Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Alabama: US Steel announced it will kill off 1-thousand 8-hundred jobs in The Yellowhammer State! Company administrators blamed a plethora of reasons, including low steel prices and low oil prices.
California: In Hawthorne, Schencker issued a WARN saying 29 people will be laid off in May. In Los Gatos, video game maker Cryptic Studios revealed they laid off 27 people without warning. In Pico Rivera, Greatwide Distribution Logistics issued a layoff WARN saying 156 people will become jobless by the end of May! Dex Media finally admitted they shutdown their Los Alamitos ops and laid off 49 people, back in February! In Redwood City, The Perfect World laid off 31 people. In Pacoima, Brice Manufacturing issued a layoff WARN saying 19 people will be let go in May.
Florida: In Weston, American Express issued a layoff WARN saying 21 people will be laid off in May. In Tampa, Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase issued a WARN saying 65 people will be laid off in May.
Illinois: US Steel has upped its Prairie State job killing to 2-thousand! In Lansing, after more than 90 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) De Jong Brothers Farm shutdown. The spinach farmers blamed ever increasing operating costs, especially those created artificially by new federal regulations (Food Safety Modernization Act), 30 jobs lost.
Iowa: In Des Moines, the owners of the 27 years old food store New City Market announced they will shutdown by the end of April: “A lot of it has to do with the business climate.”-Jim Raife
Maine: In Ellsworth, the Coffee Express shutdown, the owner refused to talk to local news media.
Massachusetts: Mitt Romney co-created, Framingham based Staples announced they will kill off 2-hundred jobs in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan! Staples is shutting down their Regina call center by November.
Minnesota: What housing market recovery? In Morris, the owners of Cullen’s Home Center announced they are shutting down in April: “It’s just a number of different factors and we feel terrible about it, obviously it was the last thing we wanted to do…”-John Cullen
Montana: Platinum miner Stillwater Mining announced they will shutdown their Billings office by summer.
New Jersey: The Paterson Board of Education has decided it will not jack up taxes on the impoverished taxpayers, but it means 363 school employees will become jobless next school year!
New York: In Lake Placid, after 90 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) another iconic Howard Johnson’s restaurant shutdown. It was one of only three left in the United States. The owner sold the property. Corning Community College shutdown its 30 years old child care center. What housing market recovery? In Rochester, Too Big to Jail JP Morgan Chase issued a WARN saying they will shutdown their mortgage ops in June, 390 jobs lost! Pioneer Transportation issued a mass layoff WARN saying 991 transportation jobs will be lost, throughout three cities, by June! In Bronx, Hoyt Transportation issued a shutdown WARN saying 349 people will become jobless in June! In Long Island, Arrow Electronics announced they are taking part in the exodus from The Empire State, and will move 150 jobs to Colorado! Arrow Electronics was once the largest employer in Long Island.
North Carolina: After 60 years Mohican Mills shutdown, 157 textile jobs lost! In 2012 the company was voted Industry of the Year and employed more than 3-hundred people. The textile factory is now for sale: “We are truly sad that this action has to be taken but with all options exhausted to continue in business we are left with no alternative but to close.”-Steven Myers
Ohio: Republic Steel announced it will layoff 2-hundred people at their Lorain operations, blaming “declining conditions in the oil and gas markets as well as the reduced demand”. The layoffs are rumored to begin at the end of the month.
Oklahoma: IPSCO Tubulars laid off 226 people, blaming “the low commodity price environment”! Samson Resource laying off 270 people, blaming low oil prices and huge debt!
Oregon: In Portland, after 15 years the Red & Black Cafe shutdown. The owners were known to refuse service to cops. Their reason for shutting down was unclear, as they said they were just being responsible business owners.
Pennsylvania: The Express-Times newspaper announced they laid off an undisclosed number of employees.
Texas: In Amarillo, Too Big to Jail American International Group (AIG) laid off 20 people, this after getting a $1-million USD Amarillo Economic Development grant to create 120 jobs! Administrators for AIG claim they haven’t touched that free money. AIG also reported $7.5-billion in revenue for 2014, and don’t forget the $182-billion bailout given to AIG in 2008!
Wisconsin: After 46 years DeLind’s Gallery of Fine Art shutting down just as soon as their inventory is sold off.
24 – 25 March 2015: “we were unable to get some sort of rescue plan.”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
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.