Mike: I hope you all had a fine weekend. We NY Giants fans are a little disappointed this day, but you have to score to win and the Eagles did so they were the better team on Sunday. At least they still have jobs while many will be losing theirs this day. Let’s see how the jobs news is shaping up this morning:
– Microsoft/Google/IBM News & Rumors –
* For many IBM employees, last week was torture. Rumors have been swirling that jobs are on the chopping block and that close to 16,000 workers will become victims of a one-two combination punch from the economic downturn and IBM’s continual moves to lower its costs and extend its string of profitable quarterly reports.
As is its standard practice, IBM has nothing to say on the topic of layoffs. That includes any denial that this move is about to be made.
Information on the rumored job losses comes primarily from the Website of the IBM Employees Union, Alliance@IBM. (Yes, IBM does in fact have a union in the United States, which is a local of the Communications Workers of America.) Postings on the current job elimination status can be found on this Web page.
via The Four Hundred–Layoff Rumors Panic IBM Workers; Nothing Confirmed .
* According to the latest news on the web, Motorola is preparing a large number of layoffs as soon as this week. It seems that sources familiar with the company’s plans have stated that the handset division will suffer a massive workforce reduction, as nearly 50 percent of the employees might be given the pink slip. Knowing this, it seems that the financial turmoil has affected the mobile phone maker harder than expected.
The company is reported to plan on keeping all the people from its set top box, networking equipment, and enterprise device businesses. As the handset division could be dropped to only half of its personal, the company is rumored to plan on releasing only twelve phones per year. Moreover, it seems that the focus will be placed on smartphones based on Google’s Android platform, while other similar devices are expected to be left aside.
* Phone Scoop has learned that Motorola’s handset division is expecting a large round of layoffs as soon as this week, according to someone familiar with Motorola’s plans. The layoffs are confirmed to be significant and may amount to 50% of the entire handset operation.
via Motorola’s Handset Arm Prepping for Massive Layoffs (Phone Scoop).
* IT In Action | 11 Jan 2009 :
Microsoft is likely to employ cost-cutting measures in the upcoming months to help it maintain a strong position during the economic downturn, according to a fresh wave of reports.
The latest indications suggest that the firm will hold back on hiring new staff and not renew contract employees, rather than instigate a major lay-off operation.
Restructuring plans could be announced ahead of Microsoft’s second-quarter earnings statement due on 22 January.
via IT In Action Blog – Microsoft restructure rumours abound .
* s word of impending layoffs continues to spread among IBM workers, some job cuts started this week in the Hudson Valley, according to the New York Department of Labor.
Its Rapid Response Unit for displaced workers confirmed it received a notice Dec. 24 from Manpower Staffing in Poughkeepsie that 135 IBM contract jobs would be gone “commencing Jan. 5.”
Spokesman Doug Shelton said IBM was “not going to comment on specific actions.”
Big Blue has also remained mum on reports that 16,000 jobs worldwide will be cut Jan. 23, but information continues to trickle in from sources who have requested anonymity.
* NEW YORK – Officials at state unemployment offices say they’ve never seen anything like it: Layoffs are happening so fast that those seeking unemployment benefits are overloading state computer systems, jamming phone lines, and making it necessary for administrators to hire temporary workers.
– In some states, it’s so bad officials suspect that only half the calls are getting through. Frustrated, the unemployed are e-mailing anyone they can find at the state agencies or are just hitting redial on their phones, sometimes hundreds of times. The problem will get worse before it gets better, say some officials.
via Jobless claims overwhelm state offices | csmonitor.com.
* Just as the recession is throwing people out of work at an alarming rate, the unemployment insurance system in New York and many other states will start cutting off benefits this week for thousands of people who have been unable to find jobs since early last year.
Julio Ponce, who is seeking work as a chef, said he did not know how he would cover his rent after his unemployment benefits lapsed this week.
About 50,000 New Yorkers who had been collecting unemployment checks for 11 months — the longest stretch that benefits have been available since the last recession eight years ago — will stop receiving weekly payments this week, according to the State Labor Department.
via Adding to Recession’s Pain, Thousands to Lose Jobless Benefits – NYTimes.com.
* Seagate (STX) CEO Bill Watkins told Tech Trader Daily on Friday that December was “just terrible” in terms of disk-drive demand, due in part to a sharp drop in distribution channel inventories. Watkins said channel inventories for disk drives are the lowest he has ever seen, as low as four weeks, and notes that distributors are having trouble getting credit.
Watkins notes that the company will announce a restructuring sometime this month which will likely result in a reduction in production capacity and significant layoffs. The company currently has about 50,000 employees worldwide; it’s not hard to imagine there will be thousands job cuts.
via Seagate Says December Was ‘Just Terrible’ — Seeking Alpha.
* BASEL, Switzerland: The global economy will recover in 2010 from a sharp slowing this year as official steps to lift growth hit home, senior central bankers said on Monday.
The European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, who chaired talks here on the world economy, said restoring confidence was crucial as emerging markets join the industrialized world in feeling the impact of the financial crisis.
via Central bankers expect global recovery in 2010 – International Herald Tribune.
* But after a rapid rise in health-care costs this decade, the economics of continuing on Cobra are beyond the reach of many, according to a study released Friday from Families USA. The average monthly Cobra premium for family coverage, $1,069, consumes 84% of the average monthly unemployment check, which is $1,287, the study found.
“If you’re subsisting on an unemployment insurance check and 84% of that check is what’s needed to continue family coverage, clearly it’s unrealistic to expect you can afford to do that and still have money left for food and rent and utilities and other necessities,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.
via Health coverage takes big bite out of unemployment checks – MarketWatch .
* The green energy sector has a lot riding on 2009. Policymakers from Washington to Beijing have pledged billions of dollars in “cleantech” investment to jump-start the depressed global economy and create millions of new low-carbon jobs.
That should be a boon to the wind power industry, which is working to harness the world’s second-largest source of renewable energy after hydroelectric. As with the solar industry, wind power has been hit by a sudden slowdown in private sector investment as credit has dried up and the price of oil has fallen from its mid-2008 high. The industry hopes public spending will help fill the gap until the global economy gets back on its feet.
* Two county health clinics and hundreds of county jobs are on the chopping block this week as officials wrestle with reduced income and higher costs to provide health-related services to county residents.
The Board of Supervisors in Tuesday will take community input on plans to close health clinics in Lindsay and Tulare, and then will consider staff recommendations to lay off more than 200 county employees.
* CHICO — Five city firefighters received layoff notices Saturday morning after the city and the fire union failed to agree on wage and benefit concessions.
* Pemberton Township, also in Burlington County, is considering layoffs and issued a memo to municipal employees on Jan. 6 that cited difficulties posed by the tax-levy cap and that said the municipality would work with union leaders to minimize job losses, even as the “problem is a serious one.”
* Tuesday, Jan. 13, the Springboro Board of Education is scheduled to cut the custodians’ jobs as part of $467,000 in budget cuts designed to bring the district’s budget into balance.
NAPLES — As part of a consolidation of its Florida operations, Centex Corp. has once again reduced its workforce in its divisional office in Naples.
Locally, more than a half-dozen employees have lost their jobs in the past month. More layoffs are coming.
The division office now has an estimated 40 employees, excluding agents in its sales centers. That’s down from a high of about 250 at the peak of the real estate boom in 2005.
via Centex makes more job cuts, may shut down Naples office : Real_Estate : Naples Daily News.
* ATHENS – A financially-troubled poultry giant with several plants in northeast Georgia announces layoffs at one of them.
Channel 2 Action News reports that nearly 100 workers at the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Athens will lose their jobs early next month.
via Layoffs at Pilgrim’s Pride | AccessNorthGa.
* St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island announced Friday more employee layoffs for a total of 22 since October.
The news of layoffs at St. Francis Medical Center is coupled with news Friday that Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney has laid off 32 people in the past few weeks.
According to St. Francis Medical Center officials, the total layoffs in Grand Island include people affected by the closing of the Wood River and Cairo Primary Care Clinics and Wellness Works/Por Su Salud at the Conestoga Mall as well as various departments of the hospital. The clinics and Wellness Works are permanently closed.
via The Independent > Archives > News > Local > St. Francis announces layoffs.
* Update: Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. will curtail production and lay off at least 1,550 Morenci mine employees, according to an announcement from the mining company Friday.
As of Friday, about 3,300 people are employed at Morenci. The anticipated layoff will cut that work force by nearly half.
“Detailed plans for the curtailment are currently in development,” Freeport spokesman Richard Peterson said in an e-mail message to the Courier.
According to Peterson, the date of the first layoffs is expected to be in the 14-day period beginning March 16 and ending March 29. The majority of affected employees will be placed on a paid leave of absence starting Feb. 2.
via News : 1,500 laid off from Morenci mine – Eastern Arizona Courier.
* It is reported that Gerdau Macsteel will lay off 46 hourly workers at its Monroe mill with effect from January 16th 2009, largely due to the continuing auto industry slump. The plant makes bar quality steel mainly for automotive uses. It employs 452, so the layoffs affect about 10% of its total work force. The cutback represents about 14% of the 328 member hourly work force. No salaried workers are being laid off.
via SteelGuru – News.
* VICKSBURG, Miss. — LeTourneau Technologies Inc. has laid off 50 workers at its oil rig construction yard in Vicksburg.
via LeTourneau lays off 50, cites economy – Regional Wire – SunHerald.com.
* Reality of the situation is that the publishing industry is taking a beating in large part due to the the Internet and the failing economy. Even our parent company, Village Voice Media, isn’t immune to it, having just done a round of company-wide layoffs and cost-cutting measures. Still, it’s sad to see that a city so desperately in need of more quality publications lose one as good as MAP.
via Miami – Riptide 2.0 – MAP Magazine Folds After Only Six Issues.
* BOSTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Diversified U.S. manufacturer Kennametal Inc (KMT.N) said on Monday that its profit for the just-ended quarter would be lower than investors expected and that it planned to cut 1,200 jobs as it scrambles to respond to a deepening global recession.
* Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) — Christie’s International will cut jobs as the financial crisis damps demand for art.
The London-based auction house plans “a companywide reorganization which includes significant staff reductions,” Christie’s said in an e-mailed statement today.
“There’s a consultation process going on at the moment, so we’re not in a position to comment on numbers,” Alexandra Buxton, Christie’s European head of public relations, said in a telephone interview. She said that Christie’s employs about 2,100 people worldwide.
via Bloomberg.com: Arts and Culture.
* Tropicana told the Bradenton Herald via e-mail it plans to cut its workforce at the Bradenton plant.
According to spokeswoman Karen May, the plant will reduce 50 to 60 hourly positions in Bradenton, most by the end of March.
via Tropicana to cut local jobs – Top Stories – Bradenton.com.
