Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
An east coast health insurance company is killing jobs, no thanks to Obama Care. Highmark laid off almost 1-hundred people in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia! Administrators admit that since Obama Care went into effect they’ve actually lost customers, so much so that they have to make drastic cuts! Apparently Obama Care favors Highmark’s competitor Aetna as many of Highmark’s customers were forced to change insurance plans and become Aetna and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center customers. One report says Highmark lost 60% of “market share” just in the western half of Pennsylvania! What was that about Obama Care increasing access to healthcare?
Arizona: In Green Valley, after 14 years The Old Time Butcher Shop announced it will shutdown in March. The owners say a 60% drop in business is a sign to spend more time with their great-grand-children.
California: Castaic Union School District has approved the elimination of at least 43 jobs. Those still employed will be forced to take unpaid days off (furlough). It’s blamed on what I call DSS (Disapearing Student Syndrome), district administrators say the school system has lost more than 1-thousand students over the past ten years!
Colorado: In Denver, after 35 years the owner of Hollywood Posters announced he must shut it down by April. It’s blamed on evil landlords jacking up the rent: “We’re seeing a re-gentrifying of East Colfax. Rates are going crazy!”-Carolyn Martinez, commercial real estate agent
Connecticut: Evil Too Big to Jail Royal Bank of Scotland (aka RBS) announced it will eliminate more than 1-thousand U.S. jobs in Stamford! The British empire bank said it’s part of their plans to cut global operations down from 38 countries to just 13.
Idaho: The Idaho Department of Labor has finally posted some past due WARNs issued by Kimbal and Plum Creek Timber (in my earlier Job Loss reports I noted that no WARNs had been posted concerning their layoffs-shutdowns). Also, a WARN was posted by food producer Simplot saying 20 people will be laid off from their Aberdeen ops in April.
Illinois: In Peru, OfficeMax is quietly shutting down its call center, 275 employees were ordered to keep their mouths shut! Local news reports say the shutdown will happen in March. Apparently OfficeMax is moving the call center offshore to India. The 42 years old Aurora Child Development Center shutting down due to state funding problems. Administrators say the great state of Illinois is at least three months behind on their Child Care Assistance Program payments!
Indiana: US Steel (aka USS) shutting down the last of their Gary coke factories by May, 3-hundred jobs lost! Administrators blame the crashing steel market and the fact that they’ve spent big bucks on building a new coke factory in Alabama.
Michigan: Evil debt collector Asset Acceptance Capital announced it will layoff 125 call center employees in May! Good, now those harassing ass-holes will know what it’s like when you can’t pay your bills!
Missouri: A major advertising company in Saint Louis laid off 15 people. Administrators of Osborn Barr blame crashing orders for advertisements from its primary client; the farm industry.
New York: Bankrupt NYC based women’s clothing chain Cache issued a WARN saying they will shutdown their administrative offices by March, 1-hundred jobs lost! Is Obama Care responsible for the shutdown of Jewish home healthcare services? In Bronx, FEGS (Federation Employment and Guidance Services) Family Care Services (Jewish Home Healthcare) issued a WARN saying they lost their contract with the state Children Services, 80 jobs lost by March. FEGS also issued a WARN saying as a result they must “restructure” resulting in at least 206 employees across the state becoming jobless by May! In West Point, Land O’Frost announced it will shutdown its recently acquired Wimmer’s Meats factory by Autumn. Company administrators claim they had plans to operate the factory for years to come, but the economy is worse than they thought, 125 jobs lost!
Ohio: Amazingly TimkenSteel is blaming low oil prices for laying off 52 steel workers in March! Apparently TimkenSteel customers work in the oil industry and orders have crashed.
Puerto Rico: The FDIC seized the assets of Doral Bank and turned them over to Banco Popular of Puerto Rico.
Texas: Oil industry tool maker Dresser-Rand announced it will kill off about 650 jobs! Administrators blame crashing orders from the oil industry, however, the true reason could be that Dresser-Rand is trying to make itself look lean and mean as it hopes to sell itself to Germany’s Siemens for $7.6-billion USD.
Washington: In Everett, Illinois based Boeing has notified 319 employees that they will become jobless in April! In late 2013 state politicians extended tax breaks for Boeing for the sole purpose of keeping jobs alive, now they’re trying to get that money back. After less than one year of operation Trios Medical Center now in big financial trouble no thanks to Obama Care (referred to as “the changing healthcare market”) with CEO Glen Marshall explaining that “The national trend has and will continue to be one of doing more with less. We have not been spared in that regard.” 40 employees laid off without notice and hospital assets are now being sold off. An unnamed employee told local news media “On Fridays, on paydays, people are frantically checking their bank accounts to see if they’ll get paid. It’s a real fear that 1,200 plus employees may not be getting a paycheck.”
Wisconsin: Pay/Half clothing store shutting down in the Regency Mall. No closure date was reported, and neither was an explanation given.
23 – 26 February 2015: “…the economy has dictated.”
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.