Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Arizona: In Phoenix yet another restaurant shutdown, this time Kincaid’s Classic American Dining closing in July after 14 years. The owners blamed years of city construction work which put their sales into a death spiral by blocking customer access to their establishment. Also in Phoenix two TV stations merged, KPHO and KTVK, resulting in 14 jobs being eliminated.
Arkansas: Bentonville based Walmart just became even more evil. Greedy administrators are now charging manufacturers for the privilege of selling their products! It’s being done under the guise of charging a stocking-storage fee for ‘warehousing inventory’! Analysts say Walmart administrators are trying to offset crashing sales and employee pay raises.
California: In San Louis Obispo, after surviving the Great (deflationary) Depression and numerous recessions Pismo Beach Hardware shutting down in August. Local news reports say city administrators have rezoned the property for food service, but apparently there is no restaurant set to move in. In Santa Monica, Wilshire West Car Wash issued a shutdown WARN for August, 66 jobs lost. In Chino, Closet Maid issued a shutdown WARN for September, 71 jobs lost. In Los Angeles, King Meat issued a shutdown WARN for August, 227 jobs lost! In Santa Barbara, upscale clothier Saks issued a shutdown WARN for July, 56 jobs lost. In Harbor City, Flying Food Group issued a layoff WARN for August, 121 jobs lost! In Santa Clara and Folsom, computer chip maker Intel issued layoff WARNs saying 317 people will become unemployed in July! In Long Beach, Boeing will layoff at least 15 people in August. What automotive industry recovery? Also in Long Beach, Japan based Toyota finally issued a WARN saying 104 parts factory jobs will be eliminated in August! In Pacoima, Brice Manufacturing announced they will eliminate 15 jobs in August. In San Diego, Bridgepoint Education issued WARNs saying 19 people will be laid off in August. What housing market recovery? And San Diego based Genetically Modified drugs maker Celladon began laying off employees, suspended research on new drugs and announced it might have to liquidate if it can’t sell itself to a foolish vulture capitalist investor. Apparently their GMOed drugs don’t work. In Irvine, Discover credit card issued a shutdown WARN for their Home Loans office, 393 home loan employees will be let go in August! It’s part of Discover’s exit from the home loan business. In Compton, Cal State Steel issued a shutdown WARN for September, 44 jobs lost. Food producer Genreal Mills confirmed their Lodi factory will shutdown by the end of the year, 430 jobs lost! This is not part of General Mills recent announcement that they’re culling 7-hundred more jobs, the Lodi shutdown was planned in 2014! Administrators of the city of Lodi say the General Mills shutdown will impact other businesses, netting more than 1-thousand 2-hundred jobs lost for the city!
Colorado: Like your smartphone? Greenwood Village based rare earth mineral miner Molycorp now chapter 11 bankrupt busted blaming crashing commodity prices and crashing sales to electronics makers.
Connecticut: ObamaCare forced Bristol Hospital to layoff 37 employees, and shutdown six vacant positions. Hospital administrators blamed state ‘lawmakers’ for cutting $2-million USD in Medicaid reimbursements, but directly blamed ObamaCare for the loss of $3-million in Medicare reimbursements! Administrators also warn of more layoffs as they are expecting another $7-million in losses over the next two years!
Illinois: In Pilsen, after six years restaurant Nightwood shutting down in July.
Indiana: The Community Blood Center shutting down its donor centers in West Chester and Richmond by September. This seems to be part of a secret plan connected to ObamaCare: “More stringent transfusion protocols, advances in medical science and Health Care Reform continue to impact how the blood supply is managed.”-Forbes
Michigan: Flint School District laid off more employees, this time 55 teachers. Another 16 employees retired. Because of what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome, and the increased cost of health insurance caused by ObamaCare, the school district is trying to cut $5.8-million! The new owner of Hiller’s Market grocery stores, Kroger, announced that Hiller’s stores in Ann Arbor, Plymouth and South Lyon will shutdown immediately! Hiller’s stores in West Bloomfield and Northville have already been shutdown!
Minnesota: The Saint Louis Park Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill shutdown without warning. A now unemployed server who didn’t know her employer shutdown told local news media “They didn’t pay their liquor taxes, we ran out of beer and liquor last weekend, and I was here Monday working and nobody has told me anything.” Across the country Toby Keith’s have been shutting down without warning since 2014.
Missouri: Janitorial products maker Continental Commercial (ContiCo) eliminating 155 jobs as they shutdown their Bridgeton factory! Administrators say crashing sales are forcing them to consolidate operations.
Nevada: The city of North Las Vegas has won state supreme court cases that support their elimination of police jobs and the shutdown of the city’s jail. Former employees claim the city failed to pay them their accrued vacation time.
New York: Durso Lefferts Boulevard Foods issued a WARN saying they’re shutting down their Richmond Hill grocery store in September, 83 jobs lost. They blame crashing sales.
Ohio: In Dayton, the Community Blood Center shutting down its Donor Testing Laboratory in September. This seems to be part of a secret plan connected to ObamaCare: “More stringent transfusion protocols, advances in medical science and Health Care Reform continue to impact how the blood supply is managed.”-Forbes
Oklahoma: Reports say the World’s largest oil service company, Texas based Schlumberger, laid off even more employees at their Bartlesville factory. The number of people laid off is not know and are supposedly on top of the 20-thousand global layoffs announced in April.
Pennsylvania: Olney Charter High School eliminating 36 jobs including the principal. Employees say it’s retaliation for them forming their own union.
Texas: God refuses to stop ‘his’ Oak Cliff United Methodist Church from shutting down. The pastor says the building needs at least $3-million in repairs, but the 120 church members cannot afford it and voted to shut it down. In Wichita Falls, the WDS Global-Xerox call center shutting down “because it is no longer sustainable.” 257 jobs lost by August! News reports say back in 2012 the call center employed 423 people, apparently 171 jobs had already been eliminated before the shutdown announcement, and this after city administrators gave WDS Global $3-million in tax breaks and cold hard taxpayer cash!
Virginia: Sweden based mining engineering company Sandvik announced it’s shutting down its Bristol factory and moving to Mexico. Administrators blame the crashing U.S. mining industry, 74 U.S. jobs lost by the end of 2016.
Washington: The Golden Nugget Tukwila Casino officially shutdown, 69 jobs lost. In Bellevue, after 41 years the Skate King roller rink shutdown, managers say the property owner leased the property to a motorcycle dealer.
Wisconsin: In Eau Claire, Maine based animal drugs lab IDEXX laid off 24 employees, indicating sales are crashing. Metal caster Grede announced it is shutting down its Berlin foundry, 157 jobs lost by December! As with other companies, Grede administrators say crashing sales are forcing them to consolidate.
25 June 2015: “This is part of a bigger plan.”
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.”