* Book publisher Courier Corp. said Monday it will close manufacturing unit Book-mart Press Inc., which will result in the elimination of 72 jobs.
via Courier to close Book-mart Press, cut 72 jobs – Forbes.com.
* (Marietta, Ohio) – Plastics manufacturer Americas Styrenics will shut down six of its ten production lines here and permanently eliminate 63 positions. The layoffs will start March 7, according to a notice filed with the state of Ohio.
* Bankrupt manufactured-home builder Patriot Homes Inc. will close a Middlebury plant that employs 125 workers, according to a notice filed with the state.
via – IBJ.com – Indianapolis Business Journal – Story Det
* Update – Boeing: Hence, net orders during 2008 were down more-than 53.1% from 2007. Even so, during 2008, Boeing booked 287 more orders than deliveries (2008 deliveries consisted of 290 737s, 14 747s, 10 767s, 61 777s and 0 787s, for a total of 375 shipsets); consequently, its commercial ship-set backlog continued to rise during 2008. But, alas, that does not bring good tidings!
Boeing announced Friday that employment at its Commercial Airplanes business unit is expected to decline by approximately 4,500 positions in 2009 as part of an effort to ensure competitiveness and control costs in the face of a weakening global economy. The reduction will bring Commercial Airplanes’ employment to approximately 63,500, similar to the level it was at the start of 2008.
* MADERA — Pacific Ethanol announced Friday that it will temporarily suspend operations at its production plant in Madera County beginning today, blaming “unfavorable market conditions” for ethanol production.
via The Modesto Bee | Ethanol plant closes; 40 employees laid off.
* Eight Dominos pizza stores are closing the Reno area, according to franchise owner Brandon Jones.
Jones said the latest closures leave 120 to 130 people out of a job.
* DOVER — Production at ElectroCraft’s Dover facility is expected to shut down at the end of April, but that comes as no surprise to the company’s local employees.
Officials at ElectroCraft bucked the trend of same-day pink slips last spring when they gave workers nearly a year’s notice that production would cease.
via ElectroCraft to shut down at end of April – Fosters.
* GreenFuel Technologies, the Cambridge, MA-based algae farming company that was seemingly rebounding from technical setbacks and massive layoffs in the summer of 2007, has this morning laid off close to 50 percent of its staff. We received a tip about the layoffs this morning, and they were confirmed by CEO Simon Upfill-Brown in a telephone call.
“We’re still in the middle of this,” Upfill-Brown said. “The facts are it’s about 19 people, just under half” the total staff.
via GreenFuel Hit By Big Layoffs—Nearly Half Staff Let Go This Morning | Xconomy.
* WILMINGTON — ABX Air Inc., the contractor which operates DHL’s U.S. freight hub at Wilmington, is laying off an additional 84 employees by Jan. 23 as DHL prepares to transfer the hub’s work to United Parcel Service at Louisville, Ky.
via ABX Air cutting 84 more jobs at Wilmington.
* UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Officials at the Mohegan Sun casino say they will be reducing the pay of all 9,800 employees but will avoid layoffs in new cost-cutting moves spurred by declining revenues.
via Mohegan Sun cutting workers’ pay | turnto10.com.
* Automated Conveyor Systems in Lynchburg laid off 17 workers last week, about one month after having a similarly sized layoff.
via Automated Conveyor Systems lays off 17 more | Lynchburg News Advance.
* Courier Corp. is closing its New Jersey book manufacturing facility, citing the economic troubles plaguing the publishing industry.
The North Chelmsford, Mass., book manufacturer and publisher (Nasdaq: CRRC) said Monday it was closing Book-mart Press, consolidating the subsidiary’s one-color printing operations into its other facilities. Book-mart press employs 72 people and generated approximately $7 million in sales.
via Courier Corp. closing unit – Triangle Business Journal: .
* The unexpected closing of a new automotive wheel plant in Sarnia has prompted Mayor Mike Bradley to renew his call for an economic summit into Ontario’s loss of manufacturing jobs.
Ube Automotive has announced it is shuttering the massive plant it opened along Highway 402 in 2002, putting 200 out of work. The first 100 were let go last Frida
via London Free Press – Local News- Bradley renews summit call.
* PITTSBURGH–HFF, Inc. announced today that during fourth quarter 2008 it completed a top-to-bottom review of each of its business lines and support functions in light of the current global and capital market conditions. This action was taken to ensure HFF is producing superior value-added services for its clients as efficiently as possible while repositioning select lines of business to take advantage of opportunities that are unfolding in the current global credit and liquidity crisis facing the commercial real estate sector. As part of this process, HFF has reduced its operating costs and expenses which include a reduction in its workforce by approximately 12% equating to 57 positions nationwide.
via dBusinessNews :: Daily Business News Delivered to Your Desktop.
* Jan 12 (Reuters) – EpiCept Corp:
* Discontinues drug discovery operations and reduces workforce
* Says actions expected to reduce annual expenses by at least $5.5 million
* Says implementing an approximate 65 percent reduction in its workforce
via BRIEF-EpiCept slashes 65 pct of workforce – Forbes.com.
* GMAC said its closing Nuvell Credit Co., its Jacksonville-based subprime lending subsidiary, following its decision to stop funding loans for customers with bad credit.
Nuvell stopped writing new business Jan. 7 in preparation for the closure, which will affect 348 employees in Florida, Arkansas and Texas. A GMAC,spokesman told trade magazine Automotive News that 136 employees will take jobs at GMAC and the other 212 will be laid off.
via Nuvell Credit to close; layoffs coming – Jacksonville Business Journal: .
* USA Technologies Inc. said Monday it has laid off 22 people who worked at its Malvern, Pa., headquarters, as part of a cost-saving effort.
via USA Technologies lays off 22 to meet cash requirement – Philadelphia Business Journal: .
* Quad/Graphics Inc., the nation’s third-largest privately held printer, said Monday that it will cut back on production, resulting in the layoff of 550 workers in five states, to better match print demand that has softened because of the economy.
via Quad/Graphics scales back production, lays off 550 – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: .
* Those rumored layoffs at Tomb Raider: Underworld developer Crystal Dynamics have been confirmed by studio owner Eidos, with the company telling Joystiq that this was a result of “increased the focus on the Tomb Raider franchise at Crystal Dynamics.”
Roughly 30 employees were laid off, including Tomb Raider: Underworld creative director Eric Lindstrom. It is not known if Crystal Dynamics was working on any non-Tomb Raider games–the studio is believed to be wrapping up the 360-exclusive TR:U downloadable content, and doing tentative work on the next Tomb Raider.
* SAN FRANCISCO—California State University officials are freezing salaries and hiring to control costs in the face of the state’s budget crisis.
Officials with the 23-campus system announced Friday that salaries would be frozen for senior administrators, including campus presidents and the chancellor.
via CSU officials freeze salaries and hiring – San Jose Mercury News.
* AMR Research is reducing its workforce about 10 percent as it retrenches in a poor economy, the company confirmed Monday.
The Boston-based supply chain technology research company said reductions would be across all departments, including a handful individual analysts. The company employs about 200 people.
via AMR Research makes layoffs – Boston Business Journal: .
* About 500 Best Buy Co. (BBY) workers, or about 12.5% of headquarters employees, have agreed to voluntary layoffs, including enough company officers that one Wall Street analyst said the move could create a “slight ‘brain drain'” at the consumer-electronics retailer.
via 500 Best Buy Workers, Or 12.5% At HQ, Take Layoff Package.
* Cessna Aircraft officials told employees today they plan to cut 2,000 positions from the planemaker’s work force.
“These reductions will affect all pay categories,” Cessna vice president Jim Walters said in a memo to employees today.
via Cessna cutting 2,000 employees | Business Updates | Kansas.com.
* Oracle has apparently ushered in the new year with a bit of a bloodletting. Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Tim Klasell says the company has sacked some employees in sales and marketing. “Our sense is that the current reduction was well planned and not a hasty reaction to an unplanned event,” he claims in a research note issued today.
via Oracle Layoffs: Hundreds, Not Thousands | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD.
* Well, we may have to get use to this kind of announcement… Hearts on Fire laid off a number of employees last week; truly a sign of the times. CEO Glenn Rothman just sent me the following statement…
via Layoffs at Hearts on Fire – Cutting Remarks – Blog on JCK Online.
* GUELPH — There is early word of layoffs of some 60 workers at the Hitachi plant on Woodlawn Road.
The city lists Hitachi Construction Truck Manufacturing has having about 300 workers in Guelp
via GuelphMercury.com – BreakingNews – Layoffs at Hitachi in Guelph .
* Portland’s PCC Structurals Inc. — a division of Precision Castparts Corp., the second-largest publicly traded company based in Oregon — will cut 10 percent of its salaried workers, a PCC spokeswoman confirmed today.
Eileen Drake, PCC Structurals vice president for administration and legal affairs, said the manufacturing company has a little over 400 salaried workers, meaning that about 40 would be let go
via Precision Castparts division laying off workers – Business – Oregonlive.com.
* BOISE – A Boise area hospital is laying off employees.
Jennifer Krajnik, St. Alphonsus hospital spokesperson, says 66 employees have been laid off. The hospital now has laid off more than 100 employees in the past year. In March, about 40 employees were let go.
* EAST FLAT ROCK — General Electric Lighting Systems is adding to its layoffs figure announced in 2007 with a new round of job losses, employees said Monday.
The East Flat Rock plant is expected to lay off about 47 people as a result of an ever tightening economy, the workers said. It is unknown exactly when the layoffs will take place, but the company observes a general rule of last hired, first fired, they said.
via GE to layoff 47 workers | BlueRidgeNow.com | Times-News Online | Hendersonville, NC.
* TRENTON — The Hinckley Co. announced Monday that it will be laying off approximately 25 workers at its Trenton facility.
The company stated in a press release that the layoffs are due to “the continued and deepening slowdown in the U.S. economy in general and the marine industry in particula
via The Ellsworth American – Hinckley Announces Layoffs at Trenton Facility.
* The severe slowdown in the construction business has triggered 45 layoffs at a Harleyville cement-making plant.
via Giant Cement lays off 45 Dorchester County workers.
* TORONTO, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Bell Alliant (BA_u.TO) said on Monday it will cut about 500 management jobs, or about 5 percent of its total workforce, to reduce costs and help it make decisions more quickly.
* Evergreen Shipping Agency (America), agent for Evergreen Marine Corp., will consolidate some North American offices and reduce staff in the face of the downturn in the global ocean shipping business.
“The worldwide economic turmoil has created a situation we have not seen in our lifetime,” the company said in a statement to its North America employees. The measures being taken will reduce costs and put the agency on a more sustainable structure moving forward, it
via Pacific Shipper Online — Evergreen to cut US jobs.
