Mike: Rio Tinto may be the first large mining company to blast jobs, but it won’t be the last. Economies that depend on commodities, such as Australia, Canada, and Russia will be hit hard by mining, and eventually oil drilling job cutbacks. One of the issues of cheaper commodity prices is that extractors don’t have the incentive to keep pulling product from the ground and therefore, they have to cut back on production until demand returns. Gold and to a lesser extent silver mines may buck this trend since the demand for gold is still strong as a recession hedge and silver is also for some.
Miner Rio Tinto will cut 14,000 jobs: Rio Tinto has offices in 40 countries, with most of its employees in Australia and North America, as well as significant operations in South America and southern Africa. It employs 97,000 people directly in addition to 15,000 contractors, or people on short-term contracts. The job cuts will mostly be on the contractor side, where 8,500 positions will be eliminated.
Mike: The Sony hits in the US are taking a quick toll, but at least Sony thought enough of their Mexican operations to keep jobs jobs in Baja (sarcasm off):
Sony to close LCD TV plant in Pennsylvania: “The company will be discontinuing all of its operations at the Westmoreland County facility over the next 16 months, beginning with television manufacturing by the end of February 2009,” Sony Electronics said.
In a statement, Sony Electronics said the plant, opened in 1990, has some 560 employees making flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions and providing repair service and logistics.
The company said repair and logistics operations at the Westmoreland facility, which is located east of Pittsburgh, will end by March 2010.
Sony said its remaining North American television manufacturing centers in Baja, Mexico, “will be able to handle anticipated market demand in the region for the foreseeable future.”
Mike: The job news is starting out rather nasty for PA:
Pa. plant that makes car seals, gaskets to close: Owner IER Fujikura Inc. told employees last week that it must close the Liverpool plant because of automakers’ struggles, putting 40 employees out of work.
Aaron’s Automotive plant to close: Aaron’s Automotive in northwest Springfield is closing. Parent company A-T-C Technology Corporation told all employees this morning that the facility will be shutting down in phases and will close for good by the end of June.
At least 80 percent of the company’s 184 employees will be given the option of following their jobs to Oklahoma City, said Bill Berry, director of operations.
Mike: Here’s another on Aaron’s with a video:
ATC Drivetrain Employees Talk About Layoff: Starting in February ATC Drivetrain will start shutting down Aaron’s Automotive Products, its transmission manufacturing plant in Springfield.
It seems that given the condition of the auto industry most of the 184 workers at Aaron’s were expecting it.
Fleetwood closing home manufacturing plant in Woodland: The Woodland plant opened on North Pioneer Avenue in 1972 and employs 93 people.
Mike: As usual, threaten the teachers when budgets get tight. Here’s a school that ranks nearly last in it’s per pupil spending, but they believe that cutting teachers is the way to help their students get a quality education. The school industrial complex continues to eat its own and still claim to be there for the benefit of the children.
Teacher cutbacks proposed in Monroe: MONROE (CN) — More than two dozen teaching and staff positions would be eliminated under Supt. of Schools Colleen Palmer’s recommended 2009-10 budget of $51.3 million, a spending plan designed to hold in check mandated spending increases next year tied to insurance and labor contract obligations.
Of her proposal to cut 26.6 jobs districtwide, including 21.4 teaching jobs, she said, “It is not a done deal but a proposed way to manage the district going forward.”
Palmer said she faced a challenge to trim the budget, especially because Monroe ranks low in per pupil spending, at 159th out of 169 towns in the state.
Mike: For those who missed yesterday’s NFL post:
NFL to cut 150 jobs: Acknowledging the toll on the country’s most successful sports league, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced he was cutting 150 jobs, or 14% of the staff, to help reduce league expenses by roughly $50 million.
Bombardier Recreational Products Inc., a Canadian company that makes Evinrude outboard engines at a plant in Sturtevant, said Tuesday that it will reduce production by 20 percent and eliminate 550 white-collar jobs.
Big Yahoo layoff coming Wednesday
Fishbowl Los Angeles reports that up to 1,500 Yahoo employees will be cut tomorrow (Wednesday), according to an employee who read an internal e-mail from Yahoo’s co-founder and lame duck CEO Jerry Yang.
DHL Express to lay off 74: WILMINGTON — DHL Express said it will lay off up to 74 employees at its U.S. freight hub at Wilmington as soon as Jan. 23, 2009, marking the latest mass layoff at the hub as DHL prepares to end operations there next year.
Mike: Not that anyone needs to be told that a job loss can strain relationships, but it shows that the affects of losing a job can go much deeper than the wallet:
Layoffs put a strain on relationships: Ben Tischler did not see it coming. He was shocked to learn he was being laid off from a Miami advertising agency. As he cleared out his desk, he worried about how his girlfriend would react.
