– Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors & News –
* International Business Machines (IBM) may buy Sun Microsystems (JAVA) to bolster its position in the server market. If so, it would end the smaller company’s years of poor management, layoffs, and pain for shareholders.
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7:00 AM ET* NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. mortgage applications surged in the latest week, driven by a spike in demand for refinancing as the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate home loans fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
via U.S. mortgage applications spike on refinance demand | Reuters .
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8:30 AM ET
Mike Luckovich - Mar 17
* CLIFTON PARK The Shenendehowa school district is looking to shed 46 jobs as the nation’s economic problems are even reaching into the normally prosperous suburb.
via Shenendehowa looks to cut 46 jobs –– Page 1 — Times Union – Albany NY.
* The Delaware River and Bay Authority will freeze wages, eliminate 14 jobs and cut its donations to local nonprofits this year to cope with the economic downturn, officials decided Tuesday.
via DRBA to freeze wages, cut jobs | delawareonline | The News Journal.
* EAGLE POINT — Twenty-eight Eagle Point School District employees received pink slips Monday in preparation for what is expected to be a difficult financial year in 2009-10, employees said Tuesday.
via MailTribune.com: Eagle Point schools to cut 28 workers.
* The new school budget, which totals $96,049,345, includes a 2-cent school tax increase and eliminates 11 district positions, all of which are currently filled.
via Millville BOE axing 11 jobs – NJ.com.
* ELLENSBURG — Six Kittitas county employees will be out of a job by the end of this month.
via KAPPTV.com.
* Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said the city will cut 12 jobs. He said most of those will be made by eliminating open positions.
via NEWS 25 – WEHT: Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro.
* Last week, the city’s utilities department laid off 15 employees, and six new employees still in their probationary period were let go. Eleven other workers were reassigned within the department. Officials said the cutback is due to lack of work for utility hookups in new homes, not the anticipated $10 million shortfall in next year’s city budget.
Mike: I’ve noticed over the last couple of months that a number of these temporary layoffs (2 stories below) have turned into permanent layoffs.
* Signature Aluminum has notified government officials that it is closing its plant in Mercer County by the end of the month, eliminating about 300 jobs.
The company said about 275 workers were already in temporary layoff from the Greenville plant because of a drop-off in orders and the deteriorating economy
via Mercer County aluminum plant closing.
* MARATHON, Ont. – Marathon Pulp Inc. told its workforce of about 240 Tuesday that its pulp mill is going bankrupt and won’t be seeking an extended 30-day protection period from creditors.
via Marathon Pulp Inc. closing for good – The Sault Star – Ontario, CA .
* Siemens Energy Inc. is laying off 75 workers in Churchill and throttling back its fuel cell business that was launched by Westinghouse Electric Corp. more than a generation ago.
via Siemens Energy to lay off 75 in Churchill – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review .
* Ramtron International Corp. laid off 21 people last week as part of a restructuring to free up cash for manufacturing equipment that will be used in an IBM Corp. plant in Vermont to produce new lines of semiconductors.
* DALLAS — What began as a curtailment several weeks ago ended as a closure Tuesday.
Weyerhaeuser announced Tuesday morning that it is closing its Dallas mill, effective immediately. Workers were notified as they arrived to work at 6 a.m.
via Dallas mill closure puts 78 out of work | StatesmanJournal.com | Statesman Journal.
* ICF International Inc., the company that managed Louisiana’s $7.8 billion Road Home program, will cut 516 jobs beginning next week.
* General Motors (GM) will close its assembly plant in Orion Township, Michigan, for three weeks beginning later this month. The Detroit News reports on its website that the plant, which employs 3,200 workers, will close on March 30 and stay shut until April 20.
* Johns Manville, which manufactures glass fibers for gypsum wallboards, is laying off 68 people at its Etowah plant between April 1-30; Eclipse Manufacturing, which makes custom-formed parts for the automotive, recreational vehicle and other industries, is closing its Pikeville facility and laying off 50 people between April 24-May 1, and Clinicient Inc., which offers management software and billing services for physical therapy clinics, is closing its Mountain City facility and laying off 19 people effective April 30.
via Three East Tennessee companies cut 137 jobs : Business : Knoxville News Sentinel.
* NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Hampton Roads latest job cuts are coming from a surprising source. Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News just eliminated 23 jobs.
* WAUPACA — ThyssenKrupp Waupaca, a foundry that employs close to 1,400 people in Waupaca, today announced plans to lay off 160 workers effective April 3.
* ROCHESTER (KTTC-DT) — Crenlo will lay off an estimated 55 more employees at its Rochester manufacturing plants this Friday. The latest cut in the work force at Crenlo follows two other recent layoffs in the past six weeks.
via KTTC Rochester, Austin, Mason City News, Weather and Sports -Ax falling again at Crenlo in Rochester.