* Potash and fertilizer producer Mosaic Co. has issued layoff notices to a total of 1,000 workers at two locations in Canada.
Mosaic, headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota, said Monday the layoffs affect 700 people in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan and 300 at its Cononsay, Saskatchewan operation.
via Mosaic laying off 1,000 in Canada.
*Mercy Health Partners is laying off 31 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) next month and will no longer employ nurses with that level of education, hospital officials said Monday.
* Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise announced 66 layoffs on Monday and said its patients’ skyrocketing bad debt and charity care are to blame.
via Saint Al’s says it will lay off 66 people, citing skyrocketing bad debt | Business | Idaho Statesman .
* GRAND RAPIDS — Steelcase Inc. has warned 300 more factory workers in the Grand Rapids area they may lose their jobs by Feb. 27.
The office furniture manufacturer already issued warnings to another 300 local workers, and, last week, extended expiration dates for those warnings by a month to Feb. 13.
* ING Groep NV said it will cut 72 Des Moines area workers, part of 750 employees who will lose jobs nationwide.
via ING to lay off 72 in D.M. | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register.
* About 260 people will lose their jobs when the J.C. Penney call center in Carmichael closes its doors on March 20.
Citing changes in customer-ordering habits, the Plano, Texas-based retailer confirmed last week that it would shutter the center at Fair Oaks Boulevard and El Camino Avenue.
via 260 layoffs at J.C. Penney Carmichael call center – Latest News – sacbee.com.
* Boise Cascade will close its plywood mill in White City, Or., March 13, eliminating 110 positons.
“At this point in time, we consider this a permanent closure,” said spokesman Robert Smith. “We have already experienced numerous temporary curtailments during the past several months in 2008. In fairness to our employees, we don’t think it is appropriate to continue these repetitive curtailments when our market outlook remains dim.”
* In a Form 8-K, Hutchinson Technology (Nasdaq: HTCH) today announced that its workforce reduction will actually total approximately 1,380 or approximately 30% of its workforce.
via StreetInsider.com – Hutchinson Technology (HTCH) to Cut 1,380 Jobs, or 30% of Workforce.
* Battle Creek Health System today reported recent staff cuts.
The hospital eliminated 27 staff and 10 open positions from its total workforce of about 1,500 in late 2008 and already this year.
via Hospital announces workforce reductions | battlecreekenquirer.com | The Enquirer.
* The Financial Times Group is making another 80 redundancies worldwide after opting for further online/print integration and to eliminate overlaps with recently-acquired businesses, which include FTB, Money Media, OCO and Executive Appointments. CEO John Ridding, in a staff memo reproduced below, said the restructure runs across several departments and staff consultation begins today.
via FT Doing 80 New Layoffs: Online/Print Tie-Ups, Ridding’s Memo | paidContent:UK .
* Jiangsu-based photovoltaic cell and module manufacturer Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE:STP) plans to cut a total of 4,000 employees, or roughly 30% of its staff, and has stopped production in about half of its factory lines, reports China Business quoting a former Suntech employee.
via JLM Pacific Epoch – Rumor: Suntech to Dismiss 4,000 Employees, Slash Production by 50%.
* Zlín/Mladá Boleslav – There is no doubt about it. The first quarter of the new year will bring a wave of layoffs and people without jobs.
Employment agencies are especially worried about this because their employees tend to be the first to go when there are layoffs. And most of the time the people in question are foreigners, for whom losing a job means a very problematic situation.
via Thousands of foreigners losing jobs, legal status – Czechnews – Aktuálně.
* IXI Mobile Inc. (Bulletin Board:IXMO) will lay off 30 employees. The company, which is developing the Ogo that is intended to be a mass market BlackBerry, with telephone, e-mail, Internet surfing, and instant message applications, has been plagued by problems over the past year, which was marked by two previous rounds of layoffs.
via IXI lays off more employees.
* U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. said Monday it’s cutting 556 sales jobs in Italy as part of its global reorganization plans.
The layoffs, from Pfizer’s total workforce of 2,780 in Italy, will mostly affect sales representatives that visit family doctors. Other sales operations in Italy, including specialty and cancer drugs, will undergo “very minor adjustments or not be affected at all,” Pfizer said in a statement.
via Pfizer To Cut 556 Sales Jobs In Italy As Part Of Operating Reshuffle.
* Swedish industrial giant Alfa Laval announced plans on Monday to lay off 1,000 workers globally in the next six months, including 300 redundancies in Sweden.
via Alfa Laval to trim 300 jobs in Sweden – The Local.
*ATHENS, Jan 12 (Reuters) – The world’s second largest Coke bottler, Coca-Cola Hellenic (CCH) (HLBr.AT) will cut 150 jobs in Poland from February as part of its efforts to
via Greek Coke bottler to cut 150 jobs in Poland | Reuters .
* UP TO 100 Wedgwood office staff are believed to have been axed this morning.
Administrator Deloitte called in support workers at 9.30am to be told the news.
via Wedgwood office staff job loss fears | Wedgwood in administration | Stoke & Staffordshire news.
* Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) — Travis Perkins Plc, the U.K. building-materials distributor that owns the Wickes home- improvement chain, has cut 12 percent of its workforce to lower costs amid Britain’s worst housing slump in 25 years, Finance Director Paul Hampden Smith said.
via Bloomberg.com: U.K. & Ireland.
* Machinery giant JCB is to cut 684 jobs because of the lack of credit available from banks coupled with continuing low confidence, the company announced today.
via JCB cuts 684 jobs in latest blow – Business News, Business – The Independent.
* EIGHTEEN workers have been laid off from the Spectrum building site on Douglas seafront – but developers Dandara insist the move is not linked to the credit crunch or any downturn in the construction industry.
via Dandara lays off 18 workers from seafront site – Isle of Man Today .
* ELLESMERE Port-based Gibsons Foods has closed, leaving as many as 240 people out of work.
Production stopped after the food manufacturer told workers the company has gone into administration.
via Ellesmere Port food company sheds 240 jobs – Chester Evening Leader .
* TeliaSonera (TLSN: News , TEE.L) announced efficiency measures in the Swedish and Finnish operations, to be implemented in 2008 and 2009. These efficiency measures are expected to result in annual gross savings effects of approximately SEK 5 billion compared to the cost base of 2007 and result in a reduction of approximately 2900 employees, of whom two-thirds in Sweden.
* Bookshop chain Waterstone’s has announced it will make redundancies after moving to a new distribution system.
But it would not put a number on the job losses to come as it introduces the cost-cutting system for delivering books to its stores.
The announcement comes at a time of difficult trading for Waterstone’s, which last month blamed poor non-fiction demand for a drop in sales.
via The Press Association: Bookshop chain to cut jobs.
* A Dublin media company has cut more than 100 workers from its headquarters, citing tough economic conditions.
Inoveris LLC, which does business as Zomax, said in a filing with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that it cut 103 workers in Dublin last Tuesday.
via Zomax cuts 103 jobs in Dublin – Business First of Columbus: .
* Travis Perkins Plc, the U.K. building-materials distributor that owns the Wickes home- improvement chain, has cut 12 percent of its workforce to lower costs amid Britain’s worst housing slump in 25 years, Finance Director Paul Hampden Smith said.
via Bloomberg.com: U.K. & Ireland.
* A DELICATESSEN chain has gone into administration with the loss of 175 jobs.
McLeish Brothers, which has 10 stores in Scotland including branches in Lochrin Square and South Bridge in Edinburgh, employs 205 full and part-time staff.
via 175 jobs lost as McLeish Brothers deli chain into administration – Scotsman.com Business .
* Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) — Alfa Laval AB, the world’s biggest maker of heat exchangers, said it will cut 1,000 jobs in the first half after shipmaking customers canceled orders.
* SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A top General Motors official in Brazil says the company is laying off 797 temporary workers.
via The Associated Press: Report: GM laying off 797 in Brazil.
* Rockwell Diamonds is likely to cut jobs at its Wouterspan operations, the mid-tier diamond mining and exploration company said on Monday.
“Global economic conditions have brought diamond prices under pressure. In this environment, we continue to take steps to improve operational efficiencies and maintain the competitiveness of the company.
via News – Finance/ Labour: Rockwell Diamonds to reduce workforce.
* NEW BRUNSWICK — The recession is claiming thousands of New Jersey jobs, and yet employers are still recruiting — to fill job vacancies today and to prepare for an economic upturn in the future.That was the message last week at a job fair at Rutgers University that drew 200 employers and thousands of job candidates. Employers said they are still hiring, despite an alarming economic slump that several dated to last October.
Princeton-based R Square, a staffing company that places information technology professionals with companies, was at Rutgers looking for at least 50 job candidates. Sandeep Sharma, vice president of sales and marketing, said the economy slowed dramatically in October, though clients now are more responsive. “But they are getting very selective — they want more and more experienced people.”
Despite Recession, There Are Jobs to Fill
* RENO, Nev.—The Hartford Financial Services Group plans to hire 150 full-time workers by spring for a Reno call center.
via Company hiring 150 workers for Reno call center – San Jose Mercury News.
* Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says the company did “really well” against its revenue expectations for 2008, and that the company is still hiring, especially engineers and salespeople.
via Zuckerberg: Facebook Revenue Growth ‘Really Strong’, Still Hiring
Mike: Another busy day for layoff announcements. This is corporate earnings season, so the layoff news may get busier as companies miss estimates and then slash workforces in order to boost share price. Let’s hope for some goodnews tomorrow that slows this layoff train. On that note a little humor.…………….
Jeff Stahler - Jan 9
* Breaking news: Yet another sobering government labor report released Friday showed the economy lost 524,000 jobs in December, bringing 2008’s total job loss to 2.6 million.
Last year’s steep drop in employment marked the highest yearly job-loss total since 1945.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a loss of 525,000 jobs in the month.
According to the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, the unemployment rate rose to 7.2% last month from 6.7% in November and higher than economists’ forecasts of 7%.
via Total 2008 job loss: 2.6 million – Yahoo! Finance.
The following graph was taken from an excellent unemployment overview from via Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis: Jobs Contract 12th Straight Month; Unemployment Rate Soars to 7.2%.
In December 2007 I predicted a jobs disaster every month this year. That prediction is now 12 for 12. Here is a synopsis of the BLS report.
Nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December, and the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the month and by 1.9 million over the last 4 months of 2008. In
December, job losses were large and widespread across most major industry sectors.
Unemployment Rate Soars
* But 7.2 percent doesn’t capture how many people are out of work. By another measure — from the same employment report — as much as 13.5 percent of the labor force is either unemployed or underemployed.
– The 7.2 figure everyone knows measures something very specific: the portion of people in the work force who wanted to work, looked for a job last month, but weren’t working during the first week in December.
via The Associated Press: Meltdown 101: Unemployment by the numbers.
