Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Obama Care Racism in the good ol’ U.S. of A? The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) laid off employees in New York, Washington DC, California and Wyoming. ACLU administrators blamed it on the loss of a major donor, but also mentioned the increased employee health care costs, caused by Obama Care.
California: Los Angeles based American Apparel laid off 180 people! This is the third year in a row the clothing company has laid off employees. Some analysts say its their way of preventing employees from unionizing, however it could also be due to American Apparel losing $28-million USD in its 4th quarter of 2014! Boeing announced that another round of layoffs will take place, this time nine people will be let go at the beginning of June. In Santa Barbara, after less than two years Granada Books shutdown. The owner tried an internet/social media based campaign to raise money to save the store, but it failed. In Mountain View, OnLive issued a layoff WARN saying 98 people will become jobless by June. In Los Alamitos, Dex Media issued yet another layoff WARN, this time saying the last of its employees will be let go in September. In Irvine, legal drugs maker Allergan issued a layoff WARN saying 577 people will become jobless in June, due to takeover by Ireland based Actavis! In Fresno, Charlotte’s BakerEatery sold to competitor Dusty Buns. In Natomas, OfficeMax announced it will shutdown its North Freeway Boulevard store in May. It’s part of a larger plan to shutdown more than 2-hundred stores across the U.S.: “In 2014, we closed approximately 165 locations and plan to close at least another 100 by the second quarter in 2015.”– Julianne Embry
Colorado: Boulder based children’s and women’s clothing chain Fresh Produce now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and up for sale. Administrators say the company is in so much debt that they listed some as “unknown”. Fresh Produce has several dozens of stores across six U.S. states.
Florida: FlexSteel Pipeline shutdown their Panama City factory, 76 jobs lost. Administrators blame oil prices.
Illinois: School District 65 will eliminate 29 full time jobs for the upcoming school year. School administrators say they’re preparing for the state to slash and burn their funding even more.
Indiana: What automotive industry recovery? Heavy vehicle maker Caterpillar continues to kill jobs, this time 250 jobs will be eliminated in Lafayette! Also, driveline maker Oerlikon Fairfield laid off 35 people at its Lafayette factory. The new Obama Care medical device tax, combined with a takeover by Tecomet, forcing Symmetry Medical Manufacturing to shutdown its Noble County factory by the end of the year, 130 jobs lost (layoffs start in June)! In Indianapolis, Too Big to Jail Chase Bank announced it is shutting down its student loan center in May, 73 jobs lost. It’s the final stage of the bank’s exit from higher education: “We have gotten out of the student loan business; that was announced years ago. So this is the trailing end of the servicing of the loans that were still on the books.”
Kentucky: In Paducah, the U.S. Postal Service shutting down the mail Processing Center, at least 41 jobs affected. The loading dock will remain in operation, but work hours for those employees remaining will be greatly reduced.
Maine: Massachusetts based aerospace and oil industry parts supplier Midstate Berkshire laid off 70 people in Winslow and Waterville. On top of that the Waterville factory will be shutdown by the end of the year, so more job losses are expected: “The market conditions are severe, we’ve seen a 30% decrease in our key markets over the past year!”-Duane Pekar, CEO
Massachusetts: In the state known as Boston Weak, the new Obama Care medical device tax, combined with a takeover by Tecomet, forcing Symmetry Medical Manufacturing to shutdown its New Bedford factory over the next 12 months. Layoffs begin in June, 190 jobs lost!
Minnesota: After 57 years Richfield’s Lariat Lanes bowling alley announced it will shutdown in May.
Missouri: In Cape Girardeau, the U.S. Postal Service shutting down the mail Processing Center, at least 45 jobs affected.
New York: In Clifton Park, California based Everett Charles Technology joined the exodus and announced they will layoff 25 people in August, by offshoring the jobs to Malaysia. In Syracuse, Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase issued a shutdown WARN saying their Global Technology Department will cease to exist in June, 91 jobs lost. In Bay Shore, Duralee Fabrics issued a WARN saying they’re joining the exodus from The Empire State and moving 64 jobs to North Carolina by July. In Bronx, That Which Cannot be Named refuses to stop the sell-off of its Yeshiva University Albert Einstein School of Medicine, 1,512 jobs affected! Apparently the school is being taken over by the College of Medicine.
North Carolina: In Raleigh, legal drugs maker Salix Pharmaceuticals is laying off 258 people! Administrators blame it on the $11-billion they spent taking over Canadian drugs maker Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
Ohio: After 130 years (surviving numerous depressions and recessions) God refuses to stop the shutdown of his Saint Aloysius School. It’s blamed on the Rapture, I mean what I call Disappearing Student Syndrome. From the 2012-13 school year to 2014-15 they suffered a 50% drop in enrollment! Regency Hospital of Akron shutting down, 85 jobs lost. New York based insurance company Assurant laid off 125 people in Dayton and Springfield due to lack of sales! Gee, what happened to Obama Care forcing everybody to get insurance?
Oklahoma: SandRidge Energy laid off 132 people, blaming “Market conditions”!
Oregon: Netflix is going ahead with their May shutdown of their Hillsboro call center, saying the remaining 68 employees will become unemployed. Last year news reports said 188 people worked at the call center!
Pennsylvania: In Honesdale, after 34 years the owners of Country Dawn say their greedy landlord is forcing them to shutdown in May. The landlord wants to replace the gift shop with a bar.
Virginia: In Charlottesville, after almost 70 years Downtown Athletic Store shutdown. It sounds like the company is going to focus on internet sales only. Richmond based Health Diagnostic Laboratory announced it will begin laying off 42 more employees across the country. Last year the medical testing company laid off 162 people! It’s connected to a federal investigation, and subsequent $47-million fine, in which the company is accused of bribing doctors and hospitals.
Washington: What housing market recovery? Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle will layoff 109 people between now and January 2016! Administrators say they still haven’t recovered from the 2008-09 housing market crash.
Washington DC: Steptoe & Johnson, a law firm that represents the oil industry, revealed it laid off 34 people across the U.S.
Wisconsin: Ohio based natural gas company Chart Industries laid off 50 more people from its La Crosse factory. That’s on top of the 55 laid off at the end of 2014. Company administrators said the economy still sucks, despite shelling out $50-million to expand their La Crosse ops. University of Wisconsin Madison warned it must eliminate 4-hundred jobs and drop 320 courses over the next two years, no thanks to the new Right to Work (you over) state education budget! Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) laid off less than 20 people from its central office. MPS has a terrible graduation rate for high school students; in 2014 only 60.9% of students succeeded in graduating after four years of high school! Of the students who took five years only 68.8% graduated, and those who took six years only 73.4% graduated!
01 April 2015: “we lost some very good people”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”