Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
A natural gas company created as a result of the merger between an Oklahoma company and a Texas company just two years ago, Enable Midstream Partners, is already killing jobs. About 2-hundred jobs were eliminated, including 1-hundred in Louisiana! Company administrators warned of the layoffs at the beginning of the year.
California: In Gold River, Obama Care caused eHealthInsurance Services to layoff 72 people without warning. Who said batteries are more environmentally friendly than gas and diesel? In Vernon, The U.S. EPA forcing Exide Technologies to issue a shutdown WARN saying 84 people are now unemployed, and more will lose their jobs as they shutdown their battery factory after repeatedly violating federal environmental protection rules. In El Segundo, toy maker Mattel laid off 107 employees! Paramount Pictures is the latest victim of Viacom’s slashing & burning. Reports say as many as 40 movie studio employees were laid off. In San Francisco, legal drugs pusher Amgen announced it will eliminate as many as 3-hundred drugs making jobs and shutdown its recently acquired Onyx Pharmaceuticals ops! News reports say Amgen’s announcement still leaves 2-hundred Onyx Pharmaceuticals jobs in limbo.
Florida: The state Department of Education has ‘failed’ Osceola County military prep school Acclaim Academy, twice, and as a result it shutdown.
Michigan: In Lakewood, the Clarksville and Sunfield elementary schools are being shutdown, the school district is short $1-million USD!
Missouri: Iconic U.S. motorcycle maker Harley Davidson issued a WARN saying they will eliminate 169 jobs at their Kansas City factory, beginning in May! Administrators say the economy is going to suck for the “long term”! In Saint Joseph the World’s largest wire rope maker, WireCo WorldGroup, announced they will eliminate at least 30 jobs, blaming the petroleum industry saying “The issue is oil and gas drilling.” Local news media said they asked several employees how they felt, and they all basically said ‘it was news to them’!
New York: Port Washington based computer retailer Systemax announced it will shutdown 31 of its 34 TigerDirect brick-n-mortar stores, and one distribution center, more than 1240 jobs lost by June! Two of the company’s administrators had been convicted of committing financial crimes, including stealing money from Systemax. Is Obama Care forcing Phoenix House to shutdown its residential treatment center Westchester Academy? 56 employees will be laid off in June. In Staten Island, Obama Care forcing Richmond University Medical Center to outsource their security guard jobs, 31 in-house security guards to become unemployed in June. In NYC, Viacom (Video & Audio Communications) administrators said the job culling will continue until profits improve: “As announced, we are in the process of restructuring and there will be employees leaving the company as a result.”
North Dakota: Despite the oil boom, agricultural and construction equipment dealer Titan Machinery shutting down three stores and eliminating 14% of its jobs!
Pennsylvania: Bustin Industrial Products announced it is jumping ship, leaving East Stroudsburg and moving to Missouri, about 40 jobs lost by January 2016.
South Dakota: In Sioux Falls the maker of “special” plastics, electronics and apparel products, Raven Industries, revealed they’ve eliminated more than 1-hundred jobs due to crashing sales! Administrators say they need to cut $13-million in costs. The company got its start making hot air balloons.
Virginia: Waynesboro based fiber optics internet company Lumos Networks laid off a total of 31 people in two states.
West Virginia: Nickolas County Courthouse announced it will kill off 24 jobs and reduce pay for another 20 employees. Administrators blame crashing tax revenues caused by the massive shutdowns of coal mines. Since last year the county lost $1.4-million in tax revenues!
Wisconsin: California based jelly bean maker Jelly Belly announced they will sell-off their $43-million Pleasant Prairie factory and gift shop. Company administrators say it’s part of their plan to consolidate operations.
09 – 10 March 2015: “We’re in crisis management now.”
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.