“hard realities”: U.S. hi-tech/communications breakdown, March 2018

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 March 2018:

California: Snap (snapchat) conducting a second and third round of layoffs since January, this time 220 people (100 sales, 120 engineers) suddenly laid off!  Pepperjam (for a short time called eBay Enterprise Marketing Solutions) laying off 20% of its workers across the U.S. as part of a secret reorganization plan.  In North Highlands, Pennsylvania based Advanced Call Center Technologies shutting down, 51 jobs gone.  Movie production/promotion company Weinstein now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to its namesake’s sex scandals. Univision laid off 20 people as part of plans to take the company public (IPO, issue stocks, debt financing through investors).  NettApp continues to kill jobs, this time more than 12 Sunnyvale HQ employees let go.  San Francisco based tech company that promised to help brick-n-mortar mom-n-pop shops, and raised some big funding from sport and ‘Hollywood’ celebrities, Zenreach suddenly laid off 20% of its employees.  Data-driven, technology-empowered customer support company iQor Holdings issued a layoff WARN for its Simi Valley location, 129 jobs gone by June! Symantec issued layoff WARNs for another 19 people.  Johanson Dielectrics issued a shutdown WARN for its Sylmar location, 197 jobs gone by the end of May!  Singapore based tech manufacturer Flextronics International finally told state employment officials that it killed 52 Alviso jobs back in February.  Mountain View based cloud products designer Tintri issued a layoff WARN, 58 jobs gone in April.

Colorado: For the third year in a row The Denver Post eliminating jobs, this time 30 people laid off. 

Florida: EFT software maker M2 Systems now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, blaming a lawsuit in Connecticut.  The lawsuit says M2 frauded investors.  In Tallahassee, Conduent Commercial Solutions issued a WARN, 194 jobs gone by mid-May!  New York based TV ratings company Nielsen issued a massive layoff WARN, 724 Sunshine State jobs gone between the end of March and the end of May!

Illinois: Motorola laid off as many as 35% of its workers in Chicago.

Iowa: Too Big to Jail Goldman Sachs shutting down its Cedar Rapids call center, 40 jobs gone in April.

Kansas: Sprint eliminating 5-hundred jobs at its Overland Park HQ, but claims it will create more jobs by opening more stores!

Kentucky: Louisville based online retailer CafePress conducted a second round of layoffs due to a 22% drop in profits in 2017.

Michigan: Ann Arbor based video goggles maker Avegant admitted it laid off less than 20 people last month. Hutchinson Technology suddenly laid off 25 people. 

Minnesota: Best Buy shutting down 250 of its smart phone stores by the end of May.  Online based lender Ditech laying off 116 people as it moves more of its Saint Paul operations out-of-state: “Presently we have no definite plans to close the St. Paul site. However, the transition of work from St. Paul to other company locations is anticipated to result in jobs losses at the St. Paul site throughout 2018.”

New Jersey: Washington based Amazon issued a WARN, 77 Jersey City jobs gone by the end of May.

New Mexico: Convergys eliminating 151 jobs at its Rio Rancho call center by the end of April, due to a ‘client change’!

New York: A new report says iconic Armonk based IBM (International Business Machines) laid off 20-thousand U.S. workers over the age of 40, only to systematically replace them with younger, cheaper millennials and foreign workers!  On top of that, as many as 1-thousand IBM employees were suddenly laid off in March, it was revealed by massive social media postings by many of those laid off!  Many of the layoffs hit IBM’s cloud and Watson ops, two operations that employees thought were considered safe from job cuts.  Software maker Aptos issued a shutdown WARN for its Newburg location, 117 jobs affected starting at the end of June! Publisher Merideth continues killing jobs, this time 3-hundred people will become jobless as a result of the $1.8-billion USD take-over of Time magazine.  Newsday issued a “phase 4” and “phase 5” shutdown WARNs for its Melville ops, 1-thousand-423 jobs affected when it’s all said and done (sometime in October)!

Ohio: South Carolina based CompuCom shutting down its Cincinnati area ops, 61 jobs lost.  Science and technology development company Battelle suddenly laid off 260 people in Ohio and 90 people across the U.S.!

Oklahoma: Colorado based Dish Network began laying off an undisclosed number of employees in Tulsa, due to “changes in technology and enhanced online resources”.

Pennsylvania: Radio station owner Steel City Media now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, however administrators swear “The Company remains very profitable and expects to be able to generate sufficient cash from operations to meet the expenses of running our business…. softness in our markets has resulted in non-compliance with certain technical covenants. We believe that Chapter 11 is the appropriate venue to seek to resolve these issues.”

Texas: The Dallas Morning News suddenly laid off five people in what could be never ending job cuts to save money, administrators blame “hard realities”.  San Antonio based radio station owner iHeartMedia now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to $10-billion USD of debt.  What automotive industry recovery? San Antonio based wearable tech company WiseWear now bankrupt busted and blaming Apple.  Grand Prairie based Vroom (AutoAmerica) suddenly laid of 25% of employees as it shutdown ops in the city of Dallas and the state of Indiana!  One reports says that despite raising $300-million in venture funding, the online car seller has eliminated 50% of its jobs since January!

Virginia:The Herald-Progress suddenly shutdown because it is “no longer commercially viable.” The Caroline Progress also suddenly shutdown.  Colorado based Dish Network issued a shutdown WARN for its Christiansburg ops, 570 jobs gone by mid-May! Amazon issued a layoff WARN for its ops in Sterling, 67 jobs gone in May. InfoTech company Leidos issued a layoff WARN for ops in Charlottesville, 52 jobs gone by the end of April.  InfoTech solutions company NJVC issued a layoff WARN for its Chantilly location, 113 jobs gone by the end of April!

Washington: Amazon owned online education software maker TenMarks “…will no longer be available after the 2018-2019 school year.”  Amazon owned live stream video op Twitch suddenly laid off as many as 30 people. Employees said the sudden layoff was ordered by the new cowardly VP via Google Hangouts, and the guy wasn’t even at work when he ordered the layoffs!  Japan based Hitachi issued a shutdown WARN for its Bellevue location, 61 jobs gone by May.

Market Watch: Amazon is going to kill more American jobs than China did

U.S. Tech/Communications breakdown, February 2018: “I DIDN’T MAKE A LOT OF MONEY….”