Mike: I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. Sorry about the crunching style of the post, but Google Chrome keeps working poorly of late and Firefox seems to eliminate line spacing. One of these days a browser will work as expected.

As it turns out the day was relatively light for layoff announcements. It seems as if Mondays are about the quietest day for layoff announcements. I keep hearing some pundits talk of the bottom being near for job losses, but the proof will be in the numbers. My take is that the numbers will continue to deteriorate throughout the year with a leveling off when stimulus jobs get included. The fact remains that the country needs to create around 120,000 jobs a month just to break even, so a loss of 669,000 jobs last month means that nearly 790,000 were not available to fill or were lost. It will take more than road work and tax breaks to fill that void, but every job helps at this juncture. My view may be a little jaded after writing this blog for the past few months and seeing the facts twisted by government and the media. Till Tuesday………….

Mike: I mentioned in Friday’s post that the continuing jobless claims number, which is now at a record, will start to shrink once people exhaust their extended benefits. The media will announce that the continuing claims number is declining, so the economy must be improving. Sadly, the media will miss the point that the continuing claims number is declining due to more people losing benefits, not because people are getting new jobs.

– Congress extended unemployment aid twice last year, allowing people to draw a total of up to 59 weeks of benefits. Now, as the recession drags on, a rolling wave of people who were laid off early last year will lose them.

Precise figures are hard to determine, but Wayne Vroman, an economist at the Urban Institute, estimates that up to 700,000 people could exhaust their extended benefits by the second half of this year.

via Extended Jobless Benefits No Match for Recession – Presidential Politics | Political News – FOXNews.com .

Dwane Powell - Apr 6

Dwane Powell - Apr 6

* Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:
US/Canada

International:
 

Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors & News

ibm3– IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. were going over final details of a deal that would have seen IBM pay about $7 billion to acquire Sun. But IBM pulled the offer this weekend and Sun terminated IBM’s status as its exclusive negotiating partner. That has thrown the acquisition talks into doubt.

General Economic News

– “While we see a continued sharp fall in the ETI, the decline was not as strong as in the previous four months, suggesting that the most intense stage of job losses may be behind us,” said Gad Levanon, senior economist at the Conference Board.

“However, the drops in each of the eight components of the ETI in March signal that many more jobs will disappear over the next several months.”

via REFILE-US job market weakens further in March -Conf Board | Reuters .

– Mike: The below story is good news in the jobs front, but you would think that a company that receives billions in goodies from the taxpayer and has received preferential treatment for collections and interest rate regulations from Congress, would have had its jobs in its home country all along. A few things to consider about Sallie Mae practices: once you consolidate your loans through them, you are NOT allowed to ever get a better interest rate or even choose another lender. If you consolidate at 10%, you CANNOT refinance if interest rates fall to 1%. If you are late with payments, Sallie Mae can garnish your wages, withhold Social Security or disability payments – military veterans included – and institute damaging late fees and other charges. You become an indentured servant to Sallie Mae, and this is all the courtesy of Congress and the special rules it gave to Sallie Mae. To see the extent of this damage firsthand, visit: http://studentloanjustice.org/problem.htm.

– RESTON, Va. (AP) — Sallie Mae said Monday that it will bring 2,000 jobs to the U.S. within the next 18 months as it shifts call center and other operations from overseas.

– Announcing the layoffs in early February, company officials said it was a temporary move prompted by world economic woes and falling demand for oilfield pipe. They won’t say how many people they’ve sent home or how long they might be out of work.

As of early April, union officials said, more than 786 of their 894 members had been laid off. The fraction of the plant’s 1,200 employees still working, union officials said, is largely maintenance and warehouse crews.

via Idled U.S. Steel plant has put northeast Texans in painful limbo | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texas Regional News .

Mike: Wow, the brave and suddenly ethically minded FL legislature is “proposing” to change law and collect money from corporations that use tax loopholes, instead of just raises taxes on its citizens. Now that’s a change of pace. If tax loopholes exist for individual taxpayers, those would be closed immediately, but when corporations abuse the tax system, it takes years for legislators to close those loopholes. But then again, legislators of all stripes get most of their campaign financing from corporations, lobbyists and PACs, so they aren’t likely to bite the hand that feeds them, until now.

-TALLAHASSEE — Toys R Us could be forced to stop shielding its Florida income from taxes. American Airlines could pay taxes based on the number of flights that land in Florida. And Bank of America’s international banking division could lose a big tax break.