* Churchill Corp. (TSX: CUQ) is cutting about 30 staff at its Triton industrial construction division and closing its Bonnyville maintenance operation.
via Triton slashes 30 area jobs .
* Three positions will be eliminated amidst a reorganization effort in the Central Michigan University Public Relations and Marketing department.
via Three jobs cut from university public relations – News.
* Solar energy company Energy Conversion Devices in Rochester Hills plans to lay off 70 workers, slow down production at its Auburn Hills plants and delay hiring new employees at its new Battle Creek solar cell manufacturing facility.
via Solar cell firm to cut 70 jobs | detnews.com | The Detroit News.
* Belden Inc. said it will close its Midlothian, Va., manufacturing plant by July, resulting in the elimination of 45 positions.
via Belden to close Virginia plant, eliminate 45 jobs – Forbes.com.
* Thermo Fisher Scientific of Fitchburg has cut 22 jobs, reducing its work force of 450.
* The California Redwood Co. and Green Diamond Resource Co. would make significant cuts to their workforce due to continued poor demand for lumber and wood products, as Times Standard informed Lesprom Network.
via Green Diamond and California Redwood cut 85 workers – Lesprom Network.
* DuPont has cut its Town of Tonawanda work force by 29 jobs, less than the number estimated by the company when it disclosed its plans for reductions last December.
via DuPont cuts 29 jobs in Tonawanda : Business : The Buffalo News.
* Hawaii Superferry officials said they will start laying off employees Friday after the company suspended operations last night.
via Superferry to start laying off employees Friday – Bulletin – Starbulletin.com .
* ELGIN, Ore. (AP) – Boise Cascade says it’s curtailing production at its Elgin stud mill, and about 30 workers will be laid off.
* About 45 Roseburg employees will be laid off indefinitely. The company also plans to lay off 43 employees at its Glendale plywood mill and 24 at its other divisions.
via Swanson Group announces 112 layoffs | The News-Review – NRtoday.com.
* Another 17 pink slips were handed out this week at Garlock Sealing Technologies, part of what company officials said is their strategy to get through the economic downturn.
via Layoffs continue at Garlock – Canandaigua, NY – MPNnow.
* WestPoint Home Inc., a textile manufacturer in Biddeford, laid off at least a dozen people last week, according to Richard Fifield, director of the Springvale CareerCenter.
via Mainebiz.
* WICHITA – ICM sliced its work force by about 25 percent Tuesday when the Colwich-based company announced it was laying off 98 employees effective immediately.
via ICM lays off 98 workers | Wichita Business – Kansas Business | Wichita Eagle.
* LENOX — Shakespeare & Company is laying off seven employees, reducing two others to part-time, and instituting a 10 percent pay cut for the remaining 41 year-round staff as part of a restructuring plan to save $900,000.
via Shakespeare & Co. trims staff, salaries – Berkshire Eagle Online.
* SACO — Another 180 people are out of work with the closing of Wood Structures Inc.’s manufacturing plant here and its offices in Biddeford on Monday.
via SACO Wood Structures closes up shop.
* COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer in Georgia says it is eliminating 20 positions.
via The Associated Press: Columbus, Ga., newspaper to eliminate 20 positions.
* SOUTH KINGSTOWN – APC by Schneider Electric plans to eliminate about 75 jobs at its manufacturing facilities in Rhode Island and transfer another 25
via APC to idle 75 workers, transfer 25 – PBN.com – Providence Business News.
* ChaCha, the expert mobile search service we profiled back in 2007 at South by Southwest, has just laid off one-third of its staff (about 25 people) and cut the remaining employees’ salaries,
via ChaCha Lays Off One-Third of Staff – AppScout.
* Robert Bosch LLC is planning to shut down some operations at its North Charleston plant for a week during each of the next three months.
via Charleston Regional Business Journal | Charleston, SC.
* Caterpillar Inc.’s plant near Jefferson will close by the end of June, leaving its 89 employees without jobs, according to plans the heavy equipment manufacturer announced Tuesday.
via Jefferson plant will shut down |adam.thompson@onlineathens.com.
* HARTSVILLE, S.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sonoco (NYSE: SON), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, announced today that it will permanently close its Lancaster, Ohio, uncoated recycled paperboard mill, effective May 16, 2009, according to James Harrell, division vice president and general manager, Paper North America.
via Sonoco Closing Lancaster, Ohio Paperboard Mill.
