Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Alaska: Anchorage School District warned they could eliminate 74 jobs from next school year, blaming state level funding cuts.
Arizona: Northern Arizona University warned it must cut courses and eliminate 60 jobs for next school year, blaming $17.3-million USD in state level funding cuts.
California: What automotive industry recovery? South Korea based Kumho Tire issued a shutdown WARN for its U.S. HQ in Rancho Cucamonga, at least 20 jobs lost at the end of June. In San Rafael, BMW dealer Sonnen BMW issued a shutdown WARN, 114 jobs lost in July! In Anaheim, electronics rack maker California Chassis issued a shutdown WARN for July, 20 jobs lost. T.G.I. Friday’s issued a shutdown WARN for its La Jolla restaurant, 54 jobs lost in June. In La Mirada, Switzerland based frozen bakery products seller Aryzta issued a shutdown WARN, saying 131 people will become jobless at the beginning of July! Aryzta became the World’s largest bakery after taking over bakeries in Germany and the U.S. in 2014. In Laguna Hills, Obama Care forcing Herren Enterprises to shutdown their Doctor’s Ambulance Service in July and issue a WARN saying 117 EMT related jobs will be eliminated! Head Start Child Development issued dozens of WARNs saying they are shutting down operations throughout California, hundreds becoming jobless by the end of June!
Delaware: Casino Dover Downs laid off an additional 24 people, on top of the 10 laid off during the 1st quarter of 2015, and 21 laid off in 2014. Operating times for the casino have also been reduced. Casino administrators blame outrageous taxes and operating costs: “Last year, we generated an $80 million operating profit but had to pay out $80.7 million to the state and the horsemen so we were left with a net loss!”-Denis McGlynn, CEO
Florida: In Fort Pierce, Blockbuster shutdown their last video store east of the Mississippi!
Georgia: In Lexington, God refuses to stop the shutdown of his 230 years old Lexington Presbyterian Church! It’s blamed on the Rapture, I mean crashing membership (one report indicated they were down to just three members!).
Hawaii: Island Air cutting flights and laying off about 70 employees, blaming competition and crashing sales. One airline analyst, Pater Forman, basically says Island Air is using the wrong planes because “…the ATR’s are too big for the small markets and they’re really not nice enough on the big markets…” However, Island Air administrators say they’ve had to cancel planned purchases of new aircraft.
Illinois: What automotive industry recovery? Heavy vehicle maker Caterpillar continues to slash & burn jobs, this time 150 jobs at their Decatur factory were eliminated! School District 122 laying off nine school lunch employees, because they are considered unnecessary. It’s actually part of a larger plan to cut $2.3-million from next school year’s budget.
Michigan: In Livonia, Cloverlanes Bowl shutdown. News reports say the property owner is selling it because the property is now worth way more money than the revenue generated by the bowling lanes. What automotive industry recovery? Detroit based General Motors (GM, Chevy, Buick, Cadillac) announced they will layoff 1-thousand Canadians at their Canadian Oshawa factory! Supposedly GM is moving Camaro production in Canada back to the U.S.
Missouri: What housing market recovery? New Jersey based maker of home plumbing supplies American Standard Brands announced they will shutdown their 45 years old Nevada factory in June, 133 jobs lost! Because of the bad economy American Standard Brands is consolidating production to other factories.
New Jersey: What automotive industry recovery? Germany based Mercedes-Benz is relocating its U.S. HQ from Montvale to Atlanta, Georgia. 375 jobs New Jersey lost over the next two years (about 172 jobs eliminated outright, the rest transferring to Georgia)!
New Mexico: Texas based ConocoPhillips announced they’re laying off another 250 people, including employees at their San Juan Basin ops.
New York: In Long Island, Krinos Foods issued a WARN saying they are moving to Bronx in August, taking 70 Long Island jobs with them. In Clarence, Gildan Apparel-New Buffalo Shirt Factory issued a shutdown WARN for August, 85 jobs lost. In NYC, magazine publisher ALM Media issued a layoff WARN saying 61 employees will become unemployed beginning in July. In Latham, after 30 years Russ & Rebel Leather shutdown, the owner blames the outrageous Empire State tax system, and himself for refusing to sell on the internet. Obama Care forcing NYC based Assurant to sell-off their Health Insurance ops, claiming that even with the Obama Care payment reductions they are still going to lose $90-million for their 1st quarter of 2015. Basically the Assurant CEO, Alan Colberg, said Obama Care isn’t slashing & burning health care funding big enough or fast enough saying “The health and employee benefits business segments possess differentiated capabilities in their respective markets, but we do not believe they can meet our return targets at the pace we require.” According to a report by Modern Healthcare “Assurant Health also blamed losses on low recoveries from the ACA’s [Affordable Care Act, Obama Care] insurance risk programs and the policy shift that allowed people to stay in plans that are not compliant with ACA standards.” The sale of Assurant Health will affect access to health care for 1-million people! One more thing; Assurant Health admits that the insurance industry written Obama Care failed in estimating just how many sick poor people there are in the U.S., saying the Affordable Care Act “had worse morbidity characteristics than we had assumed”.
North Carolina: After 80 years Captain Bill’s Waterfront Restaurant shutdown in Morehead City.
27 – 30 April 2015: “When you can’t pay your bills, you don’t keep going.”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
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.”