Those are just some of the effects of a sweeping Senate plan to close loopholes and update Florida’s corporate income tax code to bring in more money to fill the state’s $3 billion budget hole.

via Florida Senate proposes closing corporate tax loopholes – Legislature – MiamiHerald.com.

Jim Morin - Apr 6

Jim Morin - Apr 6

-Technology companies, grappling with a deepening recession, cut 84,217 jobs in the first three months of the year, a 27 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008 and the most since 2002.via Challenger: Job cuts at tech firms jump 27% – Baltimore Business Journal:

Government Layoff News

Mike: Many municipal and government layoff “alerts” show the possible extent layoffs, but those numbers are usually reduced to much lower numbers since these same locales either receive additional resources for the state/fed, or they simply decided to shame the taxpayer into paying more taxes. And then there is attrition and other employee concessions that shrink the intial “alert” layoff proposal to one that is much smaller in number.

When schools, in particular, threaten job cuts, the public usually approves additional taxes no matter the bloated nature of the school budget. The threat of losing teachers is enough for people to vote for more taxes even if they can’t afford that additional outlay, yet school boards aren’t likely to threaten the loss of administration positions because the public wouldn’t be as concerned, so school boards have to use the teacher layoff hammer. The school industrial complex has the resources to advertise thier demands and the knowledge to manipulate the taxpayer into paying more for less. I see that tactic used in NY where school taxes eat up a big check of property taxes (I paid $1700 in school taxes a year on a $120,00 home) and those yearly tax increases have not improved graduation rates, but it has improved the salary and retirement packages of administrators.

– More than 600 employees were notified Friday that they are part of a massive layoff in the Tucson Unified School District.

Of the district’s 3,800 certified employees, including teachers, librarians and counselors, 560 received notice that they’ll be getting their pink slips if the Governing Board approves the list Tuesday.

via 600-plus get layoff alerts from TUSD | www.azstarnet.com ®.

– School Committee Chairman Carl Engel said Saturday that the Finance Committee’s support of an additional $98,000 for the schools and Town Meeting’s subsequent approval will prevent labor cuts in the district.

via Update: Approved Rockport budget seen avoiding school job cuts – GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA.

– On Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors voted to cut the number of county personnel by at least 120 jobs, mainly within the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office and the Health Services Department.

via County lays off 120 | The Martinez News-Gazette.

– As the city tries to lower costs, ten battalion chiefs and captains from the Hoboken Fire Department were handed pink slips Friday, telling them they will lose their jobs by the middle of next month, reports The Jersey Journal.

via 10 Hoboken fire fighters to lose their jobs – Hoboken Now – NJ.com

– Of the 22 positions, 17 will be cut through attrition, resignations, job sharing and leaves of absences. Officials notified five teachers Friday they would not have jobs next school year.

via Mason to cut 22 teaching positions | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com.

US and some Canada Layoff News

motorolaMobile communications equipment maker Motorola Inc. (MOT: News ), Monday revealed certain cost-reduction initiatives including 2,800 job cuts. In a regulatory filing, the company disclosed that it expects to incur about $110 million in the first quarter from these actions.

via RTTNews – Latest Earnings,Upcoming Earnings, Pos Pre Announcements, Pos Pre Announcements , Positive Surprises, Negative Surprises, Hot Stocks, Stock Split Calendar, Stock Buybacks, Dividends, Negative, Positive PreAnnouncements,Surprises …..

navistar– CHATHAM, Ont. — Layoff notices have been issued to the remaining 345 employees at the Navistar truck plant in Chatham, Ontario.

The layoffs are due to take effect June 27th — three days before the workers’ current contract expires.

via CTV Toronto – Navistar to lay off final 345 employees in Chatham – CTV News, Shows and Sports — Canadian Television.

international-paper2– CEDARBURG, Wis. — International Paper is closing its plant in Cedarburg, the company announced Friday. One hundred fourteen jobs will be lost.

via International Paper Closing Plant In Cedarburg – Money News Story – WISN Milwaukee.

international-paper3When the plant closes in early June, 92 workers will be let go, documents filed with the state’s dislocated worker unit show.

via Chesapeake plant closing costs 92 jobs | Richmond Times-Dispatch.

llbeanL.L.Bean will furlough all but 50 of its 200 workers at a Bangor call center next month under what the company calls an “extended lack of work program.”

“They will remain active employees with seniority and all benefits,” L.L. Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem told the Bangor Daily News Friday. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to reassess in the summer and bring them all back.”

via Mainebiz.

