Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Alabama: Birmingham based 28 years old Simply Fashion and Dots clothing chain now dead, 243 stores across the U.S. to be sold-off or shutdown!
California: After 100 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Dick’s Menswear shutdown in Fresno. Apparently the new Albertsons-Safeway is shutting down three Vons grocery stores in Fresno (one more than earlier reported) because they’ve issued three WARNs for July, totaling 2-hundred jobs lost! In Duarte, Kroger announced they will shutdown their Ralph’s grocery store on Huntington Drive, in July, about 50 jobs lost. Kroger administrators claim the store has “failed to perform” for years. In Elk Grove, Obama Care forcing Sutter Medical Foundation to issue a WARN saying 17 people will be laid off in July. In West Sacramento, Greatwide Distribution Logistics issued a WARN saying 71 people will be laid off in July. In San Francisco and Santa Clara, social media gaming company Zynga suddenly laid off 180 people, then announced that a total of 364 people will become jobless by the end of the year! Company administrators say they need to cut $45-million USD per year, due to crashing sales. In San Jose, Cypress Semiconductor finally issued a WARN revealing they killed off 51 jobs back in January!
Connecticut: In Milford, Uno Pizzeria and Grill shutdown without warning.
Florida: Military themed Acclaim Academy shutdown without warning. Various school district administrators said they were told by the owner of the military charter schools that there was no more money. Thousands of families now struggling to find schools for their children. Obama Care being directly blamed for the of 46 jobs lost with non-profit OneBlood blood collection service: “More stringent transfusion protocols, advances in medical science and Health Care Reform continue to impact how the blood supply is managed.”-Forbes
Illinois: What automotive industry recovery? In Quincy, tire maker Titan International announced they must kill 60 jobs due to volatile currency markets and crashing sales to the farmer’s markets: “North America large agriculture is down approximately 35 percent, and we believe it will remain that way for the balance of 2015…..Titan’s first quarter sales were below our internal plan, but well over half of the decrease was due to currency impacts from Europe, South America, Russia and Australia.”
Indiana: What construction industry recovery? After 100 years, the company that provided the doors for the Twin Towers (NYC Trade Center, bombed in 9/11), International Revolving Door Company, shutdown! Company administrators say orders for doors had crashed to only 22 in the past year!
Louisiana: In Port Allen, First Student lost its school bus contract, 72 people to become jobless in June. Company administrators say the loss of contract was “sudden” and “unforeseen”. In Fort Polk, tax-sucker Northrop Grumman issued a WARN saying 426 people will become unemployed between June and July, unless Northrop Grumman can renew their contract. Evil for profit prison contractor CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) issued a WARN saying 252 privatized Winn Prison employees will be laid off in July! Just like Idaho, Louisiana refuses to renew the contract with evil CCA. (CCA abandons prisoners in Idaho prison! CCA says Idaho officials just as evil!) (Evil CCA has lost their contract with Ohio)
Michigan: What automotive industry recovery? In Holland, automotive parts supplier Visteon shutting down and consolidating ops to Detroit, 240 jobs affected!
Missouri: What construction industry recovery? In Springfield, HVAC maker Mammoth announced it will shutdown in December, 2-hundred jobs lost! Local news reports said the shutdown would also affect another 2-hundred support jobs outside the company! It sounds like the company is joining dozens of other companies and consolidating operations into fewer factories, a sure sign there is no recovery.
New Jersey: The World’s largest pet drug supply company, New Jersey based Zoetis’s (spun-off from Pfizer), announced it is shutting down or selling off ten drugs factories, and eliminating 2-thousand 5-hundred jobs across the United States! This comes even as the company is spending big bucks expanding operations in Nebraska. The shutdowns and layoffs are being blamed on stockholders who are demanding the company ‘right-size’. In Hazlet, Jam Apparel shutdown. The owner said her rent was jacked up and she didn’t have the money to pay it.
New York: In East Syracuse, “global diversified technology and industrial leader” Johnson Controls issued a shutdown WARN for their Operations and Maintenance unit in July, at least 39 jobs lost. In NYC, Northern Leasing Systems issued a shutdown WARN for July, 29 jobs lost. The company is joining the exodus from The Big Apple, moving ops to Albany and Jersey City. In Hicksville, Land O’Lakes issued a layoff WARN for August, saying 32 food distribution jobs will go away as the dairy company consolidates operations due to the bad economy. In Westbury, tax-sucker Raytheon issued a shutdown WARN for their Air Traffic Control training ops in July, 33 jobs lost due to loss of contract. In Amityville, NBTY is getting outta the food supplement business, and outta New York. They issued a WARN saying they’re transferring the operations to a California company between July and October, 214 jobs lost!
Ohio: In Mansfield, God refuses to stop the shutdown of Saint Peter’s Child Care Center in June. Church administrators say “The Child Center’s operational losses have been substantial, with a projected shortfall this year in excess of $50,000. These factors make it impossible for St. Peter’s to continue offering this service to our community.”
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh based for-profit Education Management Corporation is shutting down at least 15 of its Art Institute college campuses over the next two years! Education Management Corporation is one of several for-profit schools under investigation by U.S. Department of Education.
Tennessee: Call center operator Conduit Global announced it will eliminate 592 jobs in Cordova, starting in July! Administrators blame “an unforeseen loss of business”. Some of the employees being let go were hired last month. Last year the company promised to bring 1-thousand jobs to the area in exchange for $2-million in tax breaks. Now only 70 jobs will remain.
Texas: The oil industry meltdown affecting the planned $7.6-billion deal involving Germany based Siemans taking over Houston based Dresser-Rand. The European Union is also reviewing the takeover bid. What will happen to Dresser-Rand if the sale fails? By the way, Siemens announced it is eliminating 4-thousand 5-hundred jobs around the World! (so what would happen if the sale is approved?)
03 – 05 May 2015: “it has become impossible for us to compete”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”