Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
California: City administrators of Stanton are suing to shutdown a thriving coffee shop. What’s the problem? GZ Cafe employs waitresses that wear bikinis (and even just pasties), however, there are reports that several customers complained to the city claiming some of the waitresses were showing off their ‘hardware’ to other customers. A next door barber shop owner praises GZ Cafe for greatly increasing his business! Barnes & Noble shutting down their Mountain View College Bookstore, 40 jobs lost by May. City National Bank shutting down an office in Los Angeles, five jobs lost by mid-May. In San Jose, TiVo laid off 52 people. In Sunnyvale, Imagine Communications issued a shutdown WARN, 50 jobs lost by April. Investors Business Daily issued multiple layoff WARNs, at least 49 jobs lost in several cities by the end of April. Sutter Central Valley Hospitals issued multiple layoff WARNs, at least 96 jobs lost in several locations by the end of April. In Bakersfield, Xerox eliminating 15 jobs by the end of April. Direct Energy issued a shutdown WARN for their Corona ops, 47 jobs lost by the end of April. Massachusetts based valve maker Circor shutting down their Corona ops, 64 jobs lost by mid-April. Envoy Air flying outta Palm Springs, 52 jobs lost by May. In San Francisco, internet/tech company YourPeople-Zenefits officially revealed how many jobs they eliminated last month, 83. In Tustin, Pacific Bell Telephone eliminating 121 jobs by May! Southern Home Care Services shutting down their San Leandro ops, 123 employees unemployed by May! Memorial Health Services shutting down their San Clemente operations, 194 jobs lost by the end of May! In Orange, National Oilwell Varco issued a mass layoff WARN, 232 people laid off by the end of April! Illinois based drugs maker Baxalta issued several layoff WARNs, 239 jobs in three cities gone by May, due to being taken over by an Irish company! Back in Sunnyvale, internet/tech company NetApp eliminating 376 jobs by the end of April!
Illinois: Starting next week 1-thousand Northeastern Illinois University employees must take one day off without pay, due to the Failed State ‘lawmakers’. All Illinois universities are warning of massive layoffs if the Govna’s proposed budget is adopted.
Missouri: State ‘lawmakers’ have pledged $1.7-million in taxpayer funding to help the 850 people who lost their jobs when Tennessee based Noranda Aluminum went bankrupt. In Saint Joseph, after 70 years wire maker WireCo laying off 49 people and halting production, blaming the oil industry for crashing sales. 14 employees will remain to close up shop over the next 12 months. Local news reports say at one time WireCo (Wire Rope Co.) employed 1-thousand 5-hundred people! After two years of booze and coloring books, ArtBar St. Louis shutdown without warning due to “circumstances beyond my control.”
New York: Phillips Hardware shutting down their Colonie store, will focus on expanding their Altamonte store (which still needs approval from the city). NYC based research company Nielsen says the bar industry is now in an official Death Spiral. Every month an average of 334 new bars open across the U.S., but, that pales in comparison to the 609 per month that shutdown (and that’s why it’s a death spiral, more deaths than births)! It’s blamed on jacked up rents, increasing competition from restaurants serving booze and increasingly restrictive laws.
Oregon: Bankrupt Washington based Haggen (assassinated by Albertsons-Safeway) shutting down two grocery stores, in Clackamas and West Linn, 138 jobs lost by May!
Pennsylvania: Last month SBC Building Systems WARNed they were shutting down two locations, today they revised that WARN to say “No longer closing”. No explanation.
Virginia: In Norfolk, Empire Little Bar Bistro shutting down next month, can’t renew the lease. The owners blame never ending construction and city trash dumpsters taking up precious space in the parking lot.
Washington DC: The U.S. Navy planning on shutting down its remaining 20 voluntary education program College offices saying they can no longer afford to offer courses ‘on base’. Civilian employees will be relocated to a central call center. Administrators say they’re trying to save everybody some money: “For every dollar I get to spend on college education for our sailors, I would like to see it go to their tuition assistance pot and not paying for overhead.”– Rear Admiral Mike White, Naval Education and Training Command
Wyoming: Kiewit Mining Group laid off 38 coal miners at their Buckskin mine last week. Peabody Energy eliminated an undisclosed number of coal mine jobs in the Powder River Basin: “In response to market conditions and customer needs, Peabody has implemented a small number of job reductions at its Caballo and Rawhide mines…”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!
Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”
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.”