Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Misleading for profit technical school DeVry is shutting down at least 12 campuses in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Florida! Apparently DeVry has decided to move courses from brick -n-mortar classrooms to the internet.
California: What automotive industry recovery? In the City of Industry, United Brothers Motor Group issued a WARN saying 72 employees will become unemployed by the end of June. Seafood supplier Prospect Enterprises issued multiple WARNs saying at least 130 people will become jobless in July! The seafood distribution ops of Prospect Enterprises were taken over by rival Santa Monica Seafood. Local news reports say San Francisco based BitTorrent laid off 40 people, however, I did not find any WARN issued for the layoffs.
Connecticut: In Waterbury, watch maker Timex is shutting down their Timexpo Museum, due to lack of interest from the public.
Illinois: In Chicago, after seven years the so called ‘green’ children’s clothing store Green Genes shutdown. In Rantoul, after more than 20 years the Chanute Air Museum shutting down due to lack of funding. Administrators decided to quit while they were ahead saying “…we were not in a negative situation financially”, but it cost a minimum of $10-thousand USD per month to operate the non-profit museum, and yet even with 15-thousand visitors each year they were barely able to raise enough money to pay the $64-hundred in monthly rent, plus utilities.
Massachusetts: In the state of Boston Weak, the Dracut Public Schools announced they must layoff 30 people, due to declining tax revenues which are the result of the bad economy. In a true sign of a failed system, the idiot School Chairman is pushing to create new taxes and fees for the already financially strapped residents. The Chairman says if the public doesn’t vote for the new austerity then obviously “education is not a priority in Dracut.” Hey education man, you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip! You need to get yourself some learnin’ ’bout reality! The answer is jobs that pay people enough money so they can live well and pay the existing taxes for their government services!
New Hampshire: In Manchester, after 55 years God refused to stop the shutdown of Saint Vincent de Paul Thrift Store. The operators say they could not compete with Savers and Goodwill. You know the economy is bad when second hand/thrift stores can’t compete with each other!
New Mexico: After only 18 months of operations, tax-sucking federal contractor Stolar Research Corporation laid off the majority of the workers at its new Rio Rancho HQ! The company is now under investigation by the very government it works for! Company administrators are pissed: “Stolar, like many other small businesses that contract with the government, has been impacted by funding cuts out of Washington, D.C., due to government dysfunction, and shifts away from funding America’s homeland security efforts and defense.”-Gerald Stolarczyk, tax loving pro-police state CEO who is now under investigation by that police state
But wait, the police state intrigue gets deeper still. Local news reports say the FBI, U.S. Marshals and even Homeland Security all deny they are investigating Stolar, and, they claim they do not know who is! Local reporters were unable to find anybody in the federal government who is willing to talk about it. Since 2013 Stolar has been paid at least $9-million U.S. tax dollars for contracts with the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior. Stolar is officially a radio geophysics detection and imaging company.
New York: Obama Care forcing Visiting Nurse Service Home Care to issued several layoff WARNs saying at least 50 people will be jobless by the end of July. In Skaneateles Falls, data collector Honeywell Scanning and Mobility issued a WARN for its Clean Energy Systems ops saying at least 41 people will be laid off between July and December.
Ohio: Cincinnati based home care product giant Procter & Gamble announced they will layoff 6-thousand employees over the next two years! Since 2012 Procter & Gamble has already killed off 21-thousand jobs around the World! The company is still making a profit, but their sales have been steadily falling for years. Obviously they don’t expect the economy to improve anytime soon. In Youngstown, after 60 years the owner of Jerry Lee’s Jewelers says he’s shutting it down in June. The owners of Dayton Mall kicked out the Orivs store in favor of a new store, which they refuse to name.
Pennsylvania: In Lawrenceville, after six years the owner of restaurant Tamari announced it will shutdown in May, but promised to open a new restaurant in the future. Blue Bell based computer company Unisys announced they will eliminate 1-thousand 8-hundred jobs due to crashing export sales, which they blame on the strong U.S. dollar.
Wisconsin: In Watertown, Eaton Corporation issued a WARN saying 93 employees will become unemployed starting in June. The company is halting its printed circuits production.
22 – 23 April 2015: “It’s just time to go, we’ve got nothing left in us.”
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.”