Mike: I hope you all had a good weekend. A relatively quiet Monday, but plenty of job losses are possible later in the week at SUN and the auto makers . The Onto the news of the day………..
Mike: Now the government is the new backer of car warranties. Amazing stuff these days. I wonder why the auto workers are told to sacrifice more, but bankers that have sucked trillions of taxpayer dollars are given lucrative bonuses. The government demands that GM CEO Wagoner resign, which is good news, but they don’t demand the same reshuffling of the crooked and corrupt bankers who have nearly destroyed US and world financial stability. My take on this is that the bankers have the government by the financial throat and are more in charge of the economy than the government is at this point, while the government can still demand concessions from the downtrodden auto workforce who aren’t able to threaten financial Armageddon. If the government was truly in charge of the current financial situation, they would demand the same financial sacrifices from the unscrupulous, dishonest and unethical banking cabal.
* WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama refused further long-term federal bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler, saying more concessions were needed from unions, creditors and others. He raised the possibility Monday of controlled bankruptcy for one or both of the beleaguered auto giants.
At the same time, eager to reassure consumers, Obama announced the federal government would immediately begin backing the warrantees that new car buyers receive — a step designed to signal that it is safe to purchase U.S.-made autos and trucks despite the distress of the industry.
via White House questions viability of GM, Chrysler – Yahoo! Finance.
To see the Obama auto makers video, click the link below:
“C-SPAN Video Player – New Plans on Fe…“, posted with vodpod
Rick Wagoner will leave his post as CEO of bailed-out General Motors with a $20 million retirement package, the company’s financial filings show.
Although the Treasury Department has barred GM from paying severance to Wagoner or any other senior executive, Wagoner is eligible to collect millions in retirement benefits from his former employer, according to the documents reviewed by ABC News.
via PAYDAY: GM’s Rick Wagoner Drives Away with $20M Retirement – ABC News.
– Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors & News –
* CHRIS PALADINO, a Microsoft employee who was hired in 2006, didn’t worry too much about his job when the economy began to sour last fall. The company employs nearly 90,000 people.
“I thought Microsoft was so stable, it wouldn’t be touched,” he said. Now, as one of the 1,400 employees who received layoff notices in January, Mr. Paladino is worried — about making the mortgage payments on his home.
via A New Crop of Job Hunters, With Microsoft Résumés – NYTimes.com.
* As IBM Corp. undergoes its second round of layoffs in three months, the company’s 4,200 employees in Rochester may be nervous. Although the company won’t talk about any employment changes, a city economic development official says he believes local layoffs are “minimal.”
via Rochester in a waiting mode on IBM layoffs.
* We want a strong IBM, but it is hard to justify providing the company with huge sums of taxpayer money when it is persisting in a policy of shipping jobs overseas, including to India where salaries and other costs are lower. Currently, about 29 percent of IBM’s workforce is in the United States. That is down from 35 percent in 2006, and there appears to be no end in sight for this trend.
via Big Blue trying to take the money and run – FierceCIO.
* Sun Microsystems will lay off several thousand workers this week in a follow-up to a restructuring plan announced a few months ago, analysts said on Monday.
* DETROIT -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp. (GM) Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson will be the likely successor, at least for now, to departing Chief Executive Rick Wagoner.
Henderson, promoted to chief operating officer a year ago from the company’s top finance post, had been managing the day-to-day operations of GM to free up Wagoner to spend time lobbying and traveling.
via GM COO Henderson Likely Successor To Wagoner, For Now.
* WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Association of Realtors reports that sales of vacation homes and investment properties slid 30 percent last year as tough economic conditions and tight lending requirements shut out buyers.
* They include Osceola at 10.7 percent, Polk at 10.4 percent, Lake at 10.3 percent, Volusia at 10.3 percent and Brevard at 10 percent. Flagler County had Florida’s highest unemployment rate, at 14.2 percent.
via Unemployment soars: Florida jobless rate hits 33-year high — OrlandoSentinel.com.
Tom Toles - Mar 29
* SPRINGFIELD – The city laid off 31 more employees Thursday and Friday, with one result being an immediate reduction in hours at the central library and nine branches.
via 31 more get their notice – MassLive.com.
* ANDERSON — City officials announced Friday that 12 positions would be cut from the city’s payroll, with the Parks and Street departments taking the brunt of the hit.
via The Herald Bulletin – Anderson slashes 12 positions.
* The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department has been hit by the financial crisis. They plan to freeze approximately 200 mainly behind-the-scenes positions during the next fiscal year, according to our media partner, The North County Times. They will, however, keep the same number of deputies on patrol.
via Sheriff’s Department: 200 Jobs Frozen | NBC San Diego .
* Peachtree City officials are proposing to eliminate four staffers from the building department in a continuing effort to cut costs in advance of what was an estimated $3.5 million shortfall in next year’s budget.
