More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise. Incomplete list of U.S. internet/high-tech/communications job destruction announcements in February 2016:
Alabama: In Huntsville, 20 years old non-profit Sci-Quest hands-on science museum shutdown, due to lack of revenues which caused them to miss their January & February rent payments.
California: One of the first internet based loan companies in the U.S., Ditech Financial, shutting down their Costa Mesa office in March, 87 jobs lost. In Palo Alto, Space Systems-Loral revealed they eliminated 122 jobs in January! Palo Alto based software company Palantir took over two years old Kimono Labs, and as a result Kimono’s public ‘cloud’ service will end, affecting 125-thousand users! Palo Alto based Hewlett Packard (HP) changed its plan to eliminate 3-thousand jobs! Originally they were going to spread the job culling over three years, but now the economy is so bad they will dump all 3-thousand jobs before the end of this year!!! Palo Alto computer tech company VMware issued a layoff WARN for March, 170 jobs lost due to their merger with Dell! Virginia based technical engineering/military contractor VSE Corporation issued several layoffs WARNs, at least 115 Californians unemployed by the end of March! Insurance software company Zenefits eliminated 250 jobs without warning, saying the bad economy is forcing them to “refocus”! Right wing news media outlet Freedom Communications issued a mass layoff WARN for their Santa Ana operations, 969 jobs lost by the end of March! Mountain View based blabbing application (chat app) Tango laid off about 50 employees. Tango administrators also said they will rent out office space at its HQ to other companies, in an effort to raise cash. Mountain View based software company Symantec laid off six people. Also in Mountain View, TangoMe eliminating 53 jobs by mid-April. Japan based Toshiba Information Systems began eliminating jobs in Irvine, as well as shutdown their Livermore site. Sunnyvale based internet company Yahoo issued more layoff WARNs, this time 322 jobs across four cities eliminated by mid-April! Yahoo said it will also eliminate jobs in New York. Yahoo also shutting down its BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service) in March. Administrators say it’s because they need to “streamline and simplify”. Sunnyvale based NetApp confirmed it will eliminate 1-thousand 476 jobs around the world (including hundred of jobs in North Carolina)! It’s blamed on steadily declining revenues. United Technologies issued a shutdown WARN for their San Diego operations, 103 jobs lost by the end of March! United Technologies recently revealed they are moving some of their electronic controls manufacturing to Mexico. Iowa based government InfoTech contractor Rockwell Collins will conduct layoffs in Poway, by April. In Milpitas, electronic sensor maker Moog eliminating 22 jobs by April, as part of their takeover of Crossbow Tech. San Diego based internet video game accessory maker Mad Catz laid off 37% of its employees due to crashing sales, claiming a net loss of $4.4-million USD in its 3rd quarter of 2015! After 13 years Santa Monica based internet video game new media pioneer Game Trailers shutdown. In 2014 Game Trailers was taken over by Defy Media, which immediately began killing jobs. One report said the remaining employees were not warned about the sudden shutdown. San Francisco based interactive entertainment company Kabam revealed how many jobs they are about to kill; at least 76 jobs lost by the end of March. San Francisco based Indiegogo admitted it eliminated an undisclosed number of jobs “A few weeks ago…..to invest in growth.” (it used to be that layoffs were not seen as a sign of growth) San Rafael based AutoDesk eliminating 925 jobs in order to expedite its transition to ‘the cloud’! Plus the administrators claim they “over-hired” in 2015.
Colorado: Texas based internet insurance referrer All Web Leads issued a shutdown WARN, 103 jobs lost! It might be connected to the November 2015 takeover of rival InsuranceQuotes. After killing off 5-hundred jobs in Washington, California based Concentrix eliminating between 270 to 378 Boulder County jobs due to the loss of their IBM contract!
Florida: Fantasy sports gaming site FanDuel issued a WARN for its Maitland ops, 55 jobs lost in April. BlackBerry eliminated 75 jobs at its Sunrise factory.
