Mike: This day’s big layoff news starts with Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs, Fidelity National , Hudson’s Bay Company, Time Warner and Pier 1.
This is my favorite bit of financial news this day: Obama caps executive pay tied to bailout money. I hope those titans of thievery have saved for a rainy day, since living on $500k won’t be easy for many of them………..
Mike: Some better than expected news, but the numbers still reflect recessionary unemployed:
* NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. private sector cut more than half a million jobs in January, according to a report that indicates the labor market will continue hemorrhaging for another year.
ADP Employer Services said on Wednesday that private employers cut 522,000 jobs in January versus a revised 659,000 jobs lost in December. The December job cuts were originally reported at 693,000.
Though the rate of job losses slowed slightly, and was also less severe than analysts expected, there is more pain in store even if the government gets a plan in place to stimulate the moribund economy.
“It’s too late at this point to prevent a fairly significant further rise in the unemployment rate,” said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, which jointly developed the ADP report.
via Private sector job cuts slow in January – Yahoo! Finance.
Mike: But then this report paints a bleaker story. If you’re an optimist, don’t read the story below, but read the one above……….:
For American workers buffeted by layoffs and cutbacks, January was as bad as it felt, as indicated by key employment reports released Wednesday.
The number of planned cuts announced in the month rose to the highest level in seven years, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. And ADP’s National Employment Report found that private-sector employers cut 522,000 positions.
Job cut announcements by U.S. employers soared to 241,749 in January, up 45% from December’s 166,348 cuts, according to Challenger. That was the highest number of job cuts since January 2002.
via Challenger report: Job cuts soar to seven-year high – Yahoo! Finance.
Mike: Wednesday’s economic calendar is light for layoff news, so I hope that the layoff announcements are on the light side also. To the Blogroll, I added USAspending.gov, which is a great resource for seeing which companies get which contracts and for what amount. It’s good reading and it’s a new site that was opposed by many businesses, so it has to be good!
As an example, I clicked the Contracts tab and typed “IBM” into the “Search by name” field and came up with the following information:
Mike: If any of you have suggestions on how this site can better serve your layoff news needs, please send it along to me at layofflist@gmail.com, or leave your thoughts in the comments section. Do you want more of US layoff news and less economic reports, or more international news and less ranting? After all, this is your site and I’m here to make sure it meets your needs. Thanks………
- Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors/News
General Economic News
Municipal News
US and some Canada Layoff News
International News
Hiring News
– Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors & News –
* Since the commercial real estate company, Grubb and Ellis, put up a “for lease” sign in front of the Amazon.com warehouse in Fernley, rumors have been spreading through the community about the closure of the company.
“One of my co-drivers, he told me his neighbor works for Amazon and the neighbor was telling him Amazon was closing down,” said Richard Gonsalves, a Fernley worker.
* Fidelity Investments chairman Edward “Ned” Johnson is denying a rumor that the firm is for sale.
“This sounds like a rumor put out by an investment banker looking for business. We are doing very well as a private company and have for many years. We are financially strong and moving forward aggressively against our competition in a great many areas,” he e-mailed the Boston Globe on Friday.
Mike: Bad publicity can even bring a bank to reconsider its extravagant ways:
* Wells Fargo defends, then cancels Vegas junket 4 months after $25B taxpayer bailout –
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a tradition for Wells Fargo & Co. to reward top employees with a lavish junket. In previous years, though, the company hadn’t just received a $25 billion bailout from taxpayers.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Wells Fargo had booked 12 nights, beginning Friday, at the Wynn Las Vegas and the Encore Las Vegas.
“Let’s get this straight: These guys are going to Vegas to roll the dice on the taxpayer dime?” said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who sits on the House Financial Services Committee. “They’re tone-deaf. It’s outrageous.”
The company initially defended the trip. But within hours, investigators and lawmakers on Capitol Hill had scorned the bank, and the company canceled.
via Wells Fargo defends, then cancels Vegas junket: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance.