– US and some Canada Layoff News –
* NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Market research powerhouse Nielsen Co. has taken a restructuring charge to cover a headcount reduction of 1,600 in 2009, or less than 5% of its work force, company officials disclosed in a conference call with investors and analysts last week.
via Market Research Company Nielsen to Cut 1,600 Jobs – Advertising Age – News.
* SAN FRANCISCO, March 30 (Reuters) – Chip equipment maker KLA-Tencor Corp (KLAC.O) announced on Monday its second round of layoffs in under five months, slashing its global workforce another 10 percent, or 550 jobs, as it tries to cope with a depressed chip market.
* Universal Brixius, a machining shop at 5880 N. 91st St., will shut down on May 26, throwing 69 people out of work.
* A Perry County wood-products factory, hailed for its much-needed jobs when it opened in the mid-1990s, has shut down.
There were 165 employees at the Weyerhaeuser Co. plant near Hazard, said company spokesman Monte Simpson.
via Perry County factory shuts down – Latest News – Kentucky.com.
* NEW YORK: Struggling financial services firm Citigroup would lay off even its office cleaners, with about 65 of them are expected to leave the firm in the next few weeks, media report says.
* The dealership employed about 30 people.
* Approximately 50 employees will be affected by the closure.
via Myers Industries to Close Fostoria, OH Facility – FOXBusiness.com.
* WICCOPEE – Pink slips could be handed out to 54 IBM Corp. East Fishkill employees, according to the New York state Department of Labor.
via IBM may cut 54 local jobs | PoughkeepsieJournal.com | Poughkeepsie Journal.
* LAS VEGAS—Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has laid off 283 people from its Las Vegas resorts.
via Las Vegas Sands lays off 280 Vegas employees – San Jose Mercury News.
* The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) laid off 14 employees from its Louisville headquarters yesterday and disclosed that it has laid off another 14 people since September — the result of the recession and long-planned restructuring.
via Presbyterian Church lays off 14 at headquarters | courier-journal | The Courier-Journal.
* Aleris International’s Lewisport plant is laying off 99 more hourly employees.
Workers were told about the layoffs Thursday, Melissa Olmstead, director of human resources at Aleris’ Beachwood, Ohio, headquarters, wrote in an e-mail Friday morning.
via ARS Aleris cuts nearly 100 more jobs at Lewisport.
* Parker Hannifin Corp. said Friday that it laid off about 20 employees from its Cleveland headquarters this week.
via Parker Hannifin lays off about 20 employees from Cleveland headquarters – Cleveland.com.
* Eighteen people were laid off this week at Federal Coach; the rest likely will be out of work next week.
via WXVT-TV Delta News – More Local News and Weather WXVT.com | Limo plant adds to layoffs in Arkansas.
* ELIZABETHTOWN — Thirty-seven workers at the Elizabethtown Dana Corp. plant, including 12 management positions, have been cut and a week-long shutdown starts Monday as the frame supplier for SUVs and large trucks tries to combat the economic and automotive slump.
via Dana Corp. trims staff by 37; week-long shut down next week – www.thenewsenterprise.com.
* Staff and services at the Maryhill Renewal Center in Pineville are being “significantly” reduced because of the economy, according to a press release issued Friday by the Diocese of Alexandria.
via Diocese to reduce staff at Pineville’s Maryhill | thetowntalk.com | The Town Talk.
* The Washington, D.C., office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and the U.S. offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher have confirmed staff layoffs, while Skadden’s D.C. office is also dealing with the departure of 11 attorneys for new boutique BuckleySandler.
via Law.com – Skadden and Gibson Dunn Cut Staff; 11 More Skadden Attorneys Depart for New Boutique .
* Georgetown steel mill employees who were temporarily laid off will not return back to work for another two weeks, according to local Steelworkers Union President James Sanderson.
via Georgetown steel mill extending temporary layoffs – Breaking News – The Sun News.
* The receiver for the financially troubled Olsen’s Mill in Green Lake County says the company will close 10 Wisconsin grain elevator locations and cut 118 jobs, but will likely remain open after next week’s auction.
via Wisconsin Ag Connection – Olsen’s Mill to Close Grain Locations, Cut Jobs.
* Springs Global US filed notice that it was cutting 41 positions in Davidson County. The Timken Company in Giles County is laying off another 57.
* Stem cell research firm Osiris Therapeutics Inc (OSIR.O) said it would accelerate the transfer of its Osteocel unit to NuVasive Inc (NUVA.O
* Says restructuring plan calls for a 75% reduction in headcount effective April 30
via BRIEF-Adherex to cut jobs – Forbes.com.
* Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson is taking a scythe to its associate ranks. Firm chair Valerie Ford Jacob and managing partner Justin Spendlove sent a firmwide memo Monday announcing that the firm has laid off 41 associates and 58 staff members.
via Fried, Frank Lays Off 41 associates, 58 staffers .
* At least 25 staff positions have been cut from Skadden’s Washington DC office. Office head Michael Rogan said that the reductions were made for economic reasons.
