Just last week, the new United States director of national intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, told Congress that instability caused by the global economic crisis had become the biggest security threat facing the United States, outpacing terrorism.
“Nearly everybody has been caught by surprise at the speed in which unemployment is increasing, and are groping for a response,” said Nicolas Véron, a fellow at Bruegel, a research center in Brussels that focuses on Europe’s role in the global economy.
via Rise in Jobless Poses Threat to Stability Worldwide – NYTimes.com.
The stimulus plan will mean thousands of dollars in tax breaks for first-time home buyers and people buying new cars. Lower- and middle-income taxpayers will get an extra $13 a week in their paychecks this year, and about $8 a week next year. Unemployment checks will go up $25 a week, and keep coming longer. Food stamp benefits for 30 million Americans will rise. Short-term health insurance will become more affordable for many losing their jobs.
via The Associated Press: The recovery plan: A national jolt to economy.
Mike: The following video of Obama explaining the stimulus package is enlighteed by the fact that you can track the billions in spending by going to http://www.recovery.gov/ . It’s not up and running until the bill is signed by Obama. Having funding accoutability has been a long time coming.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwEnA8HXNl4&eurl=http://news.google.com/news?rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS291US303&sourceid=chrome&q=jobs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=]
Mike: It’s disappointing that job creation was sacrificed to appease a group that was roundly defeated in the general election. If the promised jobs aren’t created, there will be some explaining to do by the tax cut only Republican gang. The current state of the economy can be attributed partly to the past eight years of tax cut only legislation. While both parties can be blamed for the current state of affairs, the Republicans need to step up and admit that tax cuts only are not the answer for a disastrous economy created during their rule.
* But congressional negotiators have since trimmed billions of dollars from the package to satisfy Senate Republicans, diminishing its potential for job creation along with its overall cost. With the House poised to vote as early as today on the measure, analysts are slashing their estimates of its ability to counteract a deepening recession, with several prominent economists now saying the package will save or create fewer than 2.5 million jobs by the end of next year.
* Governing elites in Washington and Wall Street have devised a fiendishly clever “grand bargain” they want President Obama to embrace in the name of “fiscal responsibility.” The government, they argue, having spent billions on bailing out the banks, can recover its costs by looting the Social Security system. They are also targeting Medicare and Medicaid. The pitch sounds preposterous to millions of ordinary working people anxious about their economic security and worried about their retirement years. But an impressive armada is lined up to push the idea–Washington’s leading think tanks, the prestige media, tax-exempt foundations, skillful propagandists posing as economic experts and a self-righteous billionaire spending his fortune to save the nation from the elderly………………..
– Their report–Taking Back Our Fiscal Future, issued jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation–recommends that Congress put long-term budget caps on Social Security and other entitlement spending, which would automatically trigger benefits cuts if needed to stay within the prescribed limits. The same antidemocratic mechanisms–a commission of technocrats and limited Congressional discretion–would shield politicians from popular blowback.
–
* The Next Phase: Looting Social Security, 401Ks, IRAs and Whatever Is Left? *
– After what we have seen in the last eight years in particular, why do we assume that there is any boundary to the venality of powerful men? That there is ever enough?
Crony capitalism gives way to coolie capitalism. The belief in the priority of the privileged few to possess the greatest share of the nation’s wealth endures.
Where is the justice? Where is the reform?
“Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” Janwillem van de Wetering
“Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.” Thomas Jefferson*
“The more we do to you, the less you seem to believe we are doing it.” Dr. Josef Mengele
via Jesse’s Café Américain: The Next Phase: Looting Social Security, 401Ks, IRAs and Whatever Is Left?.
- 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 –
* UPDATED: Move Networks Lays Off 30% Of Company, John Edwards Still CEO
UPDATED: I’ve now heard back from Move Networks and can confirm that CEO John Edwards is still the CEO of the company. In addition, John has now been named executive chairman of the board of directors. Move says 30% of the company has been laid off and they “are making the necessary adjustments and planning appropriately to get to profitability more quickly.”
* Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said congressional passage of a $787 billion economic stimulus plan last night must be followed by action to stabilize the financial and housing markets to pull the nation out of a recession.
“This historic step won’t be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning,” Obama said in his weekly address. “The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal to the task.”