* Allstate Corp., which plans to cut 1,000 jobs in its underperforming financial arm, is in the midst of a review that might result in some of those positions being outsourced or sent offshore.
via Allstate explores outsourcing options as it plans to cut 1,000 jobs — chicagotribune.com.
Jeff Stahler - Feb 4
Mike: Government inaction can be worse than government in action:
* WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who waged a decade-long campaign to alert regulators to problems in the operations of now-disgraced financier Bernard Madoff is assailing the Securities and Exchange Commission for ignoring his warnings and saying he feared for his physical safety.
His repeated warnings to SEC staff that Madoff was running a giant pyramid scheme have cast Harry Markopolos as an unheeded prophet in the scandal. Madoff, a prominent Wall Street figure and money manager, was arrested in December after confessing to his sons that he had lost more than $50 billion of investors’ money in a Ponzi scheme, according to federal authorities.
via Madoff tipster faults SEC, says feared for safety: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance.
Mike: I wonder how many bank execs will take their hands from the bailout pot so they don’t have to take a pay cut. My guess is that fewer banks will ask for handouts from the US taxpayer. The scam that is banking may be coming to an end for the more corrupt and delusional types in the banking world. At least I hope that’s the case:
* WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama imposed a $500,000 pay cap on some senior executives whose firms receive government financial rescue money, a dramatic intervention into corporate governance in the midst of financial crisis.
Standing with his Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Obama said the United States doesn’t disparage wealth nor does it begrudge those who succeed, but lavish bonuses for executives at companies seeking taxpayer dollars was unfair.
“What gets people upset — and rightfully so — are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers,” the president said in the White House foyer.
via Obama caps executive pay tied to bailout money – Yahoo! Finance.
* Officials delivered the sobering news to town employees Tuesday that the town plans to go through with layoffs of up to 70 people from the 1,020-person, non-school work force.
via Town to layoff up to 70 employees – Greenwich Time.
* The state plans to lay off about 50 employees at Jetson Center for Youth in the next two months as reform efforts gear up at the facility, the head of the Office of Juvenile Justice said.
via 2theadvocate.com | News | Official: State plans layoffs at Jetson — Baton Rouge, LA.
* TAMPA — Another round of layoffs is hitting the Building Services Division of Hillsborough County, yet one more indication of the ongoing sour economy.
* TOKYO (AP) — Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it will slash 15,000 jobs and shut down 27 plants worldwide, joining a slew of major Japanese companies announcing deep cuts as the global slowdown batters the world’s second-largest economy.
* Japan’s Panasonic Corp <6752.T>, the world’s No.1 plasma TV maker, warned it would post an annual loss of $4.2 billion and said it would cut 15,000 jobs as it grapples with a stronger yen and slowing demand. The maker of Viera flat TVs and Lumix digital cameras joins a growing list of electronics makers stepping up restructuring in the face of a global slump that is shaping up to be nastier than the last major downturn in 2001 after the IT bubble.
* The world’s largest maker of plasma display TVs also announced a net loss for the October-December quarter and lowered its forecast for the fiscal year through March to a net loss of 380 billion yen ($4.2 billion), its first annual loss in six years.
via Japan’s Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs, shut plants: Financial News – Yahoo! Finance.
* Quigley plans to close the Elizabethtown plant “in the coming months” following the fulfillment of customer orders.
Quigley will conduct all its manufacturing activities at its Lebanon, Pa., facility. The closing of the Elizabethtown plant will result in the elimination of 24 jobs.
via Quigley closing Elizabethtown, Pa., plant – Philadelphia Business Journal: .February 4
* FARMINGTON, N.M. — An oil and gas service company is closing one of its seven locations in Farmington, costing 45 jobs.
Weatherford International Ltd.’s district manager, Mark Knight, says the employees are looking for jobs at other Weatherford sites in Farmington and elsewhere.
via Farmington plant to close | AP Texas News | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.