Mike: But on the other hand, the news could have been worse because the monthly number was less than expected. Take your pick; it’s either worse or better than expected. The unemployment rate went up higher than expected, but the number laid off in December was less than expected:
* Employers cut 524,000 jobs in December, less than economists’ forecast for a loss of 550,000 jobs, according to Thomson Reuters.
While overall job losses were less than expected, the unemployment rate still jumped to 7.2 percent from 6.7 percent a month earlier. The rate is the highest since 1993.
via The Associated Press: Stocks turn higher on monthly jobs report–
Mike: Obama’s view of the unemployment situation:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3EAGl3Nsqw]
Mike: Our congressional reps are being rather mum about their upcoming pay raises. They sure don’t deserve a merit raise and in this time of increasing job loss and difficult economic times, they don’t deserve their inflation raise either. After all, they are the overseers of the economy and they didn’t do their job when doing something like demanding that the SEC or even FBI investigate the shenanigans at Fannie/Freddie would have blown the cover off banking corruption.
– I will again urge you to write your representative and remind them of how they failed to heed the warning signs of an imploding economy and as a result they don’t deserve a pay raise. You use the easy contact form at Congress.org to let them know your thoughts.
Non Sequitur - Jan 8
- Microsoft and IBM Rumors/News
General Economic News
Municipal News
US and some Canada Layoff News
International News
Hiring News
– Microsoft/Google/IBM News & Rumors –
Mike: The rumor mill is a bit quieter today for MSFT and IBM. Hopefully it stays that way.
* The search giant that’s redefining the digital age used paper filings with federal regulators to outline layoffs and cost-cutting plans. The analog filing kept investors in the dark for more than two weeks.
Google has announced that it will cut its temporary workforce, but no one is quite sure how many people will be affected.
via Google Goes Analog to Warn of Pending Layoffs – News.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cST1H69PiiI]
* A couple more notes on Microsoft before we get to our big year-in-review / 2009 forecast post tomorrow.
First off, for those that didn’t catch it, this is worth mentioning: Microsoft forgoes South Lake Union lease
Mike: Affording health insurance on unemployment is an amost impossible task for many, as this story below shows. I’ll do a post on this soon. Please feel free to post any of your health insurance suggestions for those that get laid off in the comments section:
* America’s ongoing tsunami of pink slips is washing away workers’ health coverage as well as their jobs.
That’s because most laid-off workers cannot afford to pay for temporary continuation of their health insurance through COBRA coverage, according to a report issued this morning by Families USA.
The consumer health advocacy organization said the average national premium cost for family COBRA coverage gobbled up nearly 84 percent of average unemployment benefits in 2008.
via Laid-off workers can’t afford COBRA, report says – Kansas City Star.
* According to new employment and business forecast figures released by the Associated General Contractors of America, about two thirds of the nation’s non-residential construction companies are planning to cut their payrolls.
The layoffs are predicted to result in a 30 percent decline in the number of people working on construction projects. The forecast results are based on a representative survey conducted by the AGC in late 2008.
via Large construction layoffs looming – New Mexico Business Weekly:
* TORRANCE, CA: Toyota Motor Corp., whose US sales dropped more than a third in December, said it has made PR budget reductions and will seek to “do more with less,” according to Joe Tetherow, national manager of Toyota Division Communications.
Tetherow declined to give dollar amounts of the cuts, but said it would have an affect on both internal and agency PR support.
via Difficult sales climate spurs Toyota PR cuts – PRWeek US.
* According to new employment and business forecast figures released by the Associated General Contractors of America, about two thirds of the nation’s non-residential construction companies are planning to cut their payrolls.
The layoffs are predicted to result in a 30 percent decline in the number of people working on construction projects. The forecast results are based on a representative survey conducted by the AGC in late 2008.
via Survey: Large construction layoffs looming – Nashville Business Journal: .
* Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) — U.S. job losses may double to more than 5 million by the end of 2009, the most since the Great Depression, as a prolonged recession shatters business confidence, economists said.
Payrolls may drop by an additional 2.4 million workers this year, projected Ethan Harris, co-head of economic research at Barclays Capital in New York. The Labor Department reported today that job losses last year totaled 2.6 million, the biggest annual decrease since 1945.
* Macomb County commissioners laid off 10 employees Thursday, making good on a promise to cut workers every month until unions cut $10 million from their pension and health care benefits.
via 10 Macomb County workers laid off | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.
* Some part-time employees of the Ross County Sheriff’s Office will be laid off sometime in the next few weeks, new Sheriff George Lavender said Thursday.
via Sheriff’s office to cut workers | chillicothegazette.com | Chillicothe Gazette.
* School districts are apparently not immune to the recent plague of layoffs; just days after Syracuse University announced it would cut 48 positions, word got out that West Genesee Central School District would follow suit.
via – West Genesee
* AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. John Baldacci on Friday unveiled an historically austere two-year state budget that includes plenty of pain for everyone.
The $6.1 billion state spending package proposes deep cuts to address an $838 million shortfall due to the recession and increased cost of providing services. It would eliminate 219 state positions, requiring 139 layoffs, trim some state tax rebate programs, transfer many inmates to privately run prisons and reduce public funding of gubernatorial campaigns.
via Maine budget eliminates 219 jobs – Bangor Daily News.
* Twenty city employees were laid off Thursday to help close an $11 million budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year, the city announced late in the afternoon.
“Our focus was on non-core services and non-front-line personnel so as to minimize the impact noticed by the residents,” City Manager Doug Krieger said Thursday afternoon.
via Naperville cuts workforce by 5 percent :: Naperville Sun :: News.
* ARLINGTON – Health and cleanliness inspections at Arlington restaurants won’t occur for several weeks after the city recently handed out 19 pink slips to city employees.
via Arlington layoffs may delay restaurant inspections | News for Austin, Texas | KVUE.com | State New
* DETROIT — Wayne County officials laid off 44 members of Sheriff Warren Evans’ executive staff Friday, claiming his out-of-control spending on crab, shrimp and other foodstuffs for his employees left them little choice.
Evans is denying most of the allegations, but a Department of Management & Budget report found $928,569 in purchase orders from 2006 to 2008 it labels “abusive spending.” The tally included luxury meals, food for staff Christmas parties and meals for jail inmates that could be bought cheaper or should not have been bought at all, according to the report.
via Sheriff’s spending prompts layoffs | detnews.com | The Detroit News.
* Fulton Mayor Ronald Woodward said the layoff of 36 workers at A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital in Fulton is just a taste of things to come.
Lee Memorial will lay off 36 employees by Sunday. Executive director of the hospital, Dennis Casey, cited a decrease in the facility’s inpatient volume as the reason for the layoffs, according to published reports.
via Oswego County Business Magazine.
* OLYMPIA, Wash– With the economic downturn, Governor Gregoire has had to make some budget cuts. Some of those cuts include the Department of Corrections.
On Friday the D.O.C. confirmed they will be making some layoffs. KNDU talked to the Deputy Director of the Department. He says besides budget cuts they did a case load forecast. They found that the number of offenders is going down. Now that means less offenders will be filling beds in Washington State Prisons.
via KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA | Layoffs at WA Department of Corrections.
* SARNIA, Ont. — City officials in Sarnia, Ont., meet Monday to deal with the fallout of the latest victim of the sputtering auto industry.
Ube Automotive said over the weekend it will be closing the doors of its wheel-manufacturing plant.
About 200 workers are losing their jobs over the next six months as a result of the shutdown.
via TheSpec.com – Business – Wheel plant Ube in Sarnia, Ont., closing doors, throwing 200 out of work .
* Even with the current recession and the industry’s history of up-and-down employment cycles, the layoffs at three area Freightliner plants announced Thursday are staggering.
One truck plant in Mount Holly will be almost completely idled, with nearly 600 workers sent home. Another plant in Rowan County will lose almost 1,300 employees, leaving it with one-fourth the work force it had less than a year ago.
via Freightliner cuts 2,137 N.C. jobs | CharlotteObserver.com.
* CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 2,000 workers in North Carolina are being laid off because of production cutbacks at three Freightliner plants.
Nearly 1,300 jobs will be cut at the plant in Cleveland in Rowan County. In Gastonia, 275 positions are being cut. And in Mount Holly, 572 jobs will be lost.
* Stein Mart Inc. is laying off more than 200 employees as it tries to cut expenses as sales continue to fall. The Jacksonville-based retailer reported December sales of $178 million, down 9.3 percent from the previous December.
via Sales fall, Stein Mart to cut 209 jobs – Jacksonville Business Journal: .
* Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) — Seagate Technology, the world’s biggest maker of hard-disk drives, plans to cut jobs and reorganize the company as it copes with the slumping economy, Chief Executive Officer William Watkins said.
“We are going to announce another round, and we think we’ll do it in January,” Watkins said today in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “There will be restructuring, and there will be some layoffs.”
The recession is crimping orders for personal computers, sapping demand for Seagate’s storage products. The company’s biggest rival, Western Digital Corp., announced plans last month to eliminate 2,500 jobs. In 2006, Seagate said it would shed about 6,400 jobs after acquiring Maxtor Corp. for $1.9 billion.
* WAUSEON — About 100 employees of the former Plastech factory here, now Johnson Control Injection Molding, will be permanently losing their jobs in two months.
BATH (AP) — Bath Iron Works has announced the layoffs of 179 workers, the largest single job cut in at least three years.
The cuts, announced Thursday, cover 11 trades including shipfitters, machinists, pipefitters and welders. The effective date of the layoffs is Jan. 23.
via WCSH6.com | Portland, ME | BIW To Eliminate 179 Workers.
* About 230 employees of Genworth Financial in Lynchburg are losing their jobs, a Genworth spokesman said this morning.
The company announced in December that it would eliminate about 1,000 positions from its global workforce. It notified affected employees this week. Most affected workers were told on Thursday.
via Genworth laying off 230 in Lynchburg | WSLS 10.
* Though AK Steel Corp. said Wednesday it would take back an unspecified number of 365 idled workers locally and restart production in its Mansfield plant, most of those employees have not been called back to work, according to reports released Thursday.
The firm told investors Thursday it will start a company-wide layoff of salaried workers company-wide and will lay off up to 47 employees at one of its other Ohio facilities.
via AK Steel to lay off 47 workers at Ohio plant | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News Journal.
* The online “campus” of Colorado State University laid off 12 workers today as part of the site’s efforts to weather the bad economy.
“We’re just being very proactive,” said CSU-Global CEO Rich Schweigert. “I fully expect (the) Global campus to be here in five years, 10 years.”
* Another Siouxland employer is feeling the economic pinch, laying off a handful of employees effective immediately.