Mike: An update to the Netflix news that was rumored earleir in the week:
Netflix to layoff 50: Netflix announced today on their corporate blog, that they would be letting go 50 individuals in their technical and customer service groups at the beginning of next year.
Syracuse China factory to close; about 275 to lose jobs: Salina, New York (WSYR-TV) – Libbey Inc., the Toledo, Ohio-based parent company of Syracuse China, says it is closing down the Court Street dinnerware factory in a cost-cutting measure.
Libbey says the factory should be completely shut down by March 27, 2009. Syracuse China employs about 275 people.
Mike: The taxpayer gives banks like BOA billions to save their businesses, but these same banks don’t seem to feel a need to contribute that same largess back to the community it is supposed to serve.
Bank Says It Will Consider Loan to Pay Workers in Factory Sit-In: Bank of America said Tuesday that it hoped to provide a limited amount of credit to allow a closed window and door factory here to pay money owed to workers who have been peacefully occupying the plant for five days to protest losing their jobs.
P&G to cut 320 positions as Stamford site ends run: STAMFORD — Procter & Gamble will start laying off 320 full-time employees at its Clairol facility at the end of January as it prepares to close down by April 2010.
Fremont auto plant scales back production over next 2 months: Fremont’s NUMMI plant has further trimmed production this month and next, reflecting the slowdown in vehicle sales nationwide. Sales plunged 36.7 percent in November from the same month last year to the lowest rate in 26 years. They are down 16.3 percent so far in 2008.
Mike: Kodak at one time employed about 60,000 in the Rochester, NY region. Since those glory days of the early 80s, they have reduced their local employment total to about 9,000 today. This company failed to act quickly during the digital revolution and has suffered mightily since. Their CEO, Antonio Perez, was compensated to the tune of $11.7 million last year and I believehe was slated to earn about $13 million this year. As Kodak becomes less and less of a player in the digital field, the CEO continues to rake in millions. The following notice from Kodak is also a warning that job losses may be on the way as the company continues to shrink both in footprint and profits. At ;east there must be a little satisfaction for the remaining workers, who haven’t received raises in years, that the big dogs will also be starved for salary increases, finally.
Eastman Kodak withdraws full-year 2008 forecast: ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Eastman Kodak has withdrawn its full-year 2008 operating profit and sales forecast because of a weak economy and stronger dollar, and says executives will not receive a salary increase next year.
Mike: An ongoing reminder to those who are receiving UE benefits. I got caught one year when I didn’t have taxes removed weekly and that was a nasty bill at tax time:
Taxpayer alert: Unemployment benefits are taxable
Mike: A dubious distinction in Muskegon:
Muskegon leads nation in unemployment in communities of 20,000 or more
Office Depot will close 112 stores
Office Depot Inc. will close about 9 percent of its North American stores over the next three months and open fewer locations next year in an effort to cut costs, the office supply chain said Wednesday.
Mike: Again, we see that the UE office is the best place to apply for a job:
Hiring more claims reps will reduce busy signals plaguing unemployed: Laid-off New Yorkers, who have faced days and even weeks of frustration trying unsuccessfully to reach a claims representative on the phone to discuss their unemployment claim, may find some relief soon.
Mike: Indiana is only one of many states that will see their UE benefit funds dry up in the coming months. You would think Indiana, and some other states, would have the common sense to make sure their funds were adequate since the sound of a recession has been in the air for more than a year.
Indiana UE benefits fund close to zero: MUNCIE — Indiana’s budget director told a local crowd on Tuesday there would be no immediate fix for the state’s perilously under-funded unemployment insurance account.
“It’s pretty close to zero,” Ryan Kitchell told the crowd at the Indiana Economic Outlook Luncheon, held Tuesday at the Horizon Convention Center.
Goulston Cuts About 40: Boston-based firm Goulston & Storrs PC has laid off about 40 members of its staff, including administrative support positions and a handful of paralegals. According to the firm, no lawyers were let go.
TXI Riverside Cement to layoff 88 workers: TXI Riverside Cement, owned by Dallas-based Texas Industries, will lay off 88 people at its Rubidoux plant near Crestmore on Saturday and Dec. 19, said Frank Sheets, the company’s spokesman.
Mike: The following site lists many of the pharma jobs that have been lost of late:
Where The Jobs Aren’t: The Latest Layoff Tally
Mike: Furloughs are going to occur on a regular basis for the forseeable future since state budgets are strained. A fed bailout of the states will likely slow some of these furlough plans:
SC Forestry Commission to furlough employees; The Forestry Commission employs 380 people across South Carolina. The salary reductions will be made in employee paychecks between January 16 and June 16, 2009.
Furlough forms sent to 1,500 county employees: Some 1,500 Atlantic County employees have until next week to decide if they intend to participate in a voluntary furlough program that county officials hope will limit the number of layoffs necessary to close an $8.5 million budget deficit
City of Redding to Start Layoffs: Redding City Manager Kurt Starman has told city employees that a list of job layoffs will be issued today.
