Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Texas founded but Ireland based oil service company Weatherford International just jacked up the number of their planned layoffs (again) to 11-thousand! Reports say 6,449 people have already become jobless! Most of those jobs were in Canada and United States.
California: ObamaCare medical device tax forcing Ohio based Parker Hannifin ’s Engineered Materials Group to shutdown their Medical Systems Division factories in Anaheim and Fontana, and move them to Mexico by the end of 2016. Administrators refused to say how many jobs will be lost. In Cordova, Edwin Watts Golf shutdown.
Colorado: Griff’s Hamburgers shutting down in Denver and Arvada, by August. Both stores have been sold, they were the last Griff’s in Colorado.
Connecticut: Ohio based Parker Hannifin ’s Engineered Materials Group shutting down their Precision Cooling Systems ops in New Haven over the next 12 months, 150 jobs lost! Back in March, New Haven lost another 2-hundred jobs when the Vera Bradley factory shutdown! Tax-sucking Harris Corporation shutting down their military radio factory and moving it to New Jersey, 360 taxpaying jobs lost in Fort Wayne!
Georgia: Local news report a “surge” in unemployment in the Columbus metro area. The state Department of Labor said the number of available jobs dropped by 4-hundred in June, and the number of unemployment claims were 148 more than in May.
Illinois: What automotive industry recovery? Farm vehicle maker Deere (formerly known as John Deere) continues to eliminate jobs. This time 160 people in Moline were rendered jobless without warning! It’s being called an “inventory adjustment shutdown”. Administrators say sales continue to crash, and they expect sales to continue to crash for the rest of the year. In Chicago, events organizer Red Frog Events laid off 29 employees. It’s connected to their takeover of D.J. National Food Service.
Iowa: Without warning the Cedar Rapids Payless Optical Outlet shutdown. Local news reports say customers did not get refunds and they didn’t get their glasses either! Local news says nobody answers the phone numbers left on the store closing notice. The local Better Business Bureau says all they know is that it sounds like the store owner is in the hospital.
Massachusetts: Hopkinton based ‘cloud computing’ company EMC announced it needs to make an additional $850-million USD worth of “headcount reductions” between now and the end of 2017! It was revealed (back in April) that EMC already eliminated 1-thousand 5-hundred jobs in January! EMC also eliminated 1-thousand jobs in 2014!
Minnesota: Minnesota Public Radio laid off nine employees and eliminated two vacant positions.
Nebraska: Just last week I reported that Omaha based Union Pacific Railroad would furlough at least 1-thousand employees! Today, not only did Union Pacific administrators confirm it, but they increased the furloughs to 1-thousand 5-hundred, and then warned that more could follow: “…right now volumes are down and we have to get our costs in line…..if we have to, we will do whatever else we need to…”-Lance Fritz, ceo
New York: United Airlines issued a shutdown WARN for their international flight service out of John F. Kennedy International Airport. The shutdown will take place in October, 206 jobs lost! The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) issued multiple WARNs saying two Pathmark and three Waldbaums grocery stores will shutdown by November, a total of 472 food jobs lost in time for Thanksgiving!
North Carolina: IBM announced they will eliminate jobs at the Research Triangle Park, as part of their ongoing “workforce rebalancing”. It’s blamed on non-stop crashing sales. However, cfo Martin Schroeter admitted IBM spent $700-million taking over five small companies, so far this year. Mmmm, is that the real reason for layoffs? In Concord, after ten years non-profit cat shelter Kitty City shutting down due to increasing city regulations: “It’s about losing sight of common sense. They don’t support us for doing it right. After we had to make such drastic changes to our cages, I went home every night in tears…..Now it’s all gone.”-Patsy Beeker, pissed off founder of Kitty City
Oregon: Too Big to Jail Capital One shutting down their Tigard call center by the end of the year, at least 9-hundred jobs lost! To add insult to injury, hundreds of those employees had recently moved to Tigard from California on orders from Capital One! Local news reports say Capital One is the largest employers in Tigard.
Pennsylvania: Canada based oil-gas fracking company Calfrac Well Services laid off 60 employees in Chester Hill. ObamaCare hospital mergers forcing Jameson Hospital to end childbirth services by September.
Puerto Rico: After 40 years the Condado Plaza Hilton casino shutdown, 140 jobs lost! It’s blamed on the crashing economy in the U.S. territory. Hilton administrators say revenues crashed by 40%, just from their casino’s slot machine ops! The territorial government revealed that previous casino shutdowns reduced tax revenues by $6-million!
South Carolina: The Myrtle Beach Walmart is ending it’s 24 hours shopping experience and will close for six hours every night. Overnight cashiers will be looking for new work.
South Dakota: Too Big to Jail Capital One shutting down their Sioux Falls call center by the end of the year, at least 750 jobs lost! To add insult to injury, hundreds of those employees had recently moved to Sioux Falls from California on orders from Capital One! Local news reports say at one time the Capital One Sioux Falls ops had more than 1-thousand employees!
Virginia: Tax-sucker Newport News Shipbuilding revealed their previously announced mass layoffs will top 1-thousand 5-hundred jobs between now and the end of 2016! Goochland County reports that Too Big to Jail Capital One is eliminating an undisclosed number of call center jobs. The Richmond Times-Dispatch says Capial One is the largest employer in central Verginy.
Washington: Boeing issued yet another layoff WARN, this time 172 people in Puget Sound will lose their jobs in September!
Wisconsin: Once again food producer ConAgra killing jobs, this time they’re shutting down one of their two Ripon cookie factories, 285 jobs lost by the end of the year! In Greenfield, Doctor Dawg restaurant shutdown.
22 July 2015: “These children…have no hope.”
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.”