Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Alabama: U.S. Steel issued a massive WARN saying 16-hundred Fairfield employees are on notice that layoffs could happen at any time! The market conditions are so bad that U.S. Steel administrators say they cannot predict exactly how many people will become jobless, or when it will happen. It’s being blamed on deflationary trends.
Arizona: In Tucson, after ten years The District Tavern shutdown, it’s blamed on jacked up rent.
Arkansas: Walmart announced they laid off 50 Bentonville HQ employees. Administrators claim the layoffs are ‘normal’ for this time of year.
California: In Thousand Oaks, 45 years old Hart’s Jewelers shutdown. In Santa Monica, after 30 years video store Vidiots shutdown. In San Jose, IBM (International Business Machine) issued a WARN saying 68 people will be laid off in March. In West Hills, Too Big to Jail Bank of America issued a WARN saying 113 people will become jobless in March! In Pleasonton, Safeway issued a WARN saying an additional 18 HQ employees will be laid off in March. Ryder Logistics revealed they’ve shutdown their Inglewood ops, 73 jobs lost without warning. Sears Holdings issued a WARN saying they’re shutting down their Canoga Park (West Topanga Mall) Sears in May, 122 jobs lost! Ireland based legal drugs pusher Actavis issued a WARN saying they will layoff 40 people in Corona, in April. In Aliso Viejo, Fluor Enterprises issued a WARN saying at least six people will be laid off in March. In Lakeview, Access Business Group finally issued a WARN revealing they shutdown back in December, 72 jobs lost. Mexico based Bimbo Bakeries announced they will shutdown their Fresno bakery in March, 92 jobs lost.
Colorado: With only four days notice EVRAZ steel mill laid off 200 people involved in making pipes for the oil industry! iQor issued a WARN saying they will shutdown their Pueblo call center in March, 251 jobs lost! Administrators blame “unforeseen business circumstances”. (this seems to be the latest excuse for corporations to shutdown)
Connecticut: After 49 years the owner of Wallingford Optical said he must shutdown at the end of February, blaming his suppliers: “I’m paying more for product than Walmart or BJ’s are even selling stuff for. I can’t compete with the big box stores.”-James Comeau
Florida: After forcing 289 employees into early retirement, railroad company CSX laid off 52 Jacksonville HQ employees. Fort Lauderdale based software company Citrix Systems announced it will eliminate 900 in-house and contracted jobs! They blame crashing sales. In Weston, Too Big to Jail American Express issued a WARN saying 27 people will be laid off in April.
Illinois: Sears Holdings laid off 100 Hoffman Estates HQ employees, and another 15 jobs were eliminated elsewhere in the company! In Rockford, girl’s prison Rock River Academy shutdown amid accusations of child abuse including sex crimes. The evil girl’s prison was revealed by local news hounds who aren’t afraid to take on The Man! There were increasing cases of girls escaping the prison and reporting to police their abuse.
Indiana: Kingdom of Luxembourg based ArcelorMittal announced it will shutdown two steel operations beginning in March, 304 jobs lost! Company administrators say the operations have lost money since 2011.