MtronPTI out of Yankton, South Dakota says the 15 layoffs are necessary, because of a slowdown in orders.
via More Layoffs Come From Another Siouxland Employer.
* At least 1,000 of Alltel’s 2,900 positions in Pulaski County likely will be cut or sent to other states eventually.
Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon closed the deal by paying$5.9 billion for the equity of Alltel, which had been the nation’s fifth-largest wireless carrier.
Between 50 and 75 Alltel employees, mostly at the executive level, were let go Thursday, Verizon spokesman Robin Nicol …
via Verizon closes deal on Alltel; 50-75 jobs cut, more expected.
It’s no secret that Warner Bros. is poised to slash dozens if not hundreds of jobs at its Burbank headquarters in the first quarter. The Time Warner Inc. studio will join a train of other entertainment companies including NBC/Universal and Viacom Inc. to cut costs across their operations in the face of tough industry economics and the deepening recession.
Although the number and timing of layoffs at Warner is still being determined, it will definitely impact scores of “back office” workers in management information systems, finance and accounting. Many of those jobs will be outsourced to India and Poland, according to people familiar with the situation. Once Warner finalizes its plans, it will conduct training sessions with the outsource workers at its Burbank lot as well as at its various offices around the world.
via – Warner Bros. outsourcing jobs to India and Poland
* Another day brings with it another round of layoffs. Three companies announced job cuts Friday that will affect hundreds of workers in Minnesota.
Cirrus Design Corporation informed employees that 50 administrative positions have been eliminated and nearly 100 furloughed workers will not be returning to work. This comes just days after most of the Duluth-based company’s employees returned to the job after a month-long furlough.
via kare11.com | Twin Cities, MN | Three companies plan to cut nearly 900 jobs in Minnesota.
* Between 70 and 80 hourly and salaried employees at ATK’s Lewiston site are losing their jobs at the ammunition maker permanently.
via http://www.lmtribune.com/breaking-news/790/ .
* CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Greenbrier announced Friday that the resort will furlough almost half its 1,350 employees, citing the bad economy and hundreds of empty hotel rooms.
Hotel officials decided to furlough 650 hourly and salaried workers “due to a sharper than normal seasonal decline in business, as w
* Crozer-Keystone Health System began eliminating 400 jobs this week.
The Delaware County organization, which employs 7,000 people at five hospitals, notified managers and medical staff of its plans yesterday. Some non-union employees already have left, Kathy Scullin
via Crozer-Keystone Health cutting 400 jobs | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/08/2009.
* News 5 has learned 21 full-time employees are being laid off at Hastings Thermo King manufacturing facility. The layoffs take effect January 16th.
via Thermo King announces layoffs – Top Local Stories – News : KHAS-TV.
* Jan. 8–The weakened carpet market and the loss of a major fiber supplier were major factors in Gulistan Carpet’s decision to close its Turnersburg plant in February.
About 120 people are expected to lose their jobs when the carpet yarn plant closes its doors Feb. 28.
via Turnersburg plant to close doors.
* MONTREAL, Jan. 9 /CNW Telbec/ – BPR-Bechtel has found it necessary to lay
off 330 workers from its offices across Quebec. This represents a temporary staff reduction of nearly thirty-six percent.
Certain of BPR-Bechtel’s clients are being directly affected by the global economic slowdown, and are consequently reducing their investments,
scale of operations, and numbers of staff. This all, of course, directly impacts BPR-Bechtel and its employees.
via CNW Group | BPR-BECHTEL | Layoffs at BPR-Bechtel .
* Beacon Energy Holdings, a US-based company engaged in the production and marketing of biodiesel, has reduced its workforce at its Cleburne, Texas facility. The reduction amounted to approximately 30% of the on-site staff.
via Beacon Energy reduces workforce at Texas facility – Energy Business Review.
* Adotas — The new year is starting as badly as last year ended.
World Avenue, an interactive marketing services firm, said today due to market conditions and an expected decline in advertising spending during the first half of the year, it has cut approximately 30 percent of its workforce. The reductions were made in full compliance with the WARN ACT, according to the company.
via World Avenue reduces workforce » Adotas.
* DAYTON — The Dayton Art Institute has reduced its work force by 9 percent, according to museum director Jan Driesbach.
Of the institution’s 36 full-time employees, four positions were eliminated as of Wednesday, Jan. 7. In addition, two full-time jobs were reduced to part-time, and an equivalent of four-and-a-half part times jobs were cut by reducing the hours of 15 additional staffers.
via Dayton Art Institute reduces workforce.
* Salary.com said it has cut 100 jobs, or 16 percent of its workforce, “in response to the current and anticipated macro-economic uncertainties.”
via Salary.com lays off 100 employees – Daily Business Update – The Boston Globe.
* The state of the economy is forcing another area plant to reduce its workforce.
Eramet in Marietta announced employee layoffs Thursday and will continue doing so Friday.
“The company has decided to reduce its workforce by 110 employees,” Joy Frank-Collins, Eramet spokesperson, said.
via Eramet Marietta Plans Layoffs .
* Facing economic pressures, yet another local company is reducing its workforce.
Brush Wellman issued layoff notices Wednesday morning to 56 hourly and nine salaried employees.
via Brush Wellman in Elmore lays off 65 people.
* Avago Technologies Finance Pte. Ltd. (“Avago Finance”), a leading designer, developer and global supplier of analog semiconductor devices, today announced it will consolidate its worldwide workforce, reducing the number of employees by approximately 230, or about 6 percent of total headcount.
* McAdenville-based Pharr Yarns is planning employee layoffs to adjust for the softening in demand for soft spun carpet yarn.
Mel Collins, Pharr’s vice president for human resources, said there wouldn’t be mass layoffs or plant closings and that demand for other product lines remains strong.
via Pharr Yarns to reduce work force | CharlotteObserver.com
* Butterball, LLC today announced in a news release it will adjust operations at its Carthage facility, resulting in layoffs to 75 employees.
The changes, scheduled to begin around March 1, 2009, will combine two deboning shifts into one shift. The adjustment is the result of the reduction of turkeys raised on farms in 2008 to help Butterball, LLC properly meet decreased demand projections, the release said.
via Butterball in Carthage to lay off 75 workers | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader.
* Bargain-priced footwear at Niagara Shoe Factory outlets across Niagara will be priced even lower until mid-February when the Port Colborne-based business closes its doors……
Mike Klemm is listed as the owner of the Port Colborne business. According to the city of Port Colborne’s website, the factory employs about 25 people. That doesn’t include the retail portion of the business.
via NiagaraThisWeek.com: News: Story: Niagara Shoe Factory closing its doors.
* MasterCraft Boat Co. in Vonore continued layoffs Wednesday, which takes the layoff number to over 100 since early fall 2008.
* Vermont Teddy Bear Co. laid off 35 employees today and announced its Waterbury retail store will close at the end of January.
The job cuts, which were spread throughout the company’s Shelburne and Newport locations, eliminated about 14 percent of the company’s work force.
via Vermont Teddy Bear lays off 35 employees | burlingtonfreepress.com | The Burlington Free Press.
* Stock Building Supply laid off 9,000 workers in the United States during the past 14 months, president Joe Appelmann told Charlotte’s News & Observer.
The cuts, part of British parent Wolseley plc’s plan to slash its American building materials distribution division’s workforce, come in response to a national housing crunch that has hit building materials suppliers particularly hard.
“When housing is talked about, I think people strictly think about homebuilders,” Appelmann said during a conference call. “There’s an exact trickle-down effect when their business is impacted.”
BUFFALO, N.Y. The Buffalo News is offering buyouts to about 300 employees in the newsroom and other departments because of tough economic times.
This is the second recent round of buyouts at the Berkshire Hathaway Inc.-owned daily, but the first to include editorial employees. The Buffalo News has about 820 employees.
via – ‘Buffalo News’ Offers Buyouts to Hundreds of Employees – Editor & Publisher
* Charlotte law firm Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein has laid off 28 employees, saying it is responding to the economic downturn.
The layoffs included 13 lawyers, four paralegals and 11 other staffers in various practice areas.
via Parker Poe lays off 28 employees – Charlotte Business Journal: .
* Thursday, Multi-Color Corp. (LABL: News ) revealed plans to consolidate its heat transfer label, or HTL, manufacturing facility located in Framingham, Massachusetts into its other existing facilities. The transition will begin immediately with final plant closure within the next several months.
* A large public tools manufacturer is closing its Escondido plant and laying off about 80 employees, some of whom will be rehired at other facilities.
Snap-on Inc., based in Wisconsin, is combining the Escondido operations with those of a Los Angeles-area facility, said company spokesman Richard Secor.
via San Diego Business Journal Online – business news for San Diego, California .
* More than a dozen farmers in our area say they are losing everything.
As Eyewitness News first reported, Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Live Oak is cutting more than 500 jobs, but the plant’s closing means 19 area chicken growers are down on their luck, too.
These farmers say they aren’t just losing business, they’re losing their livelihoods.
via Local Poultry Growers Lose Farms .
* WHITE CITY — The imploding residential housing market dealt Boise Cascade’s White City plywood plant a fatal blow Thursday.
The worst year for housing starts in post-World War II America led the Boise, Idaho, wood products firm to announce it will close the Antelope Road plant and lay off 110 workers on March 13.
via MailTribune.com: 110 jobs lost in White City.
* TORONTO, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Canada’s Globe and Mail plans to use voluntary severance and layoffs to cut 80 jobs, or about 10 percent of its workforce, as the national daily newspaper copes with a slowdown in the advertising market, its publisher said on Friday.
via Globe and Mail aims to cut 80 jobs, publisher says | Markets | Markets News | Reuters .
* Optisolar, which makes thin-film solar panels and builds large solar farms, has laid off around 300 employees, or half of its staff.
via Greentech Media | Optisolar Lays off 300, Half the Staff.
* One of Charlotte’s oldest law firms has become the latest to feel the economic pinch.
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein laid off 28 employees, including 13 attorneys, to “align the firm’s staffing levels and structure with market demand during the economic recession,” firm officials announced Thursday. The cuts occurred across the 480-employee firm’s six offices in the Carolinas.
via Law firm cuts 28 employees | CharlotteObserver.com.
* WAUSEON — About 100 employees of the former Plastech factory here, now Johnson Control Injection Molding, will be permanently losing their jobs in two months.
via Crescent-News.com – Wauseon plant closing, about 100 jobs will be lost.
* EVART – The struggling auto ¨ industry brought down yet ¨ another victim Thursday as the PPG Industries Works 23 plant in Evart discussed closure Thursday.
Corporate officials visited the plant to begin negotiations with union officials, according to Plant Manager Mike Soderberg, who declined further comment on the company’s status.
via cadillacnews.com.
