Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
What housing market recovery? Kingdom of Luxembourg based mortgage technology and outsourcing company Altisource Portfolio Solutions laid off more than 800 people from Massachusetts U.S.A. to India! Inside sources said it was to make investors happy. There are also reports that the former parent company, Ocwen, might lose its California mortgage license.
Arizona: Dysart Unified School District announced they will kill off 147 jobs over the next three years! Administrators added that the 147 job cuts was just the first round of cuts! Back in November tax burdened voters rejected a school levy that would have jacked up their taxes even more. What gets me is why, year after year, school districts need more and more tax creating levies and bonds to be passed? Where is all that money going, especially the lottery money for those school systems that get money from lotteries as well as taxes?!
California: In Sacramento, after 29 years the owner of clothing store Robin Lyle announced she will shut it down. The owner says she will continue working as a personal shopper for her most loyal clients. Also in Sacramento, two Mark’s Hallmark stores shutdown. In December Mark’s Hallmark shutdown their store in Hawaii claiming it was because of high rent, they’re basically claiming the same thing for their California shutdowns. In Camarillo, maker of electronic equipment, especially for the medical industry, OSI Electronics issued a WARN saying they are shutting down in April, 118 jobs lost! In Marina Del Ray, Albertsons issued a WARN saying they will shutdown by 26 February 2015, at least 80 jobs lost. In San Diego, Albertsons grocery store issued a WARN saying they will shutdown by 26 February 2015, at least 63 jobs lost. Boeing issued more WARNs saying at least 24 more Californians will become unemployed by March. In Anaheim, UTI issued a WARN saying they will shutdown in March, 32 jobs lost.
Colorado: Denver based Frontier Airlines announced they will kill off 13-hundred in-house jobs in favor of cheap-o contractors!
Florida: First National Bank of Crestview was seized by the FDIC, assets turned over to First NBC Bank. What housing market recovery? RealtyTrac says southern Florida still ranks as the top spot for home foreclosures; 68,696 properties foreclosed in 2014! Speaking of failed recovery in the housing market, the taxsucking developer of so called affordable housing, Aburn Trace, is now chapter 11 bankrupt busted! This could mean no chance of recovering any taxpayer funding the company got. It’s blamed on numerous lawsuits filed by and against home developers, banks and even the federal government! (classic cluster f*ck with taxpayer and investor funds)
Illinois: In Harvey, Obama Care forcing 92 years old Ingalls Memorial Hospital to layoff 80 people and shutdown their child care center. Administrators say Obama Care, plus the bad economy, is forcing them to slash $3.5-million USD from its budget!
Iowa: French based maker of polyols, starches, proteins, fibers and sweeteners Roquette America suddenly laid off 85 people at its Lee County factory. Apparently the mayor of Keokuk knew about the layoffs the week prior, but said nothing hoping the newly unemployed would be hired by other local businesses.
Maryland: Telecommunications company Ciena issued a WARN saying 57 people in Lithinicum will become jobless by May.
Massachusetts: Obama Care forced Southcoast Health System to layoff 35 people. Three months ago they laid off 70 people.
Minnesota: Spill the Wine restaurant shutdown, the owner sold out to another restaurant. 120 years old (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Waldorf Nevens Cleaners now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. It was revealed that Wuollet shutdown their 15 years old bakery on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, saying it wasn’t worth it to renew the lease.
Missouri: Hallmark Gold Crown laid off 33 people, most at its Kansas City divisional office. In addition, Hallmark also laid off four people from its product integrity group, and eight people in their tooling department.
Nebraska: In Lincoln, after 33 years the owner of BB&R Pawn announced he will shut it down by summer. He and one of his long time employees say they’re both “tired of it”.
Nevada: In Las Vegas, non-profit Safe Faith United liquidating and shutting down. The administrators of the safe house for victims of domestic violence blame crashing donations with the final straw coming from the federal government, which refused to award much needed grant money.
New York: In Pear River, legal drugs pusher Pfizer issued a WARN saying 50 people will become jobless by April. In Orchard Park, the owner of B is for Books announced she is calling it quits: “Despite being a labor of love, and having the best staff in the world, running the bookstore is a lot of work. I have decided to close so that I will have more time to spend with my husband and our four children.”-Jane Bell
Oregon: What automotive industry recovery? Portland based Schnitzer Steel Industries announced they will cut 4% of their employees who are directly involved with auto parts sales. Company administrators say sales have dropped so much they need to cut $14-million from their budget!
Pennsylvania: Obama Care forcing 114 years old (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) hospital Penn Highlands Clearfield to layoff 30 people, eliminate 11 vacant jobs and cut hours for 50 employees. Administrators say they’re being forced to cut $3.1-million per year from their budget, pointing out that 65% of their customers are on Medicare or Medicaid, which are being drastically cut by Obama Care! God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Roseto, and ‘his’ Pius X Junior/Senior High School in Bangor.
Texas: Oil services company Schlumberger announced it will kill off 9-thousand jobs! Ignorant news analysts blame it on the crashing oil prices, however, when Schlumberger made the job cuts announcement their stock price shot up. It’s also been revealed that three Schlumberger execs dumped their own stock in the company, and then invested $1.7-billion into Russia’s Eurasia Drilling Company (so much for U.S. sanctions)! God refuses to stop ‘his’ Southern Methodist University from laying off 100 people in February! The Christian school will also eliminate 50 vacant jobs. Typical of ‘christians’ the administrators are living in denial, regarding their financial status, calling efforts to cut $35-million from their budget “addressing our slight structural budget deficit”.
Washington: Georgia based EarthLink laid off an undisclosed number of people at their Vancouver location. Local news assume it was less than 50 because EarthLink never filed a WARN.
West Virginia: Mitt Romney’s wunderkind Staples shutdown their less than five years old Martinsburg store.
15-January-2015: “They are ruining families’ lives!”
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.