* CHARLESTON — Vesuvius USA’s manufacturing facility has begun notifying its work force about layoffs beginning this month that will ultimately affect 28 employees.
via JG-TC.com > News > More than 20 to lose jobs at Charleston’s Vesuvius plant.
* Polymer Group, a nonwoven fabric maker based in Charlotte, confirmed today it has cut 58 jobs.
via Charlotte-based Polymer Group cuts 58 jobs | CharlotteObserver.com.
* In a domino effect, layoffs at big vehicle makers Caterpillar Inc. and John Deere have driven a Rochester manufacturer to lay off 68 workers.
via Postbulletin.com: Rochester, MN.
* Twenty-five people will be let go this week. Dozens more set to be laid off before Feb. 15.
via Layoffs Officially Start at Century – WOWK-TV – WOWKTV.com.
* SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – Ogden-based Flying J announced Tuesday a plan that would result in the termination of 200 jobs.
via Flying J announces layoffs of 200 employees – ABC 4.com .
* BOWERSTON, OH, FEBRUARY 2, 2009: Due to the continued decline of the United States housing industry, L. J. Smith, Inc. has laid off 23 hourly employees and 9 salaried employees effective today.
via L.J. Smith Inc In Harrison County Announces Layoffs – WTRF-TV – WTRF.com.
* Financial services company Harland Clarke, best known for its check-printing business, plans to close a south DeKalb County call center, eliminating 220 jobs.
The affected employees, who were told of the decision Monday, will get severance and placement assistance, spokeswoman Donna Hinkelman said. About 400 jobs will remain at the company’s DeKalb campus after the layoffs occur in early June, she said.
via Harland Clarke to cut 220 jobs | ajc.com.
* Rogers Corp., a Killingly-based manufacturer of high-performance specialty materials, said it has cut 10 percent of its global workforce through layoffs, early retirements and voluntary separations and by leaving vacant positions unfilled.
The company said it has eliminated the jobs of 90 salaried employees worldwide, about 20 in Connecticut. The company had 2,100 employees as of September, according to Reuters. William Tryon, a spokesman for Rogers, said about 60 percent of the jobs were eliminated through layoffs and unfilled positions.
via Killingly, Windsor Manufacturing Firms Announce Job Cuts — Courant.com.
*The Niagara Health System announced Tuesday it will slash 90 jobs, including about 50 nursing positions, across all of its facilities. But few, if any, nurses are expected to actually lose their jobs.
About 30 of the cut positions are vacant and will not be filled. The nurses who fill the other positions will be able to move into 75 currently vacant positions.
via NHS cutting 90 jobs – St. Catharines Standard – Ontario, CA .
* Don Dacus, owner of Galaxie Boat Works Inc. closed his factory in December for Christmas and decided not to reopen the facility.
Mr. Dacus has been involved in the manufacture of boats for the past 40 years when he opened the business to build quality boats and trailers. He incorporated the business in October 1968.
via After 40 years, boat factory closes an era | www.thecherokeean.com | Cherokeean Herald.
* Martin Petroleum Corp. in Pompano Beach has filed notice with the state that it may have to layoff 207 of its employees in March, but only if it loses its state contract to supply fuel to eight gas stations along Florida’s Turnpike.
via Martin Petroleum files layoff notice, just in case – South Florida Business Journal: .
* Pier 1 Imports Inc. said Tuesday it is trying to renegotiate leases on 125 underperforming stores and may cut as many as 850 jobs.
* True Manufacturing has laid off additional workers.
Multiple sources told the Courier-Post that more than 40 employees with less than a year at the company were given pink slips last week.
via Bowling Green company has second round of layoffs – Hannibal, MO – Hannibal Courier-Post.
* SOUTH HILL — Officials representing the nation’s number one supplier of seatbelt webbing products, Narricot Industries of South Hill, said on Monday that they had laid off 45 employees last week due to the economy.
via Virginia/North Carolina News.