* About 90 people are losing their jobs as Armor Metal Group plans to close a southern Indiana plant and move at least some of that work to an Ohio factory.
Cincinnati-based Armor Metal plans to close the Madison plant over the next six months. The factory makes shipping and storage containers, racks and other kinds of equipment, mostly under contracts with the federal government and the military.
via Armor Metal closing southern Indiana factory — chicagotribune.com.
* Herff Jones, Inc. announced Thursday it will close its manufacturing plant and photography lab in Lewiston, and consolidate the work to their facility in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Herff Jones employs about 275 people at the Lewiston facility. Mike Williams, vice-president of Human Resources for Herff Jones, would not comment on the number of employees affected by the closing, but did say some employees would remain at the Lewiston facility.
via WKBT La Crosse, WI-NewsChannel 8-Herff Jones to Close Lewiston Manufacturing Plant, Photo Lab.
* Ryder will close its local operations February 19th.
Plant closings and production cutbacks have led to the shut-down of still another Findlay business.
Ryder Trucking, which has 68 employees in Findlay and Bowling Green, will close its local operations February 19th.
via 1330 WFIN News with Tom Sheldon and Scott Jennings – Findlay Ohio.
* Nearly 200 workers at what was once known as the Freightliner plant on Swan Island will lose their jobs at month’s end as part of sweeping cuts by Daimler Trucks North America that will shed 9 percent of its work force
via 190 at Daimler Trucks’ Swan Island plant to lose jobs Jan. 30 – OregonLive.com.
* Following what has become a trend among businesses across the country, the state and the community, Straits Steel has had to lay off some of its Ludington employees.
The wire manufacturer has about 85 employees still working, down 15 from 100 prior to the holidays. The company had 180 employees years ago but then after a near plant closing has been at 100 for several years, Varenhorst said.
* SUNRISE, Fla. – Protective Products of America, Inc. (PPA:TSX), a maker of ceramic armour products for military and law-enforcement customers, is cutting its workforce by one-quarter as it awaits a major contract.
Formerly known as Ceramic Protection of Calgary, PPA announced Thursday from its Florida headquarters that most of the staff reduction will affect an unspecified number of contract workers.
* SARNIA, Ont. – Nova Chemicals Corp. (TSX:NCX), Canada’s largest plastics producer, says it will cut 400 jobs worldwide, including an undisclosed number at its petrochemicals plant in the southwestern Ontario community of Sarnia.
via Nova Chemicals Corp. to cut 400 jobs amid slumping prices and weak demand | AM 1150.
* New York & Company said that key components of the restructuring and cost reduction program includes – permanent reduction of 12% of the company’s field management and about 10% reduction in corporate office professionals;
* PORTAGE, MI — Auto parts supplier Summit Polymers Inc. said Thursday it is closing one of its Portage plants and laying off 215 workers.
The plant closure and 13 percent reduction in its local work force were blamed on lowered car and truck production, the Portage-based company said in a written statement.
* WASHINGTON — The Washington Redskins laid off at least 20 employees at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va., this week and an undetermined number at FedEx Field, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation.
via HeraldNet: Redskins lay off at leat 20 employees.
* CHICAGO – Sun-Times Media Group Inc. plans to close 12 weekly newspapers in suburban Chicago and has asked its union employees to take a cut in compensation as part of cost-cutting measures brought on by declining advertising revenue.
The company, which operates the Chicago-Sun Times, also wants to lay off up to 15 employees in suburban newsrooms, a union official told Crain’s Chicago Business for a story on its Web site Thursday.
via Sun-Times Media Group to close 12 suburban papers — chicagotribune.com.
* Jan. 8–About 55 contracted workers at Big West refinery have lost their jobs because of problems stemming from the plant owner’s recent bankruptcy filing, a union official briefed on the situation said Thursday.
via Big West lays off 55 workers amid financial turmoil.
* Array Biopharma released a statement today confirming rumors that the company laid off 10 percent of its staff. In addition to the 40 employees cut from research and support positions, Array announced it will be scaling back its R&D over the next 2 years. The company expects the restructuring to reduce its burn rate from $30 million per quarter to $20 million.
via Array biopharma cuts staff, seeks partnerships – FierceBiotech.
* Jan 9 (Reuters) – World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE.N) said it plans to cut 10 percent of its global workforce to control costs, and increase earnings and margins.
via UPDATE 1-WWE to cut 10 percent of its workforce | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters .
* “There’s a lot of rumors going around. That’s about it,” says Nancy Hamilton. Mark Edminster adds what he’s heard, “1,500 to 1,600 hundred hourly and the rest management, you know indirect people.”
In the next few days, confirmation of one thing will arrive in their mail boxes. A letter, from Hawker Beechcract CEO Jim Schuster, that says layoffs will happen.
* Semitool on Thursday announced the layoffs of 280 employees, including about 200 in the Kalispell and Libby offices.
The layoffs also include a “scattering of service/sales people in Texas, California, Minnesota and the East Coast,” the company said in a news release. The few remaining layoffs came at plants in Asia and Europe.
via Semitool laying off 280, mostly in Montana | greatfallstribune.com | Great Falls Tribune.
* WEST CHESTER, Ohio — AK Steel Holding Corp. said it will temporarily lay off an undisclosed number of salaried workers due to falling demand for steel.
The company with headquarters in suburban Cincinnati said that the layoffs could become permanent and will likely affect employees in all of AK Steel’s plants and offices. Officials didn’t said how many workers would be affected by the layoffs.
via AK Steel Announces Layoffs For Salaried Workers – News Story – WHIO Dayton.
* Cirrus Design officials announced Thursday that 10 employees at the Grand Forks plant have been laid off, citing a worse economic performance than hoped for as the reason behind the cuts.
via Cirrus Design announces 10 layoffs in GF | Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, North Dakota .
* ST. LOUIS | The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is laying off 39 employees, including 14 in the newsroom.
The others are in operations, advertising and finance departments.
Publisher Kevin Mowbray said in a story Thursday at the STLtoday.com that the layoffs result from a fall in advertising revenue caused by the recession.
via St. Louis newspaper lays off 39 employees – Kansas City St
* KNOP-TV – Union Pacific Railroad announced Thursday it is temporarily laying off hundreds of employees. In the North Platte area about 231 workers will be off the job.
via Union Pacific lets go hundreds in North Platte – Top Local Stories – News : KHAS-TV.
* Intermec said today that it would cut 150 jobs, or 7 percent of its global work force, mainly in selling, general and administrative areas, as it responds to the global economic meltdown. The Everett company said the job cuts will save up to $16 million a year.
via Business & Technology | Intermec to cut 150 jobs, 7% of work force | Seattle Times Newspaper.
* The weakened carpet market and the loss of a major fiber supplier were major factors in Gulistan Carpet’s decision to close its Turnersburg plant in February.
About 120 people are expected to lose their jobs when the carpet yarn plant closes its doors Feb. 28.
“It is just the overall state of the economy,” plant manager Frank Wells said
via Turnersburg plant to close doors.
* Erickson Retirement Communities, which develops and operates retirement communities in 11 states, laid off 260 employees Wednesday, a 2 percent staff reduction that the Catonsville-based company blamed on the deepening recession.
via Erickson Retirement idles 260 workers — baltimoresun.com.
* America’s ongoing tsunami of pink slips is washing away workers’ health coverage as well as their jobs.
That’s because most laid-off workers cannot afford to pay for temporary continuation of their health insurance through COBRA coverage, according to a report issued this morning by Families USA.
The consumer health advocacy organization said the average national premium cost for family COBRA coverage gobbled up nearly 84 percent of average unemployment benefits in 2008.
via Laid-off workers can’t afford COBRA, report says – Kansas City Star.
* HAMPTON — What officials called “a significant layoff” occurred at Foss Manufacturing on Friday.
The layoffs represented an attempt by Foss owners to bring the company in line with current economic conditions, said Chief Operating Officer Bill Cummings.
Maine budget eliminates 219 jobsGreenland restaurant and pub closeStrafford County lays off 40 workersCoping with life after a layoffL.L. Bean: Layoffs possible in new yearRetailer KB Toys files for bankruptcy protectionBoston Market closesBeer co. slashing 1,400 jobsCall center to close in Dover; 300 jobs cutTweeter closing doors
An individual who identified himself only as one of the workers laid off Friday indicated that a total of 114 Foss employees were told there were no jobs for them. Cummings said that number was a bit high, but would not comment on the exact number of workers laid off other than to say it was “significant.”
via Foss job cuts ‘significant’.
* SACRAMENTO, Calif. — OptiSolar tells KCRA 3 that 105 of its employees from the facility at McClellan Air Park will be laid off Friday.
via OptiSolar To Lay Off 105 Employees – KCRA 3 News Story – KQCA Sacramento.
* Cortland, New York (WSYR-TV) – Employees at the BorgWarner Morse TEC facility in Cortland tell us just under 200 workers have been laid off from the Cortland facility and two Ithaca facilities.
* In a letter to Hawker Beechcraft employees today, chief executive Jim Schuster said he expects more layoffs at the Wichita planemaker.
“As we enter 2009, we see the economy continuing to erode and find ourselves facing a highly uncertain and unpredictable business climate,” Schuster said in the letter. “As a result we are forced to substantially decrease our 2009 production levels and take the painful step of reducing our work force accordingly.”
via Hawker chief expects more layoffs | News Updates | Kansas.com.
* About 85 employees will be affected by Carter’s closing, although a few who live in the Thomasville area will retain their jobs. In addition, Directional will lease a frame operation in Denton, just south of Thomasville, which employs 18 people.
via Directional Furniture buying Carter Furniture assets – 2009-01-08 14:30:32 – Furniture Today.
* Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. announced Thursday that it is laying off approximately 60 full-time production workers at its Towanda plant, and is planning to temporarily shut down the plant for one week, the human resources director at the plant said.
* The Albuquerque Journal has announced staff reductions as part of a restructuring aimed at reducing costs but said the cuts were limited to fewer than 10 in the newsroom.
via Albuquerque Journal announces layoffs – Forbes.com.
* “In response to the economic situation that is affecting everyone, we decided the prudent thing to do was to take a hard look at our expenses and budget,” said Anne Leach, chairwoman of the center’s board of trustees. “By consolidating positions, we are now stronger and leaner.”
The National Steinbeck Center, the cultural hub of Oldtown Salinas, the city’s downtown business district, now has a full-time staff of eight, down from 13 before the layoffs, Leach said.
via Steinbeck Center cuts staff | thecalifornian.com | The Salinas Californian.
* Teleflex Marine, which makes boat steering controls, has announced plans to close its Hagerstown area plant, The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown reported.
In a filing with the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, the company says 93 employees will lose their jobs.
via 93 to lose jobs when Teleflex Marine closes Hagerstown plant — baltimoresun.com.