* Stroock Stroock & Lavan has just announced that the firm will be laying off 10 percent of its associates and staff, reports Above the Law, based on information from an unidentified law firm “spokesperson.” The firm, which apparently did not provide exact numbers of those who are being cut, also is “continuing to evaluate the appropriate start date for our incoming class,” the spokesperson states.
* Convergys Corp. will eliminate 275 jobs at its call center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, while opening three new call centers in the Philippines.
via Convergys cuts Canadian jobs, adds in Philippines – Business Courier of Cincinnati: .
* InterDigital Inc., a King of Prussia wireless technology company, said it will eliminate 100 jobs as it ceases further development of products that use its SlimChip mobile broadband modem technology.
via InterDigital to cut 100 jobs | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/30/2009.
* Genaera Corp. is cutting its staff by 80 percent to free up funds for possible new strategies.
The Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based biopharmaceutical company is reducing spending so it can maintain the ability to pursue “business development strategies” for its lead new drug candidate. That product, Trodusquemine, is being developed to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity.
via Genaera cutting 80% of remaining jobs – Philadelphia Business Journal: .
* The Boston Globe today completed its plan to eliminate 50 full-time newsroom positions through a combination of 30 buyouts and 20 layoffs, the newspaper confirmed Monday.
via Boston Globe details 50 jobs cuts – Boston Business Journal: .
* The Winston-Salem Journal laid off 13 people today as part of an effort to reduce costs in a weak and unstable economy.
* CRANSTON – WJAR-TV NBC 10 today announced it will trim another 12 staff members
via Ax bites deep as WJAR cuts staff again – PBN.com – Providence Business News.
* The Gordonsville production plant of Klockner Pentaplast laid off 38 workers Friday, according to Anne Hooff with the company’s public relations firm.
* Swiss newspaper Sonntag said on Sunday that UBS would write down at least another $2 billion on illiquid assets and cut a further 8,000 jobs.
* Swiss financial giant UBS AG (UBS: News ) would cut another 8,000 jobs and write down at least $2 billion in illiquid assets in the next few days, reports said Sunday citing a Swiss newspaper.
* March 28 (Bloomberg) — Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s BankWest unit will fire 400 workers next week due to the economic slump, the West Australian said, without citing its sources.
via Commonwealth Bank Unit to Chop 400 Jobs, West Australian Says – Bloomberg.com .
* Jenson Button’s Formula One team is making more than a third of its staff redundant, cutting 270 jobs.
via Jenson Button’s Brawn GP to cut 270 staff – Telegraph.
* Nortel has made 87 people redundant at its plant in Newtownabbey. 220 jobs are being cut across the UK.
* * Enfield, North London-based recycling firm Greencycle has gone into administration, resulting in 35 driver redundancies. KPMG was appointed as administrator for Greencycle on 24 March; of the 220 employees made redundant, 35 were drivers.
via Redundancies as Greencycle goes into administration – 27/03/2009 – RoadTransport.com.
* Australian Health Management has cut 12 positions at its Wollongong headquarters, just months after the implementation of its merger with Medibank Private.
via Ahm to cut 12 positions from Wollongong – Local News – News – General – Illawarra Mercury .
* Karamellpojkarna, a subsidiary of Swedish confectionery company Cloetta Group, has identified a need to reduce its workforce by 25 employees.
via Karamellpojkarna to cut 25 jobs – Confectionery food .
* “If the targeted savings were to be achieved only through personnel reductions, it would mean a need to reduce 60-80 people during the years 2009-2011,
via NewsRoom Finland.
* NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 30 – Zain Kenya has announced that it has laid off 141 employees in a right-sizing exercise.
* The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) said it would be losing around 90 of its 370 current staff following a 20% budget shortfall over the next two years.
via Ninety jobs to go at South East regeneration agency » Housing » 24dash.com.
* O2 has announced a restructure of its customer service department, with 160 jobs to be cut.
– Hiring News and News You Can Use –
* Google is still looking to hire more people, including several dozen software engineers, despite announcing 200 layoffs within the last month. Most of the recent firings involves those in sales and marketing.
via Google Is Still Hiring Despite 200 Layoffs.
Mike: Andrew Cuomo is one of the few elected officials of any party that is willing to take on the big dogs of banking, as well as AIG. I have always liked the way Cuomo has looked after the citizens of NY and it’s a shame that the federal government doesn’t take a more active role in going after the thieves of banking.
* NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s attorney general has pressured Chase Bank into ending what he said was an “illegal” $10 monthly fee imposed on thousands of credit card accounts last November.
The bank has also agreed to give refunds totaling $4.4 million to about 184,000 customers.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had accused the bank of springing the fee on customers after first luring them in with promises of low interest rates.
via Under pressure, Chase Bank to refund card fees – Yahoo! Finance.
Mike: A relatively quiet Monday, but plenty of job losses are possible later in the week at SUN and the auto makers . Till Tuesday.…….
Jeff Stahler - Mar 29
Tags: COBRA, cut jobs, economic, employment, factory closing, firing, hiring, job loss, jobs cut, laid off, layoffs, plant closing, positions eliminated, redundancies, staff cuts, unemployment, workforce reduction