Clemson, state agencies face possible 4 percent additional budget cuts: ANDERSON — State agencies and schools are bracing for additional budget cuts on Thursday, and that probably means job layoffs.
Mike: Here’s a mayor who has her head in some sunless hole. Baltimore is shedding jobs and demanding cutbacks from police, but she believes she is worth the extra $3k. As usual, the big dogs don’t want to sacrifice when they can get the little dogs to do it all:
- Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon defends salary increase — baltimoresun.com: The raises were quietly granted to Dixon and others last month at a time when leaders are freezing pay for midlevel managers and slashing overtime for police officers and firefighters.
- Killings rose as police cut OT — baltimoresun.com: Baltimore’s deadliest month of 2008 coincided with substantial reductions to the Police Department’s overtime budget – cuts that the police union president says are interfering with investigations and diminishing neighborhood patrols.
Lower revenue leads to job cuts at Journal: The Winston-Salem Journal said yesterday that it will cut 12 employees to offset lost revenue caused by the current economic climate.
The Associated Press: Principal Financial to cut 550 jobs Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group Inc. says it is cutting 300 jobs at its headquarters and around 250 in 45 other locations.
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Advantage Rent A Car Files for Chapter 11 – New Mexico Business Weekly: About 440 Advantage employees have received layoff notifications. The rental car company continues to employ about 460 at its rental sites and its corporate offices.
Gulf Shores to cut 29 workers – Breaking News from the Press-Register – al.com. GULF SHORES, Ala. — This week 21 full-time and 8 part-time municipal workers were told they’d lose their jobs amid a restructuring at City Hall aimed at trimming expenses for an expectedly lean 2009.
WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Cuts Coming at Georgia-Pacific in Plattsburgh?.
Plattsburgh, New York – December 9, 2008
More than 300 Georgia-Pacific workers in Plattsburgh are being briefed on job changes and the future of the mill.
Talks are being held Tuesday and Wednesday and Channel 3 News has learned it could involve a workforce layoff of about 25 percent.
A. Schulman plans Akron job cuts – Business – cleveland.com. Plastics company A. Schulman plans to cut 84 jobs at plants in Ohio and Tennessee and at its headquarters in Akron, the company announced today.
Nearly 400 San Francisco city workers to lose jobs – San Jose Mercury News. Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday nearly 400 people will lose their jobs under a proposal to reduce the city’s deficit.
DHL to lay off 434 in Houston area – Houston Business Journal: DHL Express USA Inc. plans to lay off 434 Houston-area employees in conjunction with the company’s recent decision to exit the U.S. delivery business to focus on international deliveries.
LOCAL BRIEFING – washingtonpost.com: The National Association of Home Builders said it will eliminate 52 jobs and cut $11.5 million from its operating budget.
WXVT-TV Delta News – More Local News and Weather WXVT.com | Signal issues round of layoffs. PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) – Signal International has laid off 200 to 250 employees in its Pascagoula shipyards over the past month as work winds down as rigs are completed.
Mack Trucks to lay off 180 at eastern Pa. plant – Forbes.com: Mack Trucks plans to lay off 180 employees at its factory near Allentown and will extend its annual end-of-year production shutdown at the site.
Mesa’s parks department to close small pools, lay off 56. It will lose almost 23 percent of its workforce – 56 full-time positions – when city layoffs take effect next month. It will have 191 full-time positions remaining.
Mike: As I mentioned previously, when NASCAR and the NFL have to layoff staff, the recession is truly taking hold. If this recession keeps up, teams will have to charge less to get fans to attend and the salaries of the players will have to return to Earth, maybe.
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GM to extend layoffs at Massena plant: MASSENA, N.Y. – Layoffs are being extended by three weeks for employees at theGeneral Motors Powertrain plant in northern New York.
Pitney Bowes MapInfo announces layoffs: Pitney Bowes has laid off 128 employees in its software division, 12 coming from the North Greenbush operation.
Mike: Even the media outlets with some value are taking a hit. Less money in one’s pocket means less money to write a check to NPR.
Hit by Recession, NPR to Lay Off Seven Percent of Staff – washingtonpost.com: The layoffs of 64 of NPR’s 889 employees is designed to close a $23 million shortfall in NPR’s current fiscal year, said Dennis Haarsager, NPR’s interim president and chief executive in an interview. The cutback will affect all departments, including reporters, producers, researchers and digital media employees.
SiRF Initiates Further Layoffs;,Tele Atlas also Makes Cuts – GPS Mass Market OEM. The GNSS market as a whole may remain stable, but the current economic downturn continues to take a toll in consumer market for GPS and navigation. Both GPS receiver maker SiRF Technology and digital map data supplier Tele Atlas have announced job cuts this week; for SiRF, it is the third round of layoffs this year.