Georgia: Duluth based computer company NCR moving jobs out of Peachtree City, to Ohio and Texas. Local news reports say as many as 1-thousand 2-hundred Peach State jobs affected! Suwanee based telecommunications equipment maker Arris eliminating at least 8-hundred jobs, as part of their merger with British empire United Kingdom based company Pace!
Illinois: Chicago based tech solution company Starcom MediaVest Group laid off 80 people. Administrators called the layoff ‘routine’, implying it had nothing to due with the loss of a major client; Walmart.
Kentucky: Lexington based printer maker Lexmark eliminating 550 jobs on the advise of Goldman Sachs! The company is even considering the option of selling itself off.
Massachusetts: Waltham based internet marketing company Constant Contact was sold off, at least 210 of the company’s employees across the country were laid off! In Lee, Wave Systems now chapter 7 bankrupt busted. Administrators said they even tried to sell the data protection software company but nobody wanted to buy. Chapter 7 usually means the company is officially dead.
Michigan: California based video game maker Activision revealed it eliminated jobs at its Minneapolis ops, without giving numbers. Administrators blame declining interest in their Guitar Hero and Skylanders brands.
New Hampshire: Internet security company DataGravity laid off an undisclosed number of people, in an effort to cut $850-million USD costs.
New York: The state ‘lawmakers’ have failed to come up with a new budget, but promise to somehow pay SolarCity GigaFactory contractors $80-million USD! Contractors Quakenbush laid off 122 people, and Mader Construction laid off at least 75, due to not being paid by the Failed Empire State! The Riverbend site in Buffalo was employing 1-thousand people, but local news sources say failed ‘lawmakers’ haven’t paid the contractors since November 2015!!! CNN’s Manhattan Center Productions updated their WARN saying 222 people will now become unemployed by the end of April! CNN is moving its HeadLineNews (HLN) program from New York City to Atlanta, Georgia.
North Dakota: In Bismark, Box Office Video shutting down by mid-March. However, don’t blame internet streaming, the owner said in the past year rentals actually increased, but her rent is about to increase as well (that’s why she’s shutting down).
Oregon: Missouri based SunEdison is “reengineering” its Portland solar panel ops, meaning 40 people to be laid off. Administrators blame competition with low oil prices.
Pennsylvania: West Chester based shopping channel QVC eliminating at least 1-hundred jobs in the U.S. by the end of the year, as it off-shores them to Poland! It was also revealed that QVC eliminated 147 U.S. jobs in November 2015! Philadelphia based software company RJMetrics eliminating 25 jobs after promising to create new jobs. News reports blame it on the company implementing a new program that requires less employees. CEO Bob Moore admitted they made a mistake in hiring the people to begin with: “We didn’t do the right thing for these people. We recruited them onto our team and, now that the situation has changed, they are losing their jobs due to circumstances they didn’t create. We’re truly sorry to everyone affected.”
Teleperformance issued a shutdown WARN for its Grindstone operations, 180 jobs lost by the end of March! Administrators for the second largest cyber charter school in the state, Agora, revealed they suddenly eliminated jobs, but they refuse to say how many. Local news reports say former employees report between 1-hundred and 150 people were fired without warning! Cyber school administrators blame lack of state taxpayer funding due to ‘lawmakers’ failing to pass a budget. However, local news media also published a direct quote from an Agora chairwoman, made back in December: “We have no plans to cut or furlough staff due to the lack of funds we are currently receiving. Please do not fear for your position here at Agora.”-Mary Steffey
Texas: SunEdison shutting down its more than 20 years old solar panel factory in Pasadena, admitting it can’t compete with the low oil prices (however, they failed to mention the 2015 explosion at their Pasadena factory, that injured at least four people). 180 jobs lost! SunEdison lost nearly $1-billion USD in the first nine months of 2015, they have yet to report their 4th quarter results (which won’t be good ’cause that’s when the explosion happend).
Washington: Bellevue based internet video game operator Motiga conducted a second round of layoffs (referring to them as “redundancies”) in the past three months. As usual with internet game makers no job loss numbers were reported.
January 2016: “THE AMAZON TAX HAD AN ESPECIALLY CHILLING EFFECT…”
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed