Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Florida: For profit Full Sail University laid off 50 employees. Puerto Rico based Banco Popular North America issued a WARN saying 108 people will be laid off by the end of December!
Georgia: Atlanta based (NBC, Blackstone and Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital owned) Weather Channel laid off 40 employees. About 40 employees were let go back in October.
Hawaii: In Honolulu, the operators of a 59 years old Foodland grocery store announced they are shutting down in December. Real estate analysts say local Hawaiian business are being killed by ‘big box’ stores and property speculators from mainland U.S.A., and Foodland customers agree: “…it’s all the construction and they’re bringing in all the mainland retailers, so it’s kind of sad…”-Eulie Villegas, loyal Foodland shopper
Idaho: The Associated Press revealed that furniture maker Kimball International will shutdown and sell off its Post Falls metal fab shop, 250 jobs lost! Due to the bad economy the company is consolidating ops to Indiana. As of November the company had failed to issue a mandatory WARN to state employment administrators.
Iowa: After 33 years, Heritage Art Gallery in Cedar Falls shutdown. The owner sold his building. In Ottumwa, after 20 years the West Music store announced it will shutdown in December. News reports blamed the bad economy.
Kansas: In Kansas City, after 50 years Quick’s Bar-B-Q shutdown. The owner says road construction is killing off mom-n-pops: “…I want to get out on my terms and while things are good. It is hard and these little mom-and-pop folks, you see them dropping.”-Ron Quick
Massachusetts: More proof the internet isn’t killing off brick-n-mortars. TV through the internet service provider Aereo shutdown their Boston office, 43 jobs lost. It’s blamed on lack of funding and a federal court order preventing the company from streaming specific TV shows. In Lowell, Cobham Electrical warned they will shutdown by November 2015, at least 300 jobs lost! Due to the bad economy the company is consolidating operations.
Michigan: Iconic employment service company Kelly Services announced 100 people in Troy will be rendered jobless, and 50 job search offices will be shutdown by the end of 2015! The Fork in the Road restaurant shutdown, the owners admitting they didn’t realize how expensive it was to keep 100% of their business local. Despite having lots of customers, buying food and supplies locally was killing them financially: “There’s a lot of compromises that we could have made but we’re just not willing to do that. That’s not why we started. We need to have a business plan to keep staying true to those principles. To compromise those principles, that would be failing.”-Jesse Hahn, who added that he was faced with two choices; shutdown or cut employee wages, raise prices and buy from outside sources
Minnesota: Northland Community and Technical College eliminated eight jobs and cut two programs, blaming a $1-million shortfall on everything including what I call DSS (Disappearing Student Syndrome).
Missouri: The largest pharmacy benefits manager in the United States, Saint Louis based Express Scripts, announced they will kill off 400 jobs on top of the 19-hundred jobs already killed off this year!
New York: In Rochester, once iconic Eastman Kodak continues to kill jobs, issuing a WARN saying at least 19 people will be let go in January 2015.
North Carolina: Salisbury based the Bottom Dollar Food chain store was sold off and all 66 stores are being shutdown, 2-thousand 2-hundred jobs lost across the country by the end of December! Furniture maker La-Z-Boy announced they will shutdown their High Point office by the end of 2016, at least 38 jobs lost. Company administrators blame crashing sales for ‘case goods’, and they don’t expect an upturn anytime soon. In Greensboro, after 31 years Mark Holder Jewelers announced they will shutdown in January 2015. After only six years France based engine maker Turbomeca announced they will shutdown their Monroe factory by the end of 2015, at least 112 jobs lost! Company administrators said sales for helicopter turbines have crashed.
Ohio: New Albany School District beginning massive layoffs and jacking up ‘pay to play’ fees after 56% of local taxpayers rejected yet another levy, indicating that they could no longer afford to float failing public education since their own incomes are crashing.
Oregon: News reports say plans by Nordstrom are on track to shutdown two Portland area department stores by January 2015, at least 300 jobs lost!
Pennsylvania: Lackawanna County warned of layoffs and public transportation cuts due to the fact they owe the state Department of Transportation $6-million USD! DoT administrators say the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS) improperly got $6-million in taxpayer subsidies and they must pay it back. Germany based chemical company Lanxess announced it was killing off 1-thousand jobs globally, possibly affecting U.S. employees at its Pittsburgh area operations! Germany based optical glass maker Schott North America warned that 80 people will become jobless at their Duryea factory: “A lot of that glass has gone away. There’s been a decline in camera sales.”-Michael Brown, factory boss
Vermont: In Stowe, after 42 years Samara’s Cards and Gifts shutting down by December.
Washington DC: More proof the internet isn’t killing off brick-n-mortars. Internet based coupon-daily deal website LivingSocial announced they were laying off 400 employees and shutting down its California ops! LivingSocial even sold off its Korean ops to competitor Groupon!
Wisconsin: Beer bottle label supplier Multi-Color Corporation warned state officials it will shutdown its Watertown factory in January 2015, at least 58 jobs lost.
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.