Mike: I hate to see anyone lose a job, but I had the worst flower delivery adventure from FTD that I ever had with any flower delivery company. Lousy customer service and even lousier flowers:
* Flower-delivery company FTD Group’s West Coast owner, citing the slowing economy’s hit to consumer spending, disclosed in a regulatory filing that it is cutting 50 FTD jobs, most of them in the subsidiary’s Downers Grove headquarters.
via 50 jobs cut at FTD — chicagotribune.com.
* WAUPACA — ThyssenKrupp Waupaca, a foundry that employs close to 1,400 here, today announced plans to lay off 160 workers effective April 3.
via ThyssenKrupp Waupaca to cut 160 jobs | Postcrescent.com | Appleton Post-Crescent.
*More workers from Buchanan Forest Products have received layoff notices, the company’s owners announced.
Included in the layoffs are management, engineering and maintenance staff. More than 40 people have lost their jobs as a result of these layoffs.
via 91.5 CKPR .
* The company has announced it will lay off 70 employees by merging work at two Auburn Hills solar-laminate production facilities into one. It will also begin a two-week production hiatus on Sunday.
* The recent layoffs at St. Mary’s Innovis in Detroit Lakes eliminated 19 jobs, with most of the cuts involving part-time positions.
* Lynchburg, VA – More layoffs in our area, this time at American Hofmann in Lynchburg. The company’s president tells us 20 people were let go on Friday,
via Layoffs at American Hofmann|ABC 13.
* The recession has claimed another victim as Marathon Equipment Co. announced yesterday that it is permanently shutting down its Clearfield operations.
Seventy-one full-time employees work at the factory that manufactures compactors and containers for the recycling industry.
via The Progress News: Marathon Equipment closing; 71 jobs will be lost.
* MANILA, Philippines – TDK Fujitsu Philippines Corp. (TFPC), which makes magnetic recording heads for computer hard disk drives, said it laid off 2,000 workers in its Biñan, Laguna facility.
* UK unemployment has risen above two million for the first time since 1997, official figures have shown.
During the three months to January, the number of people unemployed totalled 2.03 million, up by 165,000, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
via BBC NEWS | Business | Unemployment passes two million.
* “We have reduced pagination from 42 in July last year to 32 now. So we need to reduce manpower proportionately,” Rao said. DNA employs 850 people across five editions—Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
via DNA To Cut 30-35 Jobs; Revenues Grew 24% Y-O-Y, Says CEO Rao | contentSutra.com .
* Christchurch-based water jet manufacturer CWF Hamilton said yesterday it had chosen 28 of its 218 workers for redundancy based on the skills needed by the business. All those made redundant had been permanent employees.
via Redundancies ‘based on skill’ – Business – NZ Herald News.
* Eight people have been made redundant from a long-established Dereham law firm.
Hood Vores and Allwood Solicitors, which has offices in Dereham and Aylsham, this week announced the redundancies which were finalised at the end of last week.
via Dereham Times – Law firm makes eight redundant .
* March 18 (Bloomberg) — Sony Corp., the world’s second largest consumer-electronics maker, plans to cut jobs in the U.K. as part of its reduction of 8,000 full-time positions globally at its electronics operations.
via Sony Plans U.K. Job Cuts as Part of Global Reduction of 8,000 – Bloomberg.com .
* Telstra is to cut 150 jobs from its Sensis unit, the Community and Public Sector Union said today in an e-mailed statement.
via Telstra to cut 150 jobs at Sensis, says union : thewest.com.au.
* The Sunrice company owned by Riverina and Murray ricegrowers says it is having to do further downscaling and 36 jobs are being cut.
via Sunrice cuts 36 jobs – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
* In total, 130 staff at Panasonic Semiconductor Asia will be laid off, according to executive secretary of the United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries Halimah Yacob. While the bulk are rank-and-file workers, 30 are from the ranks of professionals, managers, executives and technicians. About 50 are foreigners.
via TODAYonline.
* Owings Mills, MD (PRWEB) March 18, 2009 — While many jobless Americans are drowning in debt with limited prospects for employment, American Pool Enterprises, Inc. is throwing out a life ring by hiring 3,300 employees during this current economic crisis. Offering flexible hours and full and part-time positions, the company hopes to help those in need of work by providing a rewarding job opportunity. Employment as a lifeguard is available to anyone at least 15-years-old who becomes certified by a nationally recognized program. American Pool Enterprises, Inc. offers free training and certification to all its employees.
via American Pool Enterprises, Inc Makes a Splash by Hiring 3,300 Employees During Recession.
Mike: This was a very quiet Wednesday and I hope it continues. While there were a number of smaller layoff announcements, the larger announcements were missing. For those of you who lost jobs today, I wish you good fortune in finding another. Maybe business are rethinking their layoff planes, but it’s only been one day. I guess I have a bit of optimist in me today! Till tomorrow……………..
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Tom Toles - Mar 18
