February 16, 2012, Sears announced layoffs of 100 of its employees at its Illinois headquarters.  Some Illinois politicians say the state was blackmailed into giving Sears a $150 million tax break, and that even more Sears layoffs are in the works.

Sears told Illinois lawmakers that if it didn’t get the tax break it would move its headquarters out of state.  The implication was that if Illinois didn’t want a lot more unemployed people they better do what Sears wants.  Well, Illinois is getting more unemployed anyway!

And here’s how even more people will be laid off.  The tax break requires Sears to maintain 4,250 employees at its headquarters (aka Hoffman Estates).  Yet, even with the 100 announced layoffs, Sears has more than 6,100 employees at the site.  That means close to 2,000 people could still lose their jobs as part of the $150 million tax break!