* FLINT, Michigan — Union leaders say General Motors has spelled out the future for the Flint Truck Assembly Plant in the clearest possible terms: Approve a new local contract aimed at cutting overtime and other costs within 30 days — or risk closing.
UAW Local 598 Shop Chairman Mark Hawkins announced the grim news to employees Thursday, and the ultimatum didn’t sit well with some.
“I’ve taken about a 50 percent wage cut,” said Chad Fabbro, 34, of Vassar. “I can’t personally give any more.”
* The number of extended mass layoffs in Tennessee more than doubled in the 2008 fourth quarter compared to a year ago, although there was a decrease in the total number of affected workers.
For the quarter there were 67 mass layoffs that resulted in the separation of 6,275 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
via Tennessee mass layoffs double in 4Q – Nashville Business Journal: .MLive.com.
* There’s more bad news on the layoff front.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that employers laid off a record 508,859 workers in the fourth quarter of 2008 in what the bureau calls extended mass layoff events — layoffs involving 50 or more workers for at least 31 days.
That is by far the highest number involved in mass layoffs since the bureau began collecting that data in 1995. The fourth-quarter number represents a 69 percent increase over the 301,592 workers involved in extended mass layoffs in the fourth quarter of 2007.
via Record High Mass Layoffs – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com.
* The current brouhaha over Caterpillar is probably a pretty good cautionary tale for stimulus cheerleaders. The fact is that effects of the stimulus package won’t be as immediate an improvement for businesses and workers as most would wish. Earlier this week, the President said the stimulus would allow Caterpillar to bring back some of its recently laid off workers.
But Caterpillar CEO JIm Owens says that’s not exactly the case. In fact, Owen says, Caterpillar will probably need to layoff additional workers before any rehiring takes place.
via Caterpillar CEO Says More Layoffs Likely to Come – The Inside Job (usnews.com).
Mike: I wonder how many other companies are paying people to do nothing? Great gig if you can get it!
* CASH-STRAPPED BT is paying more than 1,000 workers to do nothing.
The staff are part of the telecoms giant’s Career Transition Centre. It was set up to retrain employees to find them work elsewhere in the business instead of BT having to resort to redundancies.
However, the recession has meant there are fewer posts to fill at BT, which last week said it had reduced staff numbers by 9,500 in the nine months to December.
That has given rise to a crowd of employees waiting to be assigned something to do. Many are former field engineers who have been retrained for customer-service roles.
via BT pays staff to do nothing – Times Online .
* WARREN, Mich, Feb 15 (Reuters) – The lights are off at the union hall and the heat is on low to conserve cash, but the local president says her biggest fear is the fate of workers over the road at the General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plant.
“We’re just like every GM plant. We’re worried they’re going to close our doors,” said Ghana Goodwin-Dye, president of UAW Local 909, sitting near a small electric heater in her office, which is the only lit room in the building.
Most days, she works here alone. Some 300 UAW-represented workers at the nearby GM engine and transmission plant have been laid off; 550 workers remain.
via Worries abound for workers as auto deadline nears | Markets | US Markets | Reuters .
* COLUMBUS, Ohio—City budget cuts continued Friday with another round of layoffs.
Seven of nine tow truck drivers with Columbus police have been laid off. Could their pink slips impact public safety?
via City Tow Truck Drivers Laid Off | NBC4i.com.
Mike: A Dave Matthews intermission………….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LY9p8Spe7Y]
* The Firestone air spring factory in Noblesville will close near the end of June, several months earlier than expected.
via Firestone closing Noblesville plant in June | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star .
* Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac said Friday that 85 permanent job cuts have been made, and parts of the outboard motor manufacturer’s plant will be on a two-week temporary shutdown starting Monday………
Ashley Furniture in Arcadia, in western Wisconsin’s Trempealeau County, said job cuts will affect 90 people, or about 3 percent of the furniture manufacturer’s Wisconsin work force.
via Mercury Marine, Ashley cut jobs | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette.
* Fortunoff has dramatically scaled down its corporate operations, laying off about 300 of its corporate staff in the past two days and triggering a class-action lawsuit by some of the fired workers.
via Fortunoff lays off 300, faces lawsuit — Newsday.com.
* Dow Canada is laying off about 60 workers at its Fort Saskatchewan and Prentiss Operations as part of a global belt tightening by the chemical giant.
via Dow cuts 60 jobs at Alberta plants.