* As the result of a DNA sequencing “technology shift,” the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard laid off 24 employees yesterday.
via Bio-IT World .
* The Clorox Co. on Wednesday reported a 7 percent drop in second-quarter earnings and said it plans to cut 170 jobs over the next 18 months.
via Clorox reports lower Q2 profit, to cut 170 jobs – San Francisco Business Times: .
* Industrial battery maker C&D Technologies Inc. said it plans to cut about 90 jobs over the next 12 months as it attempts to reduce labor costs by about $4.5 million a year.
via C&D Technologies to cut 90 jobs | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/04/2009.
* Fidelity National Financial Inc (FNF.N), the largest U.S. title insurer, on Wednesday said it cut 1,500 jobs in January, and posted a fourth-quarter loss as the housing slump drove down home sales and refinancings.
* TULSA, Okla. — Companies in Tulsa and Houston are announcing layoffs that will leave 182 people in northeastern Oklahoma out of work.
Tulsa-based Arrow Trucking Co. has laid off 32 clerical and administrative employees and Houston-based Baker Hughes will cut about 150 jobs at plants in Broken Arrow and Claremore.
via 2 companies announce Tulsa-area layoffs | AP Texas News | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.
* LOS ANGELES, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Brinker International Inc (EAT.N), the parent of the Chili’s Grill & Bar restaurant chain, said on Wednesday it cut 155 headquarters and field management jobs.
via Chili’s parent Brinker International cuts 155 jobs | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters .
* Chief Executive Glenn Britt said the slower fourth-quarter growth showed that Time Warner Cable was not immune to the weak economy and to its competitors, including AT&T Inc (T.N) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N).
The company will slash 1,250 jobs during 2008. Britt said that in 2009 the company would focus even more on managing its operating and capital spending to fit the “economic realities”
via UPDATE 2-Time Warner Cable to cut 1250 jobs, sees 2009 profit | Reuters .
* Time Warner Cable Inc. reported a massive fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday after taking a $14.8 billion noncash charge and plans to lay off 1,250 workers over the next few weeks in the face of slowing growth at the nation’s second largest cable operator.
The New York-based company added fewer new customers in the quarter in digital cable TV, Internet and phone services than it has a year ago and lost more than triple the basic cable TV subscribers as consumers pinched pennies and competition heated up.
via The Associated Press: Time Warner Cable reports 4Q loss, cuts 1,250 jobs.
* MOSINEE, Wis. (AP) — Wausau Paper has cut 60 salaried jobs at nine facilities because of a slowdown in orders over the last five months.
via “Wausau Paper cuts 60 salaried jobs” by Latest News — GazetteXtra.
* ELMIRA – Hardinge, Inc. (NASDAQ: HDNG) announced several cost-cutting moves Tuesday including cutting 36 jobs.
The company, based in Elmira, employs more than 1,500.
via CNYBJ:Single News Article.
* After six months of record sales, a Janesville manufacturer hit a wall in January and has laid off about 15 percent of its workers.
United Alloy CEO Terri Roessler said employees learned of the layoffs and other cost-cutting measures Monday.
via “United Alloy lays off workers” by Latest News — GazetteXtra.
* In a terse, two-sentence statement e-mailed to reporters, Paul Mueller Co. said it was laying off 46 workers — and more layoffs are expected soon.
via Paul Mueller Idles 46 Workers | KSPR News | Local News .
* Botox maker Allergan Inc. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit dropped 6 percent, and the company plans to lay off about 460 employees, or 5 percent of its work force.
via Allergan announces 4Q profit drop, cuts 460 jobs – BusinessWeek.
* St. Joseph Health System, which runs both Santa Rosa Memorial and Petaluma Valley hospitals, will begin a new round of layoffs today.
Most of the employees to be laid off will be notified between today and Friday, hospital sources said.
via Layoffs will hit Memorial today | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA.
