Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence only 28 corporations made 50% of all profits in the U.S. in 2015, and 27 avoided paying U.S. taxes due to pro-corporation tax laws! The 28 profit stealers are: Apple, Too Big to Jail JPMorgan Chase, Warren Buffett’s job killing Berkshire Hathaway, Too Big to Jail Wells Fargo, drugs maker Gilead Sciences, Verizon Communications, Too Big to Jail Citigroup, Alphabet-Google, despite low oil prices Exxon Mobil, Too Big To Jail Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Walmart (who recently announced mass store shutdowns and layoffs), AT&T, IBM, Intel,  Microsoft, Cisco Systems, General Motors (GM), Oracle, Disney, Procter & Gamble, Comcast, Dow Chemical, American Airlines, United Technologies, Ford Motor,  Coca-Cola, and United Continental.

Alabama: In Huntsville, the now shuttered non-profit Sci-Quest museum is officially chapter 7 bankrupt busted.

California: The once Sears Holdings owned Orchard Supply Hardware shutting down their stores in Watsonville and Folsom.  The Watsonville store is apparently being kicked out by the landlord, who wants them out by January 2017, 40 jobs lost.  The Folsom store will shutdown during Summer.  These shutdowns come after Orchard Supply donated $5-thousand USD to the McClellan Ranch Preserve, and revealed they’ve been building new stores.  In Watsonville, the owner of the Crossroads shopping center served eight tenants with eviction notices! Yep, it’s the same landlord that’s kicking out the Orchard Supply store.  The eight mom-n-pop tenants being kicked out in the next 30 days are Crossroads Books, Arcadia Hair Salon, Wild Rose Artists’ Supplies & Custom Framing, Jansen Music, The Gamer’s Den, Queen’s Shoes & More, Trop-Aquarium & Pet Center and Claudio Franca Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Some of the tenants have been there for the past 22 years!  You can blame this on the  Crossroads property owner signing a more lucrative deal to allow healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente to move in.  City administrators are pissed at the uncouth healthcare provider and greedy property owner, who gave no warning of the deal: “It’s not a good way for them to come into the community, by kicking out eight businesses with eviction notices. I am going to make sure they know that the mayor is opposed to the 30-day eviction…..!”-Felipe Hernandez, mayor

Connecticut:  More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise;  Hartford based healthcare provider Aetna eliminated 26 jobs with its iTriage App in Colorado.  Aetna then announced plans to merge iTriage App with WellMatch App.  No word on how many more IT jobs will be lost.

Florida: In Miami, food service contractor Boykin Management issued a mass layoff WARN, 119 jobs lost by May!

Illinois:  In Chicago, after two years critically acclaimed restaurant Tete Charcuterie shutdown without warning over the weekend, due to lack of sales.  In Frankfort, Burger King shutdown their Town Center location without explanation.

Michigan: What construction industry recovery? Germany based WKW Roof Rail Systems shutting down their Battle Creek factory, 130 jobs eliminated to “reduce costs and improve competitiveness”!

Minnesota: State Department of Employment and Economic Development reports that in 2015 The North Star State lost 1-thousand 990 mining jobs!  And in what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs (REL), another 4-thousand 7-hundred suppliers and contractors lost their jobs as a result!  Employment administrators also admitted that not all those who lost their jobs registered with the  Department of Employment and Economic Development (one reason why official unemployment rate is down).

Missouri: In Saint Louis, Peabody Energy revealed it eliminated more jobs, but would not say how many.  Reports say creditors are pushing for bankruptcy.

New York: In NYC, after five years Team Gallery shutting down its space on Wooster Street due to the greedy landlord wanting to double the rent to $50-thousand USD per month!

Pennsylvania: In Wilkes-Barre Township, two Old Country Buffet restaurants shutdown without warning, leaving almost 1-hundred people without a job or a paycheck!  It’s connected to the sudden bankruptcy of Ovation Brands (see South Carolina below).  Weis Markets shutting down its 56 years old Manchester Township grocery store by the end of the month, claiming it’s too small: “Given the age and size of the building, it was no longer possible to operate a full service supermarket in this location.” 

   

South Carolina: Greer based restaurant operator Ovation Brands (formerly known as Buffets) now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, affecting restaurants Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Ryan’s, Ryan’s Family Steakhouse, Granny’s, Tahoe Joe’s, Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse, Soup ‘N Salad Unlimited, Roadhouse Grill and J.J. North’s Grand Buffet.  Already local news reports say 74 restaurants have been shutdown across the U.S. without warning.  Two Ryan’s restaurants suddenly shutdown in Upstate South Carolina leaving 80 people without a job or paycheck!  (a warning shutdown took place in Moline, Illinois, the day before)

Texas: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise; in Austin after moving into new HQ, 10 years old internet based wholesaler network Bazaarvoice announced it will eliminate 50 jobs in order to remain successful “…in the coming year and for many years to come.”  Invista Victoria issued a WARN, 50 jobs lost by May.  What automotive industry recovery? In Grapevine, Standard Motor Products issued a WARN, 93 jobs lost by the end of April. In El Paso, Bruce Foods shutting down, 171 jobs lost by May!  The Forever 21 clothing store in Dallas shutting down, 68 jobs lost by the end of April.  San Antonio based Palmaz Scientific now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to being “…seriously impaired by a negative campaign of false information disseminated by certain individuals about the company. Litigation involving these false charges was brought by and against the company in 2015.”

Washington: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high tech for your demise;  Redmond based Microsoft announced it will shutdown two game development studios, one in United Kingdom the other in Denmark.  In Bellingham, Albertsons-Safeway shutting down their 56 years old store on Birchwood Avenue, 66 jobs lost by May.

Wisconsin: In New Berlin junk food maker Mexican Accent issued a WARN, 155 jobs lost by the end of April!   In Yorkville, Publications International eliminating 50 jobs by April.  In Watertown, Eaton Corporation eliminating 91 jobs starting in June.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

05-06 March 2016: “We don’t pay well!”

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.”