* BELMOND — Eaton Corp., one of Belmond’s top employers, will cut 78 jobs representing about 20 percent of its workforce, company officials announced on Thursday.
via WCFcourier.com – Waterloo and Cedar Falls Iowa News Homepage | News » Breaking News.
* MUSCATINE, Iowa — HNI Corp. officials said Thursday they had laid off employees “across the board” in Muscatine in response to sluggish sales of office furniture made by the company.
“We’re not going to announce the numbers,” said Gary Carlson, HNI’s vice president of member and community relations. “It’s several people … We’re doing it at all locations.”
via MuscatineJournal.com | HNI announces another round of layoffs.
* NEW YORK Skippy Haik, publisher of the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American — who garnered praise for living in her office for 12 straight days following Hurricane Katrina in an effort to keep the paper going — is leaving the Gannett Co. daily, the paper announced Thursday.
The announcement stated that Haik’s departure was part of a reorganization that will mean the loss of 38 jobs as the American’s printing is relocated to the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, also owned by Gannett.
via ‘Hattiesburg American’ Publisher Out, 38 Jobs Cut .
* Avago Technologies Finance Pte. Ltd. said Friday it will cut about 230 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force.
via Avago Technologies to cut 230 jobs – Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal: .
* Meredith Corp. plans to ax 250 jobs, including roughly 100 in Des Moines, and cease publication of Country Home magazine as part of its response to a bad economy and still-declining advertising revenue, the company announced Thursday.
via Meredith magazine cut; 100 lose jobs | DesMoinesRegister.com | The Des Moines Register.
* The economy has taken its toll on another Knoxville area company. ImagePoint Inc. said today it will close its sales and manufacturing operations and seek a buyer “for strategic parts of its business.”
The shutdown is immediate and “will include termination of the company’s 450 employees,” according to a press release.
via ImagePoint to sell business units, cut 450 jobs : Business : Knoxville News Sentinel.
* Officials with Delco Remy and Roadway Express have confirmed large cutbacks are planned for their Meridian operations.
Roadway Express will make cutbacks as part of a company-wide integration program being implemented by parent transportation company YRC. Some have said as many as 100 or more jobs could be lost.
via Meridian Star – Delco Remy, Roadway to cut local jobs.
* KALAMAZOO, MI — The Kalamazoo DesignWare plant expects to layoff 15 workers later this month, or about 5 percent of its local work force, the plant’s owner, American Greetings Corp., said today.
* Black & Decker announced Thursday it again will cut its U.S. workforce – this time by 125, said Roger Young, vice president of investor and media relations.
The power tool company began notifying those employees who were being laid off this week.
via Black & Decker to cut jobs; Jackson’s Ruby Tuesday still open | jacksonsun.com | .
* Sparrow Hospital eliminated 23 managers’ positions Thursday as part of a plan to cut costs at Lansing’s largest health care facility.
via Sparrow cuts 23 manager jobs | lansingstatejournal.com | Lansing State Journal.
* Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney is also feeling the effects of the struggling economy.
Good Sam completed its cost reduction plans by laying off 32 employees.
* TULSA, Okla. (AP) – More than 300 people will lose their jobs because of cutbacks at one Tulsa company and the closure of another.
Penloyd/OFC will lay off 187 employees at its plant in northeast Tulsa. The company makes display fixtures for stores such as Dillard’s and Eddie Bauer and says the recession has cut into their customer’s spending.
* Sprint Nextel said yesterday it will lay off 160 employees from its Herndon operations. The announcement comes amid frozen credit markets,
economic turmoil and questions about the success of the company’s high-speed Internet technology venture with Clearwire.
via Sprint Nextel to Cut 160 Jobs in Herndon – washingtonpost.com.
* Ambassadors Group Inc., which organizes educational travel programs, said Thursday that it plans to cut up to 20 percent of the company’s work
force because fewer families have signed up for its 2009 trips.
via Ambassadors to cut up to 20 percent of its jobs – Forbes.com.
* G&K Services Inc., which provides uniforms and facility services, on Friday said it is eliminating 460 jobs, including 340 employees and 120
open positions, from its work force as it aims to trim costs amid weak demand.
via G&K Services cuts 460 positions – Forbes.com.
* An Essex company working to install a wind-power project on Grandpa’s Knob in Castleton, Vt., is closing its Rutland office.
Brad King, the local project manager for Noble Environmental Power, says the company has not given up plans for the wind farm in Vermont and will continue to gather data from meteorological towers installed on the ridge last year.
via CT wind company shuts doors in Vermont | Hartford Business.
* The restructure was necessary to improve performance, says Motivaction managing director
Agency Motivaction has made 11 staff redundant as part of an internal restructure.
via Motivaction restructure sees 11 jobs cut.
* When Teck Cominco Ltd. bought the assets of Fording Canadian Coal Trust for US$14-billion last year, it had one obvious goal: dig up and sell as much coking coal as possible.
via Teck Cominco cuts 1,400 jobs.
* U.S.-based home decor retailer Cost Plus Inc (CPWM.O) said it will close 26 stores and reduce its home office and distribution center staff by 18 percent as part of its cost-cutting initiatives amid sluggish economic conditions.
* Boeing is expected to announce a major layoff of workers in its Commercial Airplane division later today.
A person familiar with the plan said 4,000 to 4,500 people face layoff.
via Business & Technology | Boeing to announce layoffs today | Seattle Times Newspaper.
* UPDATE:
The Boeing news release is posted below.
SEATTLE, Jan. 9, 2009 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] said today that employment at its Commercial Airplanes business unit is expected to decline by approximately 4,500 positions in 2009 as part of an effort to ensure competitiveness and control costs in the face of a weakening global economy.
* Grand Island – Saint Francis Medical Center has announced employee layoffs that bring the total to 22 since Oct. 2008. This completes the organization’s planned layoffs.
The total includes those people affected by the closing of the Wood River and Cairo Primary Care Clinics and Wellness Works/Por Su Salud as well as various departments of the hospital.
* To weather the economic storm, hospitals are cutting staff. Good Samaritan has cut 32 jobs in Kearney, and St. Francis another 22 in Grand Island. At St. Francis Medical Center, that’s less than two-percent of the hospital’s 1,200 jobs.
* Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. will lay off at least 1,550 workers at its Morenci copper mine, the Phoenix-based company said Friday.
The layoffs come on heels of a major cost-cutting plan Freeport unveiled late last year, which included reducing production at mines in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado and laying off workers at those facilities.
via Freeport-McMoRan to cut mining job
* Japan Airlines, facing a profit slump this year, expects to shed 1,640 jobs by March 2011 as part of efforts to boost efficiency, a company spokesman said.
via Sky News: Japan Airlines to whittle workforce .
* Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) — Canadian employment fell by almost twice as much as expected in December, led by construction, more evidence that the world’s eighth-biggest economy is suffering from the effects of a global recession.
Employers shed a net 34,400 workers after a drop of 70,600 in November, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The jobless rate rose to a three-year high of 6.6 percent from 6.3 percent the month before. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg anticipated the unemployment rate would jump to 6.5 percent and employers would cut 20,000 positions.
* The North East of England was hit by a fresh jobs blow today when 150 finance positions were axed following the 1,200 cuts at car giant Nissan.
* AMSTERDAM, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Struggling Dutch chip equipment maker ASM International (ASMI.AS) plans to move part of its operations
from the Netherlands to Asia, affecting about 200 jobs, it said on Friday.
* Nissan announced Thursday it will cut 1,200 jobs in the U.K. as it reduces production because of declining consumer demand.
via Nissan to cut 1,200 positions at U.K. plant – MarketWatch .
* LONDON (AP) — British builder Bovis Homes Group PLC said Friday that it will shed another 200 jobs and will
not pay a dividend this financial year as sales of its homes fell sharply amid a decline in the British housing market.
via The Associated Press: British builder Bovis Homes to slash jobs.
* MORE jobs have been lost in the automotive industry, as both Nissan and BMW joined the list of car makers to cut jobs in the UK after losing sales.
BMW said it was cutting 70 agency staff from its Hams Hall engine-making plant in Warwickshire.
via Birmingham Post – Business – Business News – Automotive Business – BMW to cut 70 jobs at Hams Hall.
* LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) – British transport operator Go-Ahead Group’s (GOG.L) Southeastern rail franchise said on Friday it was planning to
cut 300 jobs in 2009 due to lower passenger growth and the economic downturn.
* UNIONS FIGHT MEAT PLANT CLOSURE.
Union leaders are swearing to fight the closure of the Tulip meat plant, in the North West of England, that was announced last week meaning to loss of 300 jobs.
* TAMPA – The FBI in Tampa is joining the agency’s national hiring spree, with four to six jobs posted today, an FBI spokesman said.
Openings in the Tampa office, which covers 18 Central Florida counties, include telecommunications specialist, electronics technician and office service supervisor, FBI spokesman Dave Couvertier said.
On Tuesday, Couvertier said there were no openings in the Tampa office. But that changed. Couvertier urged jobseekers to go to www.fbijobs.gov every day for new openings.
The federal law enforcement agency has launched what it describes as “one of the largest hiring blitzes in our 100-year history” and hopes to hire more than 2,100 professional staff employees and 850 special agents nationwide.
via Tampa Office Part Of FBI Hiring Spree; Web Site Fixed.
* COASTAL BEND – One of the world’s largest makers of steel pipe announced plans Thursday to build a $1 billion factory in the Coastal Bend.
The Chinese-owned Tianjin Pipe Corporation (TPCO) will now become a part of the San Patricio County landscape.
The factory will be built near the intersection of State Highways 361 and 35, just east of Gregory.
via Multi-Million Dollar Manufacturing Plant Coming To Coastal Bend – KRIS-TV- msnbc.com.
* The latest job cuts included 300 at train firm Southeastern, 150 at the Newcastle Building Society and 200 at housebuilder Bovis Homes, while almost 200 jobs were under threat at paving stone maker Marshalls after the firm launched its latest cost-cutting drive to cope with “uncertain” markets.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has summoned union and business leaders to a jobs summit in Downing Street on Monday, and met Welsh business leaders in Cardiff last night.
– News you can use –
* PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh-area community college is offering free tuition to laid-off workers who want to take classes in five different educational programs.
The Community College of Allegheny County will pay the tuition and fees of laid-off workers that are not covered by financial aid the workers receive.
via Fort Mill Times | FortMillTimes.com – Pa. community college free to laid-off workers – Fort Mill, SC.
Mike: Unfortunately for many, it was a very busy layoff announcements day. The weekend is approaching, so the news should be a little
lighter the next couple days. I’ll leave you with a few weekend goodies to lighten the mood a bit. Enjoy your weekend and if any breaking news
arrives, I’ll post it this weekend……….
