Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
It was revealed by Scottish news sources that British empire United Kingdom based Too Big to Jail HSBC will eliminate 22-thousand jobs around the World, including in the United States! HSBC is the European Union’s largest bank. HSBC is also in the process of carving itself up and selling off the pieces.
Arizona: University of Arizona warned of mass layoffs in August, this after the new budget forces the school to make $43-million USD in cuts!
Arkansas: Switzerland based Nestlé laid off 75 people at its Gerber Fort Smith baby food factory. Administrators claim its because they switched to using plastic baby food containers.
California: Recently the city of Fresno learned it would lose at least two Vons grocery stores, now Save Mart announced it to is shutting down. The will shutdown before the end of the month, and company administrators claim all 62 employees will be moved to other Save Marts (which doesn’t make sense because Save Mart will then have a lot of redundant employees). Officially administrators blame competition (really, with Vons getting outta town?), but it turns out that Save Mart owns the property, where they’re closing down their Clinton and Blackstone avenues grocery store, and they’ve decided to play the Sears Holdings game and make more money by leasing it out to their ‘competition’! Palo Alto based Hewlett-Packard (HP) warned of more layoffs. HP is in the process of eliminating 55-thousand+ jobs by October! Originally the plan was to eliminate 27-thousand jobs.
Connecticut: Famous Stratford based helicopter maker Sikorsky announced that it is eliminating 1-thousand 4-hundred jobs around the World! 180 jobs will be lost in The Constitution State! Sikorsky is consolidating operations due to the bad economy.
Delaware: In Wilmington, DuPont chemical company Chemours warned of layoffs. This is connected to DuPont’s plan to spin-off Chemours. City administrators are afraid Chemours will pull stakes and move somewhere else after the spin-off.
Florida: Orlando based Golf Channel laid off 30 employees. It’s part of Comcast’s plan to downsize.
Idaho: France based French taxpayer owned nuclear power company Areva has been sold off and now 6-thousand jobs around the World are threatened! Areva has been operating under contract at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in eastern Idaho. On 03 June the French government approved the sale of the majority of Areva to a company called EDF (Electricite de France). Areva administrators are challenging the sale.
Kentucky: Rhino Resource Partners announced they’ve issued layoff notices to 192 coal miners!
Michigan: In Ann Arbor, successful Lexi’s Toy Box shutdown, the owner said she want’s to join her husband in retirement: “I just thought it would be a nice time to be free.”-Crystal Metzger
New Hampshire: After 32 years, the owner of Video Headquarters announced he will shutdown in July: “Despite our success, the home entertainment industry has evolved dramatically in recent years with a major shift to digital media and this evolution is impossible to ignore. After 32 years of operation, the time has come to lock the doors for the last time when our lease ends……It would just be a long, agonizing death, this way we can say we got out on top”-Kenneth McAleer
New York: Nirvana Spring Water now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and shutting down their Oneida County bottling factory, 70 jobs lost by September. The company owes millions of dollars to the New York Business Development Corporation. Obama Care forcing Mount Kisco Medical Group to issue a WARN saying 109 employees will become unemployed by August! In NYC, law firm Mel S. Harris and Associates issued a shutdown WARN for September, at least 53 jobs lost. NYC based quirky new products company Quirky laid off between 20 and 30 employees. The news was reported by three former employees. Company administrators admitted they had to cut costs by outsourcing their manufacturing. California based clothier Band of Outsiders shutdown their nine months old Soho store! News reports say company administrators refuse to explain.
Oklahoma: Texas based Apache Oil & Gas announced it will shutdown its Tulsa office in August, 160 jobs affected!
Oregon: In Portland, after 36 years Martinotti’s Cafe & Deli was killed off by the greedy landlord jacking up the rent: “Rent has raised considerably! It’s more than what’s doable for us which is why we aren’t staying.”– Martina Martinotti, granddaughter of owner
Pennsylvania: Administrators of the city of Coatesville learned that Sikorsky will eliminate 720 local jobs over the next 12 months (see above)! In Kingston, after 24 years the Pizza Mill restaurant shutdown: “We’re moving onto other things. We want to have some time with our families and do some traveling and catch up on lost time.”-Mark Cardone, co-owner
Rhode Island: Empire Beauty Schools blames what I call Disappearing Student Syndrome for the reason they’re shutting down their Providence school.
South Carolina: CertusBank announced it is dead! Administrators are shutting down their HQ and are carving up and selling off the rest of the Too Big to Jail bank. The Bank of North Carolina and the Community & Southern Bank have been named as some of the buyers. No indication how many jobs are lost, CertusBank had dozens of offices in several southern states.
Texas: San Benito School District warned they will make additional layoffs. A week prior eight employees were let go, the district is trying to cut $14.5-million in costs. Administrators admitted they made mistakes in hiring more employees at a time when they were losing students (Disappearing Student Syndrome). Administrators also revealed they’ve already saved $5-million by pushing employees to retire early or quit. The owners of El Paso Saddleblanket will shutdown their warehouse outlet store in July, and will focus on wholesale and internet sales only. The maker of cowboy stuff will also keep their El Paso Airport gift shop open. The owners said 80% of their sales are now wholesale/import-export.
Virginia: The Entenmann’s Bakery Outlet, on Peters Creek and Brandon in Roanoke, shutdown with no explanation.
Washington: What housing market recovery? Federal Home Loan Bank laid off 109 people in Seattle!
Wisconsin: Golden County Foods revealed it went chapter 11 bankrupt busted back in May, and has been sold-off, threatening 432 jobs: “As a condition to the sale to Monogram, the company is required to terminate all employees’ employment with the company immediately prior to the closing of the sale…”-Tina Check, Golden County Foods
28 – 31 May 2015: Republicans call 9,500 layoffs a “Good Day”!
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.”