Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Alabama: In Huntsville, 20 years old non-profit Sci-Quest hands-on science museum shutting down, due to lack of revenues which caused them to miss their January & February rent payments.
California: In Dinuba, Coca-Cola announced they will shutdown their Odwalla juice bottling op in April, 164 jobs lost! Local news reports indicate employees are shocked, many saying they heard about a possible shutdown but, like typical sheeple employees, put it off to rumor & innuendo. Coca-Cola is consolidating bottling operations to cut costs. Save Mart shutting down two grocery stores next month; one in Orangevale and one in Sacramento. No word on how many jobs lost, administrators say it’s the only way they can “reinvest” in their company.
Florida: In Saint Augustine, after 47 years Donna’s dress store shutting down due to the death of the owner.
Georgia: Giant Food grocery store, off Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, shutdown by greedy property owners who foreclosed! Local ‘lawmakers’ and charities say the area is now an official ‘food desert’, meaning most residents no longer have easy access to food.
Idaho: State Department of Lands is selling off failed commercial properties it took over at taxpayer expense. Boise news reports say one reason for the sell-off is that the taxpayer ownership of failed private sector properties have “become a political liability”, however, a consultant told state administrators they need to sell the properties to take advantage of higher property values (make a profit). The state plans to sell 12 taxpayer own commercial properties in Boise, three in Idaho Falls and one in Heyburn, in the hopes of raising $25-million USD.
Illinois: After 16 years in Park Ridge, Annika Shoes shutting down by the end of the month. The owners say they need “time to rest”.
Kansas: Non-profit mental healthcare provider Wyandot eliminated 26 jobs blaming “a number of revenue losses we experienced due to state policy changes and reductions from managed care organizations”. Essentially its the fault of Kansas’s version of ObamaCare.
Kentucky: TMK IPSCO Tubulars issued a WARN for their Wilder steel factory, 83 jobs lost by the first week of March. Like other steel makers in the U.S. (including Russia’s EVRAZ) they blame foreign competition for causing metal prices to crash.
Louisiana: Despite claiming “Equal Justice For All” state ‘lawmakers’ shutdown the Public Defenders Office in Plaquemines Parish, claiming lack of taxpayer funding. A public defender has a dire warning: “Much of criminal and juvenile dockets will grind to a halt. At some point this scenario also becomes a clear constitutional violation, the courts will be left in a position of having to decide whether to release those persons in custody whose cases have not been able to proceed.”-Matt Robnett
Massachusetts: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t blame the internet/high tech for your demise; Waltham based internet marketing company Constant Contact was sold off, at least 210 of the company’s employees across the country were laid off last week!
Michigan: Another example of what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs (REL); Bronson Precision Products shutting down in March, 125 jobs lost! The company hit with a trifecta of crashing orders from federal government, healthcare and petroleum industries.
New Jersey: City National Bank announced it will shutdown its Paterson office mid-April. Local news reports say its the last City National Bank office in that area.
New York: Sex and the City costume designer Patricia Field shutting down her boutique, claiming she will “pursue other career interests”.
Ohio: In Youngstown, the Lincoln Knolls IGA grocery store shutting down by mid-March. The owners blame low sales despite years of effort to boost business.
Oklahoma: OKC based oil driller Devon Energy claims it lost $14-billion USD during 2015! CEO Dave Hager is using the excuse to eliminate at least 1-thousand jobs because “Devon’s top priority in 2016 is to protect the balance sheet…” I wonder how much of Devon’s losses are connected to the construction of their gigantic OKC skyscraper?
Oregon: For the third time in two months, Aequitas Capital Management announced layoffs. This time 80 employees let go by the end of March. Local news media are confused as during the last round of layoffs they reported there were only 80 employees left, but company administrators said a “skeleton crew” will continue operations until problems with their student loan ‘assets’ are straightened out.
Pennsylvania: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t blame the internet/high tech for your demise; Philadelphia based software company RJMetrics eliminating 25 jobs after promising to create new jobs. News reports blame it on the company implementing a new program that requires less employees. CEO Bob Moore admitted they made a mistake in hiring the people to begin with: “We didn’t do the right thing for these people. We recruited them onto our team and, now that the situation has changed, they are losing their jobs due to circumstances they didn’t create. We’re truly sorry to everyone affected.”
Wisconsin: Yet another law firm bites the dust. Milwaukee based multi-state corporation defender Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan shutting down by the end of the month, at least 127 jobs lost!
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
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.”