Iowa: In Cedar Rapids, the owner of women’s clothing store Positively Plus announced it will shutdown in March, saying “I’m a registered nurse, and I would like to go back and work in an office for someone else.” Des Moines based Meredith Corporation ended hardcopy publication of its newly aquired magazines Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health. It was revealed that IBM (International Business Machine) will layoff 202 people at their Dubuque facility in February! After 16 years recycling center Ames Area Redemption Center shutdown: “We couldn’t make it anymore, that’s the whole thing in a nutshell. The redemption on bottles is only a penny and everything else keeps going up and that doesn’t.”-Sandy Warren, co-owner
Maine: After 46 years Iconic Kittery based Weathervane Seafood Restaurants has shutdown a restaurant in New Hampshire and three restaurants in Maine. The COO of the family run chain said “My family and I are sorry to have to make this difficult decision…” blaming “…current economic conditions…” The general manager of the Waterville Weathervane said any fool could see the economy is crashing and burning: “The final ending is certainly a shock. Was the writing on the wall? Certainly!”-Sean Callahan, whose restaurant had a big sign in the window saying “due to current economic conditions, this location is closed”
Michigan: Baraga Area School District warned that Pelkie Elementary School could shutdown due to massive DSS (what I call Disappearing Student Syndrome): “The primary problem is shared actually across the district. We have been experiencing declining enrollments in a very similar pattern that the State of Michigan has, but it really hit hard about two years ago.”-Jennifer Lynn, superintendent
New York: NYC based, AOL (formerly America OnLine) shutting down internet video game website Joystick. NYC based Jones New York-Jones Apparel announced they are shutting down all 127 stores across the U.S. and 36 in Canada, 1-thousand plus jobs lost! In NYC, 30 years old The Family Jewels shutting down in April. In Mount Vernon, crashing metals prices and rising operating costs forcing Hugo Neu Recycling to issue a WARN saying they will shutdown in April, 27 jobs lost. In Elmsford, internet publisher MYPublisher-Shutterfly issued a WARN saying they will layoff 47 people between May and July. Obama Care forcing Saint James Mercy Hospital to kill off 342 healthcare jobs between April and August! Administrators say the changes made by Obama Care are forcing them to shutdown their inpatient medical surgery and inpatient maternity care services. What was that about Obama Care increasing access to healthcare?
Ohio: Germany based logistics company Exel (Deutsche Post DHL) issued a WARN saying 278 people will be laid off by April! Administrators blame it on a major client. Cosmetic company Bonnie Bell shutting down their Westlake factory, 91 jobs lost by March. Bonnie Bell has been quietly taken over by Markwins International. Akron based FirstMerit Bank announced it will shutdown 16 offices in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. In Dayton, RadioShack on Wilmington shutting down.
Oregon: In Hillsboro, after 26 years Mary’s Saddle & Tack shutdown, the owners blame the bad economy saying “We just can’t make money.”
South Dakota: After 45 years the Ming Wah Cafe shutdown.
Tennessee: The Chattanooga Times Free Press paid out bonuses then immediately laid off an undisclosed number of employees. It’s blamed on crashing advertising sales. In Lawrenceburg, Jones New York announced it will shutdown its Jones Apparel distribution center, at least 207 jobs lost!
Texas: In Lufkin, GE (General Electric) warned that layoffs are coming. Their Lufkin ops support the oil industry and not only are jobs threatened but so is their planned $60-million foundry expansion. British empire British Petroleum (BP, formerly known as the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, formerly known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company) confirmed it will eliminate jobs at its Houston office. Here’s what one historically ignorant Houstonian said: “It was always a big goal of mine to get into oil and gas. I never thought it would come to this where we’re having layoffs.” (I’ve lived long enough to see and personally experience dozens of oil boom & bust cycles, why are so many people in love with the oil industry and so ignorant about its normal down cycle?)
Virginia: nTelos wireless communication laid off 48 people at its HQ in Waynesboro. It’s the result of company administrators deciding to exit the Richmond and Hampton Roads area, back in December.
Washington: In Panther Lake, the Great American Casino shutdown despite gambling taxes being reduced, 90 jobs lost. In Seattle, the one year old OfficeMax on Broadway shutting down in February.
Wisconsin: More proof it’s not the internet killing brick-n-mortar stores. SupplementWarehouse, which sells mainly on the internet and has only two brick-n-mortar stores, is now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. The administrators blame “inventory leakage” for their massive profit losses, and the Too Big to Jail banks who refused to continue floating them with debt financing. The University of Wisconsin warned of more layoffs and student services cuts. It’s because the Right to Work you over governor Scott Walker wants to cut higher education funding by $300-million over the next two years! Dean Foods announced it will shutdown its Sheboygan Verifine Dairy before April, at least 70 jobs lost. Company administrators said the suck-ass economy is forcing them to eliminate “redundancies”. In Green Bay, Excel Driving School shutdown without notice. Somehow the state DMV heard of the shutdown before anybody else. The owner of the driving school said he could no longer juggle his personal life with his business. About 250 paid up students looking for answers and refunds.
24-26-January-2015: “unforeseeable circumstance”
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.