– Continental Automotive Systems expects to close its Elma plant by the end of 2009, but as operations wind down, the company has placed the facility on the market.

via Continental closing Elma plant – Business First of Buffalo:.

– WestPoint Home said yesterday that it will close its Elkin plant in June and cut 134 jobs.

via Elkin to lose 134 jobs: WestPoint to close plant in June, move offshore.

– GREENE – After three months in the state’s Shared Work program, The Raymond Corp. said Friday it has laid off about 10 percent of its North American work force because of a continued decline in the lift truck market.

via Raymond Corp. layoffs affect upstate workers | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin.

– Officials say 16 information technology workers in Des Moines are included in the company’s decision to cut 480 jobs across the country.

via Nationwide Mutual job cuts reach Iowa — chicagotribune.com.

– Ritz Camera Centers Inc., the bankrupt parent company of Wolf Camera, will close 300 stores nationwide – three in the Raleigh-Durham area – and will sell all of those locations’ merchandise in liquidation sales that started Saturday.

via Ritz to close three Triangle Wolf Camera stores – Triangle Business Journal: .

– Spokesman Chris Olsen says 56 of the plant’s 90 employees have been laid off. Twenty of the remaining workers will be retained to preserve the plant’s equipment and prepare the plant for a possible restart.

via Fort Dodge ethanol plant lays off 56 — chicagotribune.com.

isilon Citing a “significant reduction” in information technology spending in the first quarter, Isilon Systems Inc. said it will cut 10 percent of its work force, or more than 30 people.

via Isilon Systems cutting 10 percent of workers – Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle): ..

newspaper4– DALLAS (AP) — The parent company of The Dallas Morning News said it will begin companywide layoffs Monday.

via The Associated Press: Dallas Morning News layoffs begin Monday.

– Momentive Performance Materials Inc. said it intends to cut 80 hourly and salaried workers at its 130-employee Willoughby quartz tubing, fiber-optics and lamp materials plant.

via Momentive to cut 80 jobs in Willoughby, taking work to Newark, Ohio, and to China – Business – cleveland.com.

– WEST KINGSTON – APC by Schneider Electric laid off 30 more Rhode Island employees last week as the French-owned company undertook its third round of local job cuts since December.

via APC lays off 30 as job cuts continue – PBN.com – Providence Business News.

– Lake Mary-based Faro Technologies Inc. has shed more than 100 jobs across the company in its second work force reduction in less than two months, officials said Monday.

via High-tech company cites recession, business falloff –– OrlandoSentinel.com.

manitowoc– The Manitowoc Co. Inc. said Monday that its cranes division has laid off 159 employees from its facilities in Manitowoc and Port Washington.

via Manitowoc Co. cuts 159 jobs in Manitowoc, Port Washington – The Business Journal of Milwaukee:.

gavel5

Alston & Bird laid off 14 associates and 38 staff Friday. The firm also has pushed back the start date for its fall associate class from September to January and reduced its summer program from 12 weeks to nine.

via Daily Report – Lite Registration.

xstrata1TORONTO — Xstrata will shut down its Kidd Creek copper smelter in northern Ontario for eight weeks because of falling demand for sulphuric acid, a byproduct of the smelting process.

Xstrata Nickel has 175 employees at the smelter but says it is trying to minimize the number of layoffs by assigning them to other jobs within the facility or by encouraging them to take vacation time

via The Canadian Press: Xstrata to shut down Kidd Creek, Ont., smelter for eight weeks.

– Betts USA is closing its Florence site by June 30, eliminating 114 jobs.

via Betts USA closing Florence plant in June – Business Courier of Cincinnati:.

– Adams USA, a sports equipment manufacturer based out of Cookeville, has announced it will be closing its plant operation by the Memorial Day weekend. Some of the 32 employees may be able to transfer to the Cookeville plant, according to general manager David Wright, and those that are laid off will be eligible for unemployment benefits.

via Herald-Citizen Online Edition – Cookeville, TN.

– Today, the company’s 275 employees, many of whom have more than 20 years of service to the company, will produce the last pottery stamped with the Syracuse China name and actually made in Syracuse.

via Syracuse China plant clatters to a close today.

ecoquestEcoQuest International, which manufactures air and water purification systems, is closing its Greeneville plant and laying off 192 workers, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Monday.

via EcoQuest closing, assets bought by Dallas firm : Business : Knoxville News Sentinel.

– In March, more than 20 companies alerted the state in March that they plan plant closure or “mass” layoffs, putting nearly 2,500 workers out of work, state records show.