* Toyota Canada is cutting workers, compensation for executives and freezing wages for others as it looks to cope with plummeting car sales, the automaker announced today.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada’s plants in Woodstock and Cambridge will layoff some temporary workers, and cancel overtime and bonuses.
via London Free Press – City & Region – More job cuts at Toyota .
* – A day after layoffs were announced at Big Tex Mfg., Occidental Petroleum officials acknowledged it was laying off workers.
Though she didn’t say how many, Oxy spokeswoman Stacey Crews said the number of employees being let go was “very low.”
via OXY More layoffs: Oxy Permian latest to hand out pink slips.
* VG247 is reporting that 19 employees are being laid off from Future’s San Francisco and New York offices. A Future UK spokesperson referred to the laid off employees as “redundancies,” saying, “These changes were made in line with Future’s stated strategy of focusing on structure and costs in a severe global economic downturn.” The report does not specify which departments the layoffs affected.
via Future’s UK numbers down in 2008, 19 laid off from US offices [update] – Joystiq.
* Roughly two dozen people are out of work after a Johnson City plant laid off some employees earlier this week.
Alemite plant manager Tom Miller confirmed that the plant laid off a little more than 20 people Tuesday and Wednesday. Miller told News Channel 11 that the layoffs are subject to recall.
via Alemite Lays Off Two Dozen Workers | TriCities.
* Forty-seven workers will be laid off from local brake manufacturer Continental Teves, the company said Friday.
Parent company Continental Automotive Systems will eliminate 40 hourly jobs and seven salaried positions at its Culpeper plant, according to spokeswoman Michele Tinson.
via Teves to lay off 47 workers | Culpeper Star-Exponent.
* JANESVILLE — SSI Technologies has temporarily laid off about 40 employees over the last several weeks, said Senior Vice President Bruce Corner.
The cuts came to the Sintered Specialties Division, which primarily supplies automotive parts, Corner said.
via SSI lays off 40 in auto parts division — WCLO.
* ELDRIDGE, Iowa — Uniparts Olsen has laid off 37 people at its plant here, Kevin Code, president and chief executive officer, said today.
via Eldridge company lays off 15 percent of work force / QCTimes.com.
* Husco International has cut its local production staff nearly in half since last fall, including the loss of about 70 jobs this month, a union official said Friday.
The Waukesha-based company manufactures hydraulic controls for forklifts, tractors and other machinery.
via Husco has cut local factory jobs nearly 50% – JSOnline.
* STURBRIDGE, Mass. — The tough economy has led to job and salary cuts at Old Sturbridge Village.
Five middle management positions have been eliminated at the living museum, and senior managers are taking voluntary salary reductions ranging from 10 to 20 percent. Chief executive officer James Donahue, for instance, accepted a 20 percent cut.
via Mass. Living Museum Forced To Cut Jobs – Boston News Story – WCVB Boston.
* FARGO, N.D. (AP) The WDAY AM radio station in Fargo has laid off three workers.
General manager Kevin Weaver says the layoffs included two talk show hosts and a news reporter.
via WDAY radio lays off 3 workers | KXNet.com North Dakota News.
* DALTON — Safariland LLC, the parent company of Protech Armored Products, has issued layoff notices to 20 of the company’s 82 employees at its Dalton plant on South Street.
* Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the biggest U.K. government-controlled bank, plans to cut as many as 20,000 jobs and pull out of several emerging markets as it announces losses of 30 billion pounds ($43.1 billion) next week, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information.
The proposals also include plans to sell dozens of businesses considered to be non-essential, as well as parts of ABN Amro Holding NV, which it acquired in 2007, the newspaper said. The reductions aim to slash hundreds of millions of pounds from the Edinburgh-based bank’s costs, the Times said.
via Bloomberg.com: U.K. & Ireland.
* British broadcaster ITV (ITV.L) is considering selling the social networking website Friends Reunited, the Sunday Telegraph said, citing sources close to the company.
Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, which has said it is expecting a challenging 2009 as the recession hits advertising budgets, will also cut at least 500 jobs as it seeks to trim costs, the newspaper said.
Mike: At least in the US larger companies need to give employees some notice prior to being laid off:
* New Delhi: Software major Sapient has laid off 500 employees at offices in Bangalore, Noida and Gurgaon.