* FORT KENT — Fifty-nine employees at Northern Maine Medical Center are affected by cost-saving measures announced Wednesday morning.
via Layoffs announced at Northern Maine Medical Center – Bangor Daily News.
* The company even hosted a late-summer open house at the distribution plant for the Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce to see the inside of its operations.
But this week, some employees say they haven’t been paid on schedule, and a recorded message at the facility says everyone in the local company is “furloughed until further notice.”
via DPL locks doors, furloughs staff in Clarksville | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean.
* German chemical maker BASF Corp. is closing its Decatur facility, a move that will result in 115 layoffs.
via BASF closing Alabama plant with 115 jobs – Business News from The Birmingham News – al.com.
* Occidental Petroleum Corp. will close its Louisville OxyVinyl polyvinyl chloride production plant by mid-month, putting at least 60 employees out of work, according to a filing with the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training.
via OxyChem closing Louisville PVC plant – Los Angeles Business from bizjournals: .
* Hudson’s Bay Company said Wednesday it would cut 1,000 jobs in Canada as part of a restructuring aimed at aligning all its businesses in North America.
via Hudson’s Bay Company to cut 1,000 jobs .
* NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bloomberg LP will cut 100 television and radio jobs in the first layoffs since it was founded in 1981 by now-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
* With a cloudy future still on the horizon, financially struggling Fort Erie Race Track laid off another 50 workers this week.
via Another 50 jobs cut at Fort Erie track – Business First of Buffalo: .
* Mohawk Fine Papers, which employs 400 people in Cohoes and Waterford, eliminated seven staff positions this morning.
* With the global financial crisis spreading fast in India, job losses are mounting.
In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Commerce Secretary GK Pillai has said that 15 lakh jobs could be lost in the export sector by March end. Ten lakh or 1 million jobs have already been lost. There is more grim news piling up.
January exports may show a sharp 20 per cent decline even as half of India’s gems and jewellery units may shut shop.
via India to lose 15 lakh (million) jobs by March .
* Latest figures show that there was a 143pc increase in job losses this January compared to this time last year.
The figures reported to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment show that there were 6,708 job losses last month, compared to 2,764 in January 2008.
Nationally, there are now 320 jobs redundancies every day. The services industry was worst hit with 32pc of all redundancies in the Dublin area, a total of 2,088 jobs lost.
via We’re losing 320 jobs a day and it’s getting worse – National News, Frontpage – Herald.ie.
* Media group ninemsn has slashed 10% of its workforce, including its mobile sales team, and has disbanded in-house web development group 9 Pixel.
The cuts, which affect about 20 to 30 employees, come after another 20 jobs were cut about 12 months ago.
via Ninemsn cuts jobs, restructures business – .
* PCCW Ltd (0008.HK), Hong Kong’s dominant telecoms carrier, plans to sack 600 staff to cut costs, union staff said on Wednesday ahead of shareholder meetings to vote on a $2.2 billion buyout offer.
via HK’s PCCW plans to cut 600 jobs -union | Reuters .
* KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s largest investment company says it has cut about 10 percent of its Kuwait-based staff and reduced salaries by up to 20 percent because of the global financial crisis.
via Kuwait’s largest investment company cuts jobs – International Herald Tribune.
Mike Luckovich - Feb 3
* CRANSTON — The Department of Labor and Training will soon hire 40 people to help process claims for unemployment benefits, answer phones and handle other tasks at the state’s unemployment insurance call center, agency officials disclosed yesterday.
via Now hiring: The state’s unemployment office | Business | projo.com | The Providence Journal .
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Mike: The job cuts announcements came throughout the day and some were huge. Eventually the news will improve if we all hang tough and demand accountability from government and business. If those entities survive on the backs of the taxpayer, they should be doing a better job of supporting the taxpayer when difficult times arise. And a good night to all………….
Tags: cut jobs, economic, employment, factory closing, firing, job loss, jobs cut, laid off, layoffs, plant closing, positions eliminated, unemployment, workforce reduction
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