Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Alabama: Molded Fiber Glass Manufacturing laid off 39 people from its Opp factory, blaming a delay in new tooling and the U.S. Congress for delaying a renewable energy tax credit. Sears Holdings shutting down the Dothan Kmart on the south side of Ross Clark Circle, 56 jobs lost in March.
California: Yet more tech layoffs as Cupertino based Apple laid off 1-hundred people from its iAd ops! Administrators claim they will create new jobs later on. In Bakersfield, Guarantee Shoe Center is blaming the crashing oil industry for a 20% drop in sales. The shoe store owners said most of their customers were oil workers, many of whom have lost their jobs. After 65 years privately funded Pinecrest Schools shutting down all their San Fernando Valley campuses (Woodland Hills, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Canyon Country and Simi Valley) at the end of this school year! Administrators blame increased operating costs and increased competition from publicly funded charter schools. More proof the internet is not recession resistant, reports that Sunnyvale based Yahoo is about to layoff 25% of its employees (about 2-thousand 7-hundred)!
Colorado: Louisville based non-profit cable TV research company CableLabs laid off 30 people, in order “to ensure that CableLabs can rapidly build and sustain a significant innovation pipeline for the industry”. Albertsons-Safeway shutting down their Denver bakery, 95 jobs lost by the end of February.
Florida: In Orlando, Nephron Pharmaceuticals issued a mass layoff WARN, 250 people becoming unemployed by April! (is it because Jeb Bush made a campaign stop there?)
Idaho: Privately owned tourist attraction railroad company Thunder Mountain Line shutdown, without warning or explanation. Trader Joe’s is recalling cashews sold in Boise (as well as in 31 other locations across the U.S.). The nuts are suspected of being contaminated with salmonella. Mental healthcare provider Optum has revealed it’s sitting on $5-million USD in unspent Idaho Medicaid funding! This is significant because Optum’s parent company United Health claims it lost $1-billion in 2015 (see Minnesota below)!
Illinois: What automotive industry recovery? Quincy based Titan Tire says it’s forced to eliminate more jobs, for 2016 they’re looking at laying off 130 people in Ohio and 150 in Europe! And that’s just for the first quarter of 2016.
Indiana: In Fort Wayne, British empire based U.S. tax-sucker BAE eliminating at least 110 jobs by the end of the year!
Louisiana: Switzerland based oil driller Noble laying off as many as 120 people who work on its Galliano facility!
Michigan: In Bloomfield Hills, after more than 40 years Hogan’s restaurant shutting down at the end of the month. The owner admitted his old golf themed eatery can’t compete with the new “really trendy” restaurants. In Lansing, God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ 150 years old (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Trinity Lutheran School from shutting down. Parents criticized the church leaders saying they never considered outside sources of funding and the decision to shutdown came without warning.
Minnesota: Evil people and lazy local news media caused a charity horse rescue op to shutdown. Despite a sheriff’s department investigation which cleared the charity of all of the false accusations brought against it, Hightail Horse Ranch and Rescue is now blaming “overwhelming negative publicity” for halting donations and stopping volunteers needed to run the center. Minnetonka based United Health blames ObamaCare for causing it to lose $1-billion USD, massive job cuts coming! United Health is considering getting the hell outta the Affordable Care Act exchange system!
Missouri: Another Saint Louis restaurant shutting down, Mile 277, and like others they’re blaming the A-hole re-development projects and greedy landlords: “The development of other venues such as Ballpark Village along with numerous lease terms has significantly impacted the operations of Mile 277. The combination of these factors has resulted in significant losses of revenue and profits. Mile 277 cannot continue to sustain these losses.”
New Jersey: New Brunswick based Johnson & Johnson announced it is eliminating 3-thousand medical device jobs over the next two years! ObamaCare taxes, the bad economy, and plans to take over medical device maker rivals are forcing them to cut $1-billion USD in costs!
New York: In Queens, after 25 years The Comic Den shutting down due to “new generation of readers” opting for comics on the internet. Jeweler to the elites Tiffany’s announced its holiday sales dropped enough to warrant layoffs. Administrators have yet to reveal how many employees will be let go. Too Big to Jail Morgan Stanley announced it will join the exodus from The Empire State (and other high cots areas) by moving jobs to “lower cost centers” around the world, potentially affecting thousands of jobs!
Ohio: In Youngstown, the 106 years old Masonic Temple on Wick Avenue shutting down by the end of June. The members say the large building has become too expensive to heat during winter. The Upper Valley Mall losing two more stores, Cardboard Heroes shutdown without warning and Lens Crafters shutting down this weekend!
South Carolina: Barnwell County’s only hospital shutdown! The 140 employees of Southern Palmetto Hospital said they were notified in an emergency meeting on Tuesday that they were losing their jobs on Thursday, this week! The emergency meeting was called by the Director of Nursing, local news says hospital administrators refuse to talk to them and county administrators swear they know nothing about it.
Washington DC: Once touted by politicians like Obama, the 10 years old Five Guys Burgers and Fries joint on Wisconsin Avenue shutting down next week. There’s no explanation, just a note taped to the door.
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
18 January 2016: “Iconic places are going out of business, and nobody cares.”
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed
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.”