No notice was given to the laid off employees.
via Software giant Sapient lays off 500 employees in India .
* A HIGH-tech company based in Malvern has said that it is asking for voluntary redundancies from its staff.
Malvern Instruments employs 214 people here and another 400 across the world.
via Malvern Instruments announces redundancies (From Malvern Gazette).
* THE future looks bleak for a number of Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) employees.
The company yesterday officially announced the retrenchment of 150 workers at its East London plant.
via Daily Dispatch Online .
* Liquidators of Wellington’s longest-established motor vehicle dealership have closed two sites and laid off 20 employees to make the company more attractive to sell.
* AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch life insurer Aegon, owner of U.S. firm Transamerica, may cut more costs and jobs to cope with fresh writedowns and a deteriorating economic environment, following similar steps by rivals.
via Aegon must cut costs, jobs to boost profitability | Reuters .
* About 850 job cuts and the end of week end working at the Mini car plant near Oxford are expected to be announced tomorrow in the latest blow to Britain’s manufacturing.
The marque, owned by BMW of Germany, saw global sales accelerate slightly last year only to drop 35% in January. The Mini workers hit by the decision are contract staff with few employment rights – brought in to work alongside full-time employees on the production lines, which built 230,000 vehicles last year. Howe
via Mini to announce loss of 850 jobs | Business | guardian.co.uk .
* Those looking for a job might want to consider applying to the U.S. Census Bureau.
There will be hundreds of temporary, full and part-time jobs opening up for people interested in working in the Rockford and Machesney Park areas. There may be some additional openings in the Milwaukee area. For job openings in Wisconsin, contact the state’s nearest U.S. Census Bureau office at 1110 N. Old World Third St., Milwaukee, or call 414-203-3860.
* NEW YORK – The bar was crowded with well-dressed professionals enjoying drinks and conversation, a typical evening – except that many of them had no job.
The event was a Wall Street Pink Slip Party, where the unemployed mix with recruiters and curious bystanders to network, look for work and share their stories.
With employers shedding 600,000 more jobs in January, the undercurrent at this party in a Manhattan bar was decidedly glum.
“Wall Street, directly or indirectly, has ruined the best 10 years of my life,” said Susan Lange, speaking of colleagues and friends she lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and the sense now, after being laid off from her job as an AIG training manager, that her world has again turned on its head.
via Laid-off legions turn to parties, Web | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com.
Mike: More as the weekend allows. But my partner will likely kill me if I spend too much time on this blog and not enough time on her, especially today! 🙂……
Mike: I spent enough time with the partnet to keep het happy and enough time with this blog to keep it up to date. I hope you all had a good weekend and visit tomorrow for more layoff announcements and economic news………….
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Tags: cut jobs, economic, employment, factory closing, job loss, jobs cut, laid off, layoffs, plant closing, positions eliminated, unemployment, workforce reduction
Obama’s stealing the census from Congress has suddenly awakened and enraged the Republicans. Maybe this will arouse them as well to challenge Obama for stealing the Presidency itself. They surely know he is not an Article 2 “natural born citizen” (which is more than merely being a 14th Amendment “citizen”) by virtue of either Obama’s birth to a dad of Kenyan/British citizenship or birth in Kenya itself — as manifested by his unwillingness to supply his long form birth certificate now under seal.
Maybe Obama’s birth certificate is hiding with George Bush’s military records that show Bush not fully serving his service term and missing two years of service records. It doesn’t take much to enrage Republicans these days. Too bad Republicans weren’t enraged when they doubled the national debt from $5 trillion to $10 trillion during the Bush years. Too bad Republicans don’t get enraged about 18% unemployment. Too bad the republicans weren’t outraged by the Walter Reed scandal and their reduction of VA funding. Too bad Republicans don’t get enraged about health care costs doubling in the Bush years. Too bad they weren’t enraged about not finding WMDs, or Bin Laden. Too bad Republicans weren’t enraged when the SEC dismissed the person who busted the Madoff scandal. The list goes on and on. Both parties are deceitful, lobby kissing, liars that suck up to the big dollar contributors while letting the middle class taxpayer dangle in the chilled financial breeze. Being partisan only blinds you to that fact.
Thanks for visiting and come back often.