Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
California: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners and casino operators can’t blame video games for your demise; 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! University of California at Berkeley warning of mass layoffs and program cuts. It’s blamed on years of overspending resulting in a shortfall of at least $150-million USD! Morgan Hill based custom aftermarket bicycle parts maker Specialized says it will layoff less than 50 people due to crashing sales.
Colorado: WPX Energy sold its Colorado drilling ops to a Texas company, affecting at least 2-hundred jobs! The natural gas producer once boasted “WPX Energy produces more natural gas in Colorado than anyone else….”
Florida: More proof brick-n-mortar store owners and casino operators can’t blame their demise on the internet; fantasy sports gaming site FanDuel issued a WARN for its Maitland ops, 55 jobs lost in April.
Idaho: Right to Work (you over) state level ‘lawmakers’ are considering a bill that would make it illegal for local level ‘lawmakers’ to increase the minimum wage in their cities! State ‘lawmakers’ also passed a bill that would cap homeowner property tax exemptions.
Illinois: Par-A-Dice Casino laid off 40 employees, ignorantly blaming video games: “The layoffs are regrettable, but they’re 100% due to the impact of video gaming.” I say ignorantly because if you’ve noticed I’ve written (especially in this episode of Job Losses) about numerous video game makers, and even video gambling operators, who’re experiencing crashing revenues as well (I’ve said this before, maybe it’s ’cause consumers don’t have no-mo money to spend?)! The Kishwaukee College budget for next school year calls for the elimination of 17% of its jobs and other austerity measures. It’s blamed on the loss of $275-thousand USD caused by reduced student enrollment, and the loss of $2.5-million in state taxpayer funding that was promised but never delivered! God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Franciscan Saint James Health hospital, blaming millions of U.S. dollars in losses over several years (I guess this proves the real ‘god’ is money).
Indiana: HVAC maker Carrier-United Technologies Electronic Controls announced it will move its Indianapolis and Huntington factories to Mexico, killing 2-thousand 1-hundred U.S. jobs over the next three years!
Kansas: Rumors that computer networking company Alexander Open Systems is eliminating jobs as part of preparations to sell itself to the highest bidder.
Minnesota: In Saint Paul, Lunds & Byerlys on Suburban Avenue shutting down after 45 years, 65 jobs lost in March. Administrators said the grocery store was “no longer viable”.
New York: NYC based NBCUniversal eliminated ten jobs with its Cable Entertainment division.
Oregon: Russia based steel maker EVRAZ issued a shutdown WARN for their Portland pipe factory, 230 jobs will be lost by the beginning of April! Ironically the Russian company blamed their U.S. factory shutdown partly on foreign made pipe being ‘dumped’ within the U.S. due to U.S. import regulations that actually favor imports over domestically produced products. Last month I reported that Climax Portable Machining & Welding Systems was quietly laying off employees, and ordered employees not to talk about it lest they lose their severance. Now an unnamed source says as many as 36 people were laid off in January 2016, and about 30 people laid off in 2015. Another shocking revelation is that former employees say the company was making decent profits, at least until 2013. Climax Portable Machining & Welding Systems was founded 50 years ago, but in the past decade has changed ownership numerous times. Currently the company is owned by Bortech.
Washington: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners, and casino operators, can’t blame the internet/video games for your demise; 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. In Walla Walla, after at least ten years elitist gourmet restaurant-gift shop Providence Fine Living shutting down due to the landlord “skyrocketing” the rent. The operator of Providence Fine Living said his sales were good, but not good enough to cover what the landlord wants in the new lease.
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
09 February 2016: “I can’t believe it’s…the end.”
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed
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.”