Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
California: Without warning, Los Angeles based bankrupt American Apparel began laying off employees in The (not so) Golden State. By the end of next week 450 people will be jobless! More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech for your demise; San Francisco based health tech diagnostic company Counsyl laid off 27 people, despite boasting of “double digit” demand for their carrier screening services.
Colorado: In Cameo, after 58 years Eagles Nest Family Dining shutdown. The restaurant was sold to a Texas based corporation in 2015, and they’ve decided it wasn’t making enough money.
Connecticut: Immucor Transplant Diagnostics issued a shutdown WARN for its Stamford location, 59 jobs lost by the beginning of June.
Florida: In Doral, ‘entertainment developer’ DLA laying off 92 people between May and November. The Ritz Carlton issued a WARN for their Bal Harbor food service ops in Miami, 89 jobs lost by mid-June.
Idaho: In Twin Falls, after 37 years God powerless to stop ‘unofficial’ Mormon Bell’s Family Books from being shutdown by ‘official’ Mormon bookstore Deseret Book! You read right! Local news reports say Bell’s Family Books was facing increasing competition, the final straw being when their own religion opened a bookstore down the street.
Illinois: Highland Community College eliminating six jobs, blaming the failed ‘law makers’ for failing to come up with a state budget. Highland Community College is also jacking up tuition! In Elgin, God powerless to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ 50 years old Messiah Lutheran Church. The property was sold to competitor Greek Orthodox Church. After 34 years thrift store Kenneth Young Center Resale Shop shutting down when the previously owned inventory is gone, as well as halting their funding of programs for children with mental health problems. The operator blames the failed state ‘lawmakers’: “…Illinois is the only state in the nation without a budget, decisions are being made where the most vulnerable people are suffering.”– Susan Cowan, CEO
Kentucky: Beauty First shutting down both its Louisville stores by the end of May, blaming crashed sales on competition from the internet, and jacked up rent by greedy property owners.
Maine: Gov’na Paul LePage warned that 9-hundred people in York County will become unemployed, due to their employer getting the hell outta Dodge! LePage refused to say which un-American corporation was fleeing the state.
North Carolina: Local news reports say that since January 5-thousand 8-hundred people in North Carolina have been laid off! New York based Croscill Home-Ex-Cell Home Fashions-Glenoit issued a layoff WARN, 50 distribution jobs gone by June.
Ohio: Pilot Thomas Logistics issued a layoff WARN for their Fracking support (aka Frac) ops, 58 jobs gone by April.
Oklahoma: In Tulsa, when pressured by local news Chart Cooler Service admitted they laid off employees, but still refused to say how many. They blamed it on the oil industry BS.
Pennsylvania: NHS Youth Services issued a WARN for their
Northwestern Academy, but failed to say how many people were losing their jobs.
South Dakota: Southeast Technical Institute warned of layoffs due to crashing student enrollment.
Texas: In Dallas, Select Medical issued a WARN, 77 jobs gone by the end of May. In El Paso, Schenker Logistics laying off nine employees by July. DuPont issued a layoff WARN for its La Porte ops, 17 jobs lost by the end of May. Denmark based Maersk Drilling revealed it laid off an additional 57 people in Houston, just a few weeks after laying off 35.
California based Chevron laid off 655 people at its Houston ops! The former employees are getting severance, which means they will not be counted as unemployed in the ‘official’ unemployment reports.
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
07 April 2016: “it’s time to move on”
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.”
In Idaho, several school directors blamed lead contamination on old plumbing and claim that lead levels went down after the plumbing was replaced. In Washington the first reported case of lead contamination was at the State Patrol Academy, in 2012. Directors say they’ve been on bottled water since then, but are working to hook up to ‘city’ supplied water.
NYC based Barnes & Noble is offshoring its Nook e-reader support/development to a company in India. It’s part of the book seller’s plan to cut costs by $13-million USD, partly blamed on a 29% crash in Nook sales. Administrators did not say how many U.S. jobs would be lost as a result of the off-shoring.
Despite better than expected earnings, Columbus based Limited Brands (aka L brands) is going ahead with its restructuring of Victoria’s Secret, Pink and Victoria’s Secret Beauty, resulting in 2-hundred administrative jobs being culled in Ohio and New York!
Pittsburgh based US Steel announced yet more layoffs, this time 750 salaried employees are being kicked to the curb. Local news reports say in the past five years US Steel has eliminated 8-thousand 3-hundred jobs in North America and Europe, blaming competition, the oil industry and currency wars. Overall, steel companies in the United States have eliminated 12-thousand jobs! US Steel reported a loss of $1.5-billion USD in 2015.
It was revealed that state taxpayers were forced to pay outrageous three-fold increase in overtime pay to Idaho State Police (ISP) trainees. ISP administrators explained, without blinking an eye, that it was mainly for trainee commute times to the academy because there was no room in the academy’s dorms in Meridian, or at the National Guard barracks on Gowen Field! (how many civilian businesses pay their employees to commute?)
MillerCoors issued a shutdown WARN for its Eden brewing ops. The first round of layoffs will begin in June, in total 349 jobs will be lost by the time the brewery shuts down! Local news reports say at one point the brewery employed more than 5-hundred people. MillerCoors administrators basically said the bad economy is forcing them to join the growing trend of consolidating operations. France based aerospace company Nexans shutting down its Elm City wire factory, 113 jobs lost by the end of June! Nexans administrators say there is not going to be an economic recovery: “This has been the result of continued sales decline combined with the steady decrease in market prices. There are, unfortunately, no realistic prospects for a return to profitability in the medium to long term.” 
The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that U.S. factory orders fell by 1.7% in February, more than canceling out January’s piddly increase. U.S. factory orders have crashed for 14 of the past 19 months!
After offshoring thousands of U.S. jobs, New York based IBM (International Business Machine) now to eliminate 14-thousand jobs outside of the U.S.!
After already shutting down 81 stores Baldwyn based Hancock Fabrics now bankrupt busted and shutting down the remain 185 stores! For proof there ain’t no economic recovery, the company has lost money every year since 2009!
Due to an investigation into massive corruption by ‘elected’ officials Yukon City warned employees in all departments of mass layoffs. City administrators claim they’ve discovered that $1.3-million USD have gone missing from bond sales and that the city is now in the hole by $3-million USD!
