Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Arkansas: Noranda Aluminum announced laid off at least 38 people, blaming crashing demand. Back in September the company laid off 200 people in Missouri, blaming utility rates and crashing demand for their product.
California: The World’s largest maker of computer chips, San Diego based Qualcomm, issued several WARNs saying they will render 289 people across southern California jobless, as well as 600 people around the World by February 2015! Company administrators say they must get the hell outta the chip business, it’s that bad! Too Big to Jail Bank of America warned of February 2015 layoffs at its Los Angeles operations. The Hacienda Hotel issued a WARN saying they are shutting down their El Segundo hotel in February 2015, at least 96 jobs lost. Switzerland based legal drugs pusher F. Hoffmann-La Roche (aka Roche) has taken over InterMune for $8.3-billion USD. The now former CEO of InterMune walked away with a $36-million severance package, while 170 employees in Brisbane are being laid off in February 2015! “Cloud solutions for government” Granicus issued a WARN saying they will shutdown their San Francisco office in April 2015, at least 47 jobs lost. In Petaluma, SPG Solar shutdown, at least 10 jobs lost. In Santa Clara, Toppan Photomasks issued a WARN saying they’re shutting down in March 2015, at least 75 jobs lost. In Foothill Ranch, Genesis Healthcare issued a WARN saying 71 people will be rendered jobless in February 2015. In Herlong, taxsucking government contractor Bowhead Support issued a WARN saying they’re shutting down in February 2015, at least 119 jobs lost! In Berkeley, after 42 years the Taiwan Restaurant shutdown, the owners blame the new landlord who wants to tear everything down and put up a new building.
Florida: In Palatka, waste management company Alorica issued a WARN saying they will layoff 96 people in February 2015.
Illinois: In Mount Prospect, the owners of Randhurst Village shopping center forced the three years old The Billy Goat Tavern to shutdown. Basically the shopping center owners found a new tenant who’s willing to pay more in rent.
Michigan: What automotive industry recovery? In Lansing, GM (General Motors) revealed that 450 people at its Grand River Assembly Plant could become jobless in early 2015! It’s blamed on crashing sales of upscale Cadillacs. In Wyandotte, the Axe-n-Ladder Deli shutdown, the owner blamed a sudden increase in competition: “After we opened, six restaurants opened up. Lunch isn’t a destination place. You eat lunch where you’re at, and it just got too saturated with everyone trying to split a dollar.”-Ted Copley
Montana: The state’s Department of Livestock warned of layoffs and unpaid furloughs due to increased spending on brucellosis testing on cows, and increased employee insurance and retirement funding mandated by Obama Care! To make things worse, state administrators have actually cut overall funding for the Department of Livestock.
New Jersey: Switzerland based legal drugs pusher Novartis announced it will lay off 200 people in The Garden State by February 2015! Obama Care is forcing them to “…position our U.S. General Medicines business for long-term success.”
New York: Clothing store the Gap announced it will shutdown their Salmon Run Mall store in January 2015. In Syracuse, after 50 years MQ Camera shutdown.
North Carolina: Maker of robotic drugs making systems, Parata Systems, announced they will render 110 people jobless! Administrators say Obama Care is forcing them “…to better align with the larger health care market and position us for future growth and new opportunities.”
Ohio: The city of Cleveland announced it will render employees jobless, not fill vacant positions and increase fees charged to the public! City administrators revealed that local tax-fee revenues crashed by $2.5-million per year! In Kettering, the once iconic but now dying Eastman Kodak laid off 15 people.
Pennsylvania: NYC based bratty teenage girl’s clothing chain store dELiA*s sold off their Hanover distribution center, 120 jobs lost!
Vermont: In Burlington, after five years Das Bierhaus German restaurant shutdown: “Renewal time had come and, as the dust of negotiations and exploring other options settled, I was fortunate enough to have been presented with an offer I could not refuse.”-Nick Karabelas, owner
05-08-december-2014: the suck-ass economy is going to kick yours!
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shutdown. It doesn’t count people who get a severance for being laid off.