Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
California: Dreamworks Animation issued several WARNs saying 517 people working in Redwood City and Glendale will become unemployed in April! In Modesto, Obama Care forcing rehab center operator Centrex to issue a WARN saying they are shutting down by August, 163 jobs lost! In Bellevue just north of San Francisco, internet company Zwillow took over internet based real estate company Trulia. Trulia issued a layoff WARN, saying 140 people (local news reports say 157 people, but a Wall Street Journal report said as many as 350 people will be affected) will become jobless by the end of April! The publishers of 7×7 magazine says they will halt hardcopy publication in March and focus on a digital edition only. Denair Unified School District warned it must eliminate at least 16 teachers, shutdown classes and are even offering a bonus to anybody who’ll take early retirement. Administrators blame ongoing DSS (what I call Disapearing Student Syndrome).
Connecticut: Legal drugs maker Boehringer Ingelheim announced they will layoff about 90 employees at their Ridgefield drugs factory. Administrators blame a 5.4% drop in their 2014 sales, however, the truth might be that the company got fined by the state and federal governments and has to pay $650-million USD for lying about its drug Pradaxa.
Florida: ASG Software now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Based on statements made by the administrators the company isn’t in trouble, they just don’t want to pay their debts. Whathousing market recovery? In Jacksonville, Too Big to Jail Bank of America Mortgage issued a layoff WARN saying 69 people will be laid off in April. In Tampa, Obama Care forcing pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts to issue a WARN saying 216 people will become unemployed in April! In Weston, Obama Care forcing wholesale legal drugs pusher Vital Pharmaceuticals to issue a WARN saying 143 people will become jobless in April! In Orlando, logistics company Southeastern Container issued a WARN saying 70 people will be laid off between April and December. In Fort Lauderdale, after 13 years the owners of Las Olas Boutique announced they must shutdown in March, because the evil landlord jack up their rent.
Georgia: Capitol City Bank failed, assets seized by FDIC and turned over to First Citizens Bank. Hallmark announced it is shutting down its Litho-Krome printing ops in Midland. Hallmark took over Litho-Krome in 1979. Litho-Krome is 82 years old, having survived the Great (deflationary) Depression and numerous recessions, but not this so called ‘recovery’ from the Great Recession.
Hawaii: After only three years The Grove in Kailua was discovered to be shutdown. News reports indicate the restaurant actually shutdown back in December, no comment from the owners.
Illinois: In Rogers Park, the La Cazuela restaurant now for sale. Deerfield based supplier of office products and janitorial supplies United Stationers announced it is changing its name and killing jobs, despite increased sales. Company administrators called the bad economy “rapidly changing industry dynamics”, saying it is forcing them to consolidate operations which will result in layoffs. In Normal, after 25 years the owner of Babbitt’s Books says he must shutdown in June: “I always thought I’d be able to, someplace down the line, sell the store and retire….There’s been a societal shift from reading …..”-Brian Simpson
Louisianna: At Barksdale Air Force Base, the Reserve unit 307th Red Horse Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron to shutdown by the end of 2015, at least 200 jobs affected! It’s one of six Reserve units belonging to the 622nd Civil Engineer Group that will be shutdown!
Michigan: In Farmington Hills, the Hunter’s Square Michaels Arts & Crafts store shutdown. Interestingly local news media reported that administrators at the company’s corporate HQ claimed to be unaware of the shutdown, even though a sign on the store’s door clearly stated “We’re closing this location only.” New York based Digital First Media is now selling off several Great Lake State newspapers and bribing employees to voluntarily quit!
New Mexico: In Clovis, after more than 40 years iconic and influential Joe’s Boot Shop shutdown without warning. The family was a major sponsor of community events and many people are shocked. Local news media said the current owner (the grandson of the founders) would only say “It’s all over!” The University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research warned of worsening housing market conditions because more than 2-thousand 5-hundred people fled the state in 2014!
New York: More proof the internet is not the cause of the demise of brick-n-mortar stores. In NYC, web site design company CreatetheGroup issued a shutdown WARN for May, 38 internet jobs lost. The Nicholas A. Rango Healthcare Facility has been sold to Allure Group, WARN indicates 158 of the 204 employees will become jobless! In Pittsford, service provider for government-sponsored benefits programs such as the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Maximus issued a WARN saying at least 54 people will become jobless due to the failure to win an Obama Care contract. General Electric reduced battery production and is bribing employees at its Schenectady factory to quit. GE administrators admit they want to get rid of at least 50 employees.
Ohio: United Pet Group shutting down its newly acquired Iams HQ, at least 55 jobs lost. Hallmark announced it is shutting down its Litho-Krome printing ops in Columbus. The shutdown is expected by September, at least 50 jobs lost. After more than 70 years the owners of Springboro Hardware announced they will shutdown in March. They blamed a crash in customer traffic on the shutdown of the nextdoor IGA grocery store. Food maker General Mills confirming it will shutdown its 56 years old New Albany Pillsbury dough factory by the middle of 2016, at least 440 jobs will be lost! General Mills and worker’s union administrators claim the employees will get a generous severance package if they stay on until the shutdown, and could even make 26 bucks per hour. The shutdown will also affect 70 contracted workers at the nearby package making factory Sonoco (they make the tube cans for the Pillsbury Poppin-Fresh dough products).
Oklahoma: One year old Enable Midstream Partners laid off 2-hundred people, blaming “volatile” petroleum prices! It’s more likely because Enable Midstream Partners was created a year ago by merging parts of two oil service companies (Enogex Midstream and CenterPoint Energy). Mergers always result in layoffs.
Tennessee: France based energy company Alstom laid off 1-hundred people at its Chattanooga electricity factory! Administrators blamed he bad economy and increased global competition.
Texas: The ass-hole city council of Cedar Park forced the Discount Electronics store to shutdown because the store’s sign does not comply with the latest city laws! The CEO of the chain store was actually threatened with arrest! In Abilene, McMurry University announced it will layoff 12 people in May, blaming DSS (what I call Disapearing Student Syndrome). Baker Hughes (now owned by Halliburton) shutdown its Alice ops, at least 51 jobs lost. Don’t blame oil prices, blame the takeover by Halliburton. In Angelina County, T&B Construction Services laid off 20 people, blaming the oil industry for reducing the number of planned construction projects. Local Angelina County judge Wes Suiter summed up the bad economy thusly: “The hits just keep on coming!”
Washington DC: What housing market recovery? The U.S. Department of Commerce reports new U.S. home construction fell 2% from December 2014 to January 2015. Home sales fell 6.7%.
Wisconsin: In Milwaukee, Love Handle Restaurant shutdown. Apparently the economy is so bad in The Badger State the owners decided to “head back to Indiana to start on new projects.”
13 – 16 February 2015: “I don’t think the entire truth is here because it’s NOT about money!”
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.