Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Netherlands based grocery store chain Ahold announced it will shutdown support offices in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. At least 120 jobs lost! Administrators said it was the only way they could keep their food prices low for shoppers.
Germany based software developer SAP announced it will kill off 22-hundred jobs around the World, including in the United States! Administrators blame crashing sales and the move towards ‘cloud’ based ops.
Arizona: In Tucson, after ten years the owners of Bluefin Seafood Bistro announced they will shutdown in May. They blame the new greedy property owners: “Our lease term is ending and we could not come to an equitable deal on our lease renegotiation with the new center owners.”
California: Old TV show rerun cable channel TV Land laid off 20 people. It’s blamed on its troubled owner Viacom. In Santa Barbara, Palo Alto and Laguna Hills after only one year three Fresh Market grocery stores shutdown, 179 jobs lost! The administrators of the North Carolina grocery chain said “We believe that our resources will be used more productively elsewhere…”, meaning the economy in The Golden State sucks. In Ontario and Sacramento, United Airlines issued a WARN saying 117 airport employees will become unemployed in May! In Terminal Island, United Industries issued a shutdown WARN saying 136 people will be laid off in May! In Emeryville, video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) issued a layoff WARN saying 70 people will become unemployed in May. In Sunnyvale, personal care product maker Unilever issued a shutdown WARN for May, 57 jobs lost. It’s been revealed that British empire military taxsucker BAE eliminated 201 jobs in San Franscisco, no WARN was issued before the layoff! The Acalanes Union High School District has decided to end its 70 years old adult education program, killing eight full time jobs. Drexel University announced it will shutdown their six years old Sacramento campus.
Connecticut: What automotive industry recovery? In New Milford, after 65 years the local Volkswagen car dealer shutdown. The dealership owners blame Germany based Volkswagen. Their line of credit with Volkswagen requires them to make a profit, which they have been unable to do for the past three years because of the bad economy.
Georgia: In Locust Grove, Smead Manufacturing shutting down their production and distribution center, 150 jobs lost by April!
Iowa: Gov’na Terry Branstad issued layoff notices for 36 employees at the state run mental health institution in Mount Pleasant. The gov’na wants to shutdown the mental health hospital in Clarinda as well, meaning 150 jobs will be lost between April and mid-summer!
Massachusetts: Near Boston Weak, drugs makers Merck and AstraZeneca both announced they will kill jobs. Between the two more than 2-hundred drug making jobs will be eliminated! Merck is shutting down its recently acquired Cubist ops, and AstraZeneca is shutting down its Infection iMed unit.
Minnesota: In Hastings, Smead Manufacturing ending old school file folder production and killing off 114 jobs by August! In Saint Paul, after 36 years the owner of Golden Lion Antiques announced he will shut it down in April. The owner blames his deteriorating health.
New Hampshire: What automotive industry recovery? Automotive parts maker Hitchliner Manufacturing shutting down their 31 years old Littleton factory. 135 jobs affected, the company is consolidating ops.
North Dakota: So much for oil wealth, in Fargo after 92 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) the owners of Quality Bakery announced it will shutdown by the end of April. They said the oil boom did nothing for them as they’ve been trying to sell the business for the past seven years, with no luck.
Texas: Woodlands based chemical maker Huntsman Corporation announced it will shutdown color pigment factories in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and even Germany. At least 120 jobs lost! Administrators say they need to cut $20-million per year from their operating costs, but this belies their spending $115-million building a new factory in Augusta, Georgia! Houston based oil exploration company Dune Energy now bankrupt busted and selling off all its assets. Company administrators blame low oil prices for the cancelation of its planned sale to California based Eos Petro. Administrators with Eos Petro called it “Negative outside market forces beyond either companies’ control…” In Erath County, FMC laid off 79 people, that’s on top of the people laid off in January. Company administrators blame oil prices: “As a result of the dramatic decline in oil and natural gas prices and the resulting decrease in activity from our customers, FMC has undertaken a number of efforts to adjust our business to this lower activity.”
04 – 05 March 2015: “more change than we’ve seen in the past 75 years combined.”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
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.