The 22 companies cutting jobs include: Android Industries LLC, a Belvidere maker of engine parts, 273 jobs starting May 22; Mettawa-based financial services provider HSBC, 214 jobs starting May 9; soybean processor ACH Food Cos., 246 workers in Champaign starting May 27.

via Layoff warnings: Illinois companies warn of layoffs in March — chicagotribune.com.

newspaper5The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel laid off 26 full time and five part-time employees Monday to reduce expenses.

via Journal Sentinel lays off 31 workers – The Business Journal of Milwaukee:.

– TULSA, OK — The company that sells Caterpillar construction equipment in Oklahoma and parts of Texas has laid off more than 80 employees.

via NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com | Layoffs Hit Tulsa’s Warren Cat Dealership.

International Layoff News

ssangyongSsangyong will notify its unionised workers that it will fire 2,800-2,900 employees out of a total 7,200, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported in its early Tuesday edition without citing sources.

via Ssangyong Motor to cut 40 pct of workforce -paper | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters.

– Despite a healthy annual report last year posting 527 million kroner in profit after tax, Michael Ohrt Fernel, head of communications at Ecco, said that the company would have to let 1150 employees go because of the ‘general financial downturn and falling shoe sales’.

via Ecco gives workers the boot.

– Zambia’s second leading copper and cobalt producer Mopani Copper Mines has notified miners’ unions that it intends to declare 1,500 workers redundant this month, a union official said Monday.

e2v technologies : In addition, the company said it would cut jobs in both UK and France and is seeking a buyer for its Lincoln-based microwave microelectronics business unit.

gavel4– LEADING IRISH law firm William Fry has made 17 staff redundant and introduced pay cuts of up to 10 per cent in response to the economic downturn.

via American Chronicle | Leading Law Firm Makes 17 Redundant .

– April 6 (Bloomberg) — Australian advertisements for job vacancies tumbled in March for an 11th month as employers scrapped hiring plans amid signs the economy has fallen into its first recession since 1991.

via Australian Job Advertisements Fall Record 44% on Year (Update1) – Bloomberg.com .

– Romanian Air Traffic Administration, Romatsa will reduce headcount from 1,800 to 1,600 by year end, said the managing director of Romatsa Bogdan Donciu at the regional reunion on aviation security.

via Romatsa to slash 200 jobs by year end.

– CHANGES to the Federal Government’s Job Network have cost 17 Wimmera people their jobs.

via New job network costs 17 positions – Local News – News – General – Wimmera Mail Times .

Jacada Ltd. (JCDA: News ) announced various cost cutting measures including a 7% reduction in headcount worldwide, as well as salary reductions, to reduce expenses to align company operations with revenue expectations for 2009.

via RTTNews – Latest Earnings,Upcoming Earnings, …..

Hiring News and News You Can Use

– High street hardware chain Robert Dyas has agreed a last-ditch management buyout with its lenders which will save the business and 1,250 jobs.

via High Street Hardware Retailer Robert Dyas Management Buyout Rescue Plan Agreed With Banks Saves Jobs | Business | Sky News.

– Despite the tough economic conditions that face U.S. workers, Sprint (NYSE:S) today announced that it is looking for a few good men and women on an ongoing basis to fill customer service and sales positions at its Hampton Contact Center this year.

via S Sprint ‘Now Hiring’ at Hampton Contact Center.

– Raley’s is filling 130 jobs at its new supermarket in Petaluma. AccentCare is looking for caregivers and certified nursing assistants. And Lifetouch is hiring people to take school photos in Sonoma County.

– Herndon, VA (PRWEB) April 6, 2009 — eJobWire.com announced today that it has concluded testing and launched the latest and completely redesigned version of its IT job board website. eJobWire.com’s new website contains a cleaner facade which showcases its newly developed functionality for job seekers and employers.

via New Job Website Helps IT Professionals Find Jobs.

– TORONTO – (April 6) – Ontario’s first diamond cutting and polishing facility will be located in Greater Sudbury and will create about 50 new jobs in the community

– RESTON, Va. (AP) — Sallie Mae said Monday that it will bring 2,000 jobs to the U.S. within the next 18 months as it shifts call center and other operations from overseas.

via Sallie Mae to add 2,000 jobs to US in 18 months – Yahoo! Finance.

Mike: As it turns out the day was relatively light for layoff announcements. It seems as if Monday’s are about the quietest day for layoff announcements. Till Tuesday…………..

A Daily Show laugh follows:

Non Sequitur - Apr 6

Non Sequitur - Apr 6

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