada. British empire Australia based BHP Billiton warned of impending layoffs as it shuts down 40% of its shale oil operations near San Antonio. Obama Care forced the El Paso Children’s Hospital to layoff five more people, and eliminated vacant positions. The Children’s Hospital also rents space to University Medical Center of El Paso, which reported that Obama Care has caused them to lose $60-million! As a result the University medical Center cannot pay the rent owed to Children’s Hospital.
Virginia: In Leesburg, The Beer Joint restaurant now chapter 7 bankrupt busted and liquidating. In Reston, taxsucking government contractor Extreme Security now chapter 7 bankrupt busted and liquidating. An investigation is underway concerning what the Department of Defense taxsucker did with the money it made.
Wisconsin: Clothing store Ma Jolie shutdown in Bayshore Town Center. The owner said crashing mall traffic was the deciding factor in not renewing the lease.
Wyoming: Western Research Institute laid five people and cut the hours of 16 employees. Administrators blame crashing prices across the mining industry (which includes oil, gas, silver, copper and coal).
18-21-January-2015: “like ripping off a band aid!”
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.