The Romeo Observer – Romeo, Michigan: Northern Macomb County’s weekly newspaper since 1866. Macomb County officials may eliminate 250 positions to come up with $20 million in savings to balance the budget.
The Board of Commissioners will decide this week on what positions will be eliminated to balance the 2009 budget, which would take place as early as Jan. 1.
Penn National May Continue Downward Spiral With Casino Layoffs. Penn National Gaming Inc. raised eyebrows earlier this year when they decided they did not have the product to compete with a neighboring casino. They broke their agreement with the state of Kansas and the ride has been rough ever since.
Now, after a rough year, Penn National is saying that they may cut jobs at their Pennsylvania casino. The move could cost fifteen people their jobs.
Five WSFA employees lose jobs: Raycom Media, Inc., owner of WSFA, confirmed today that five employees at the television news station are out of jobs due to economic conditions.
Howmet announces employee layoffs: The Alcoa Howmet plant here on Wednesday said it plans to indefinitely lay off some 120 employees in mid-January .
Springboro Schools Announces Job Cuts – News Story – WHIO Dayton: SPRINGBORO, Ohio — Many parents are upset after the Springboro School District announced that it will make thousands of dollars in cuts.
The board voted to cut $225,000 in custodians, secretaries and other support staff, and $100,000 in supplies.
MediaFile » Blog Archive » Watch Gannett layoffs in slow motion | Blogs | : Watch Gannett layoffs in slow motion
The largest U.S. newspaper publisher and owner of USA Today, the nation’s biggest-selling daily paper, is slashing payroll just in time for the holidays. We read about layoffs everywhere these days, but if you want to see the slow-motion car crash version of how Gannett is doing it, look to Gannett Blog, run by former company reporter Jim Hopkins.
Mike: Toledo and the rest of the rust belt is taking even more of a pounding this recession:
Toledo Free Press » News Archive » 45 layoffs for the City of Toledo: At a news conference on Dec. 10, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner announced the layoff of 45 employees in Toledo.
More Layoffs at The Enquirer? As recently as last week, The Cincinnati Enquirer’s top editor said he wasn’t sure whether to expect more layoffs in the New Year, but executives at the newspaper’s parent company all but confirmed additional pink slips are on the way.
KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Layoffs planned for Texarkana’s Alcoa plant: Alcoa’s Texarkana plant will layoff about 60 employees between now and the end of January.
Wheeling-Nisshin laying off 90 workers in January: Associated Press Business News – MSN Money FOLLANSBEE, W.Va. (AP) – A small steel-coating company is laying off workers for the first time in its 22-year history.
Rich Carter, president of Wheeling-Nisshin Inc., confirmed Wednesday that 90 of the plant’s 175 employees will be laid off starting Jan. 4.
Mike: As can be seen from the below announcement, the CEO said he BELIEVES the layoffs would not be permanent. If he can’t state that for a fact, then these 800 will be worrying for the rest of the month, at least.
local_wlfi_lafayette_wabash_national_121020081800_rev1: LAFAYETTE – 800 Wabash National employees will be out of a job by December 22nd when the company shuts down for the holidays. But the Chief Operating Officer Joe Zachman said he believes the layoffs will NOT be permanent.
Mike: And this is why the workers at Wabash National should be worried:
Ind. trailer maker extends layoff period | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star: Lafayette-based Wabash National Corp. will extend its annual holiday shutdown and keep 800 employees on layoff status after resuming operations.
Stock Building Supply closes in Phoenix, lays off 123 – Triangle Business Journal: Stock Building Supply is closing its Phoenix center and will lay off 123 workers there in January.
Peach Arch lays off 23 – Entertainment News, Film News, Media – Variety: Peach Arch Entertainment Group will slash 23 jobs over the next two months.
Chase Bank to lay off 110 Valley workers: Chase Bank announced plans Wednesday to lay off 110 workers in metro Phoenix and 270 workers in Milwaukee.
Mike: The Tyco story below doesn’t reflect US layoffs, but you can bet there will be quite a few:
Bloomberg.com: U.S: Tyco Electronics Ltd., the world’s largest maker of electronic connectors, said it will cut about 2,500 jobs worldwide, or about 2.6 percent of its workforce, as part of previously announced efforts to speed $100 million in cost reductions.
GenomeWeb News: Life Technologies Confirms Closure of ABI’s Connecticut Corporate Offices NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Life Technologies, the recently merged combination of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems, confirmed for GenomeWeb Daily News today that it will close ABI’s corporate offices in Norwalk, Conn., as part of efforts to eliminate redundant operations.
Mike: Unfortunately, a very busy layoff day. Till tomorrow:
The trouble with unemployment is that the minute you wake up in the morning you’re on the job. – Slappy White
Jerry Holbert - Dec. 9
