Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Texas founded but Ireland based oil service company Weatherford International announced it will increase planned layoffs to 10-thousand! Reports say 6,449 people have already become jobless! Most of those jobs were in Canada and United States.
Arkansas: The Pine Bluff School District killed 68 jobs without warning. One elementary school and one junior high school (‘middle school’ is a British empire term) are being shutdown. News reports said the affected employees found out they were jobless from the news media, school administrators have apologized for the “mistake” in the way they announced the layoffs. The whole thing is being blamed on crashing student enrollment, which has caused the district to be short at least $3.1-million USD.
California: In Burbank, Technicolor issued a shutdown WARN saying 106 people will become jobless in June! Disney Interactive is quietly laying off employees in Los Angeles (as well as in the British empire’s Canada and United Kingdom).
Colorado: In Denver, Texas based Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group announced they will shutdown the 15 years old Wazee Street Sullivan’s Steakhouse at the end of May. They do not want to renew the lease.
Florida: At the Orlando International Airport, DAL Global Services issued a WARN saying 98 people will become unemployed in June.
Illinois: Oak Brook based McDonald’s administrators report their profits fell $400-million during their 1st quarter of 2015, their biggest profit decline ever! As a result they will begin shutting down hundreds of U.S. restaurants! In Downers Grove, the owner of scrapbooking store Memories & Beyond announced it will shutdown in May. Karen Bushy blames an increase in rent and “this coming minimum wage increase” saying “a small business just can’t absorb it”.
Iowa: De Moines based publisher of Family Circle and Better Homes & Garden, Meredith Corporation, laid off 1-hundred people in Iowa and New York! Administrators blame crashing advertising revenue, then tried to claim they actually hired 6-hundred people in the past year.
Michigan: What automotive industry recovery? In Wayne, Ford announced it will eliminate 7-hundred jobs in June, as it cuts back on hybrid vehicle production due to crashing sales!
Mississippi: Proof the economy has not recovered; the Mississippi Development Authority is shutting down eight economic development offices across The Magnolia State: “Twenty years ago, communications were still by phone and fax. Today, you can do more things digitally and electronically, so it’s cut back on the need to have people in these districts. We want to continue to streamline our operations and become more efficient.”-Jeff Rent
Missouri: Germany based legal drugs maker Bayer announced it will shutdown its Saint Joseph animal drugs making factory, 130 jobs lost! Administrators tried to sell the pet drugs factory, but nobody wanted it.
New York: In Brooklyn, Catholic Charities issued a shutdown WARN saying all their Early Childhood Education Programs will close in July, 89 jobs lost.
North Carolina: Yadkin Bank has been merged with VantageSouth and as a result six offices will be shutdown, and employees will be laid off. Administrators with the new bank want to cut $1.9-million in costs. Privately funded Guilford College announced they will eliminate 52 jobs, due to crashing enrollment.
Ohio: What automotive industry recovery? Volvo announced it will shutdown its Orange Township distribution ops, 3-hundred jobs to be lost between June and December!
Oregon: The Oregon School Board laid off five special ed assistants. Reports say it was the second round of layoffs so far. Administrators have decided that special ‘needs’ students don’t need the help, but it’s really because of what I call Disappearing Student Syndrome (DSS). Their high schools, alone, have seen a 22% drop in enrollment over the past six years!
Pennsylvania: In State College, after 24 years the owner of Miska Jewelers says as soon as his inventory is sold-off he will shut it down. He’s moving to Washington DC. In Pottsville, West Coast Video shutdown. After 65 years Del’s Bar & Ristorante DelPizzo shutdown. The family owners had tried to sell it for the past year, but nobody was interested, the owners say the bad economy sucked them dry: “It’s just time to go, we’ve got nothing left in us.”-Marianne DelPizzo
Tennessee: In Chattanooga, after 12 years the North Chatt Cat bar-restaurant shutdown. The owner had to sell it due to health problems, supposedly the new owners will re-open it.
Texas: The owner of Kate’s Frosting Events announced she will shutdown her last cupcake shop in May. She shutdown another shop at the beginning of the year. Her reason is that she wants at least one day off per week.
Virginia: Fabric printer AirDye Solutions laid off at least 50 people. The company is shifting to digital printing, instead of the old fashioned dye method.
Washington: Boeing continues to kill jobs. This time 153 people in the Puget Sound area will become jobless in June! Boeing administrators admitted the layoffs have been planned for “years”.
Wisconsin: British empire Canada based McCain Foods USA shutting down its Fort Atkinson factory, 119 jobs lost by the end of the year! The layoffs just keep hitting La Crosse. First the USPS shuts down their processing center, then food contractor Sodexo announced that 3-hundred people will become unemployed at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse! Now the University itself is killing jobs. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse announced it will eliminate 45 jobs to try and save $1.5-million. University administrators say they will take more action because they need to close an $8-million hole, caused by what I call DSS!
19 – 21 April 2015: ObamaCare kills six hospitals with one blow!
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.”