Mike: This video is a little off the wall, but there’s a lot of truth in the humor:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnW6GsMBLMg]
Mike: If you like Dilbert……………..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9WujJg1Oy4&feature=channel]
Mike: Enjoy your weekend…………..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfh4C0SFOy4&feature=related]
– Wang Chung – Everybody Have Fun Tonight –
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMylfkSDKV0]
/div>
“Offshoring” is a word feared by financial technologists, increasingly with good reason. According to Jerry Luftman, lead researcher of the Chicago-based Society for Information Management (SIM), “offshoring” has become the favorite buzzword of today’s bank CIO, replacing “reengineering” from 10 years ago. (For IT staff, either can amount to being laid off.)
Having crunched SIM’s latest survey numbers, released in November, Luftman has reversed an earlier assertion that “Offshoring is greatly exaggerated.” SIM’s June survey of its 3,600 CTO/CIO members, one in six of whom are in financial services, asked participants how much of their IT budgets they planned to allocate to offshoring. “It’s increasing from 4 percent to 5.6 percent,” reports Luftman, “which is a big jump, considering it’s been flat for about six years and was, in fact, down last year.”
– This confirms what BS&T has been hearing frequently from bankers and vendors: Offshoring and outsourcing are on the rise — as one might expect when there’s an acute need to cut costs. However, as reported in last month’s issue, there are those who predict that the new presidential administration might limit offshoring practices, as President-elect Barack Obama promised during his election campaign…….
Hoffer says that while Union Bank started offshoring in 2006, it really focused on the strategy in 2007. “We’re not looking to have X many offshore [positions],” he reports. “It’s more about ROI.”
via Offshoring of Bank IT Jobs Looks Likely to Rise in 2009 – Bank Systems & Technology.
Mike: Let me restate some recent banking bailout news and stats. Why did our esteemed congressional reps send over $350,000,000,000 taxpayer dollars to banks for their, so far, unrestricted use? By the way, that $350 bn doesn’t include the money given to AIG. It was done to prop up a failing system caused by recklessness, corruption and greed. Banks, and non-banks like American Express; which weren’t banks but became banks, were given this taxpayer money to improve their circumstances, which would then improve the taxpayers situation. So how do these titans of banking pay back the taxpayer for the billions of free money?
- Failing banks, with this unfettered money from Uncle Sam, decided to start buying successful banks in order to prop up thier balance sheets. That’s easier than cleaning up their own books and returning to profitability.
- The same outfits continued to spend lavishly on CEO pay, executive bonuses and retreats to heal their wounded pride.
- The fed is lending these banks money at 0% interest, while the banks continue to lend at 5%-7% for 30 year mortgages.
- Banks are reducing credit card limits, cancelling cards and increasing fees and interest rates.
- Banks are laying off thousands of workers, but keeping those corporate jets and CEO golden parachutes.
- Banks are saying that they are unable to track their bailout funds. Can you imagine if you told your banker when going in for a loan that you couldn’t keep track of your money, but you want 100k?
- Now as the story above shows, these banks are outsourcing IT jobs and tech support. They have the gall to beg for billions and then layoff hundreds of thousands and then outsource jobs to other countries. I’m sure there’s a sweet tax break for the banks in job outsourcing provided by our dazed congressional reps.
– The economy is bad, and it’s hitting the IT sector head on.
The country is experiencing the lowest hiring demand for IT professionals in at least 15 years as extensive layoffs, cost-cutting and hiring freezes are putting the squeeze on higher-payed positions, like IT jobs. This is according to a survey of IT salaries from Janco Associates.
The mean salary for IT positions in mid-sized enterprises dropped 2.91% to $73,607. The mean salary for IT positions in large enterprises dropped less; it fell 1.2% to $81,128.
via IT Salaries Tanking | National Spending Journal – By Shoeboxed.
Mike: And you can add this to the list of banking deception, dishonesty and delusion:
* The 116 banks that are receiving billions in taxpayer-provided bailout money this year actually paid out $1.6 billion in compensation and benefits to their top executives last year – even though the results at some of these institutions were so poor that they would soon have to turn to Washington for a government-engineered rescue.
via Banks That Got $188 Billion in Bailout Money This Year Paid Out $1.6 Billion to Top Execs Last Year.
* Bank of American Corp. (BAC), which is getting $15 billion from the U.S. government as part of the Treasury Department’s $250 billion “recapitalization” effort, is doubling its stake in state-owned China Construction Bank Corp., and will hold a 20% stake worth $24 billion in China’s second-largest lender when that deal is finalized.
* PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC), which will get $7.7 billion from Treasury’s Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), is using that cash infusion to help finance its $5.2 billion buyout of embattled National City Corp. (NCC).
via Billions in U.S. Bank Rescue Funds are Fueling Buyouts Worldwide – Instead of Lending at Home.
Mike: If you are outraged by this continued taxpayer fleecing there is but one option, and that is to write your congressional reps and demand accountability and an explanation as to why they are allowing this all to happen with congressional approval. You can find your representative easily at Congress.org. Write or call your rep because it’s the only way they will pay attention to American workers.
– Thanks for listening. That’s the Layoff Outrage of the Day: Please feel free to discuss this in the comments area.
Mike: – Today’s big news is Thursday: Jobless Claims. which came in better and worse than expected, again. More on this later today.
* WASHINGTON (AP) — New claims for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week while the number of people continuing to seek aid rose sharply, the government said Thursday.
The Labor Department reported that initial applications for unemployment insurance dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 467,000 for the week ending Jan. 3. Wall Street economists expected initial claims to increase to 540,000. The figure partly reflects seasonal volatility that occurs around the New Year’s holiday.
– But the number of people continuing to claim jobless benefits jumped unexpectedly by 101,000 to 4.61 million. That was above analysts’ expectations of 4.5 million and the highest level since November 1982.
- Microsoft and IBM Rumors/News
General Economic News
Municipal News
US and some Canada Layoff News
International News
Hiring News
– Microsoft and IBM News/Rumors –
* Rumors of Microsoft Layoffs
posted by DOMINIC HOLDEN on WED, JAN 7 at 1:56 PM
Speculation is brewing across the interwebs that Microsoft may announce up to 15,000 layoffs this month. Sources on the Redmond campus, who describe the departments as fragmented, say they’ve heard gossip, but nothing certain. Some have seen budget cuts and hiring freezes in their departments. One source describes the mood as “cautious” and says staffers are “worried.” Most at risk, they believe, are the battalions of temporary contract employees.
via The Stranger | Slog | Rumors of Microsoft Layoffs.
Mike: Cutting costs of office space is preferable to cutting jobs:
* Microsoft has discontinued negotiations over leasing a new office building in Seattle due to the deteriorating economic situation, it said.
The company was originally interested in the building not for new employees but to help alleviate crowding on its suburban campus and to help consolidate business groups, said Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman. The building, still under construction, will have 300,000 square feet of office space.
via Cutting Costs, Microsoft Backs Away From Office Space – PC World.
* Rumor Mills Working Overtime On Reports Of Pending Layoffs At IBM, Microsoft Even the biggest IT vendors aren’t immune from layoffs — or at least the rumors of employee cuts — in the current economic environment. This week the blogosphere is rife with rumors that layoffs might be in the works at Microsoft and IBM.
– Rumors of layoffs of up to 16,000 employees at IBM are being fueled by postings on an IBM employee union Website, the Alliance@IBM, part of the Communications Workers of America union. Most of the comments hint of the ax falling around Jan. 22 or 23.
One Jan. 2 posting from “Tipster,” who identifies himself/herself as a Security and Exchange Commission employee, said he/she has seen documents filed with the SEC about layoffs that may come Jan. 23. “IBM is not 100 percent sure; but the fact that we have already been notified of these cuts means there’s a good chance the layoffs will go through,” the posting said.
* But in press interviews throughout the day, Microsoft executives talked about the economy and fended off questions about layoff rumors.
“We don’t have anything specific to announce,” said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, when I asked him to detail how his division is cutting back on operating expenses. “We do what we always do, which is make sure we’re investing our dollars and our people, talent, in the right places.
* Under the radar
The law, which Gov. David Paterson signed in September, is more stringent than the federal WARN Act, which requires only 60 days’ notice to workers and the state; the federal law also carries weaker penalties.
– With Jan. 23 only weeks away, the state Department of Labor has not heard a peep from IBM.
“If it is coming out, they’re keeping a big hush on it,” labor analyst Johny Nelson said.
But workers at IBM are on pins and needles, with many posting messages on employee Web sites that the ax is about to fall.
“The stress level has gone through the roof,” said Lee Conrad, national coordinator of Alliance@IBM, a group trying to unionize IBM workers. “People are left to guess because IBM is not forthcoming.”
via Stress levels rise at IBM as word of job cuts swirls – RecordOnline.com – The Times Herald Record.
Mike: Even WalMart is finally feeling the economic pinch:
* BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s December sales miss analysts’ expectations, and the company is cutting its earnings forecast for the fourth quarter.
via Wal-Mart’s same-store sales miss analyst forecasts – Yahoo! Finance.
* NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers reported dismal sales figures for December on Thursday as even Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.
Pedestrians walk past Generations Menswear on 8th Ave. in New York Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Retailers are reporting dismal sales for December, confirming fears that the holiday season was the weakest in four decades. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
As merchants reported their sales figures, confirming fears that the holiday season was the weakest in four decades, the malaise cut through practically all areas from kitchen gadget stores to apparel retailers.
via Retailers report dismal December sales – Yahoo! Finance.
Mike: I like the thought of legislatures taking a pay cut, yet I have a feeling they will not cut their own paychecks; but they will likely cut everything else they can think of:
* Assemblyman Richard Merkt today announced that he will introduce legislation next week in the Assembly to roll back legislative salaries by 10%. The state’s 120 senators and Assembly members currently each receive $49,000 per year, plus benefits, for what is classified as a part-time job. Under Merkt’s proposal, legislative salaries in each house would be reduced to $44,100.
via MERKT CALLS FOR 10% ROLLBACK IN LEGISLATIVE SALARIES | Politicker NJ .
* ALBANY, N.Y. (Jan. 7) – Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three states in recent days amid an unprecedented crush of thousands of newly jobless Americans seeking benefits, and other states were adjusting their systems to avoid being next.
via Surge in Jobless Claims Crashes Systems – AOL Money & Finance.
Mike: Not something that US businesses should be proud of:
* A new global study by Right Management has found that employees laid off in the United States earn the least amount of severance pay worldwide – no matter what level of employee or amount of tenure with the organization. The global study across 28 countries draws from more than 1,500 responses from human resource professionals and senior managers responsible for making severance decisions in their organization, including 456 from the United States.
via U.S. employees earn least amount of severance pay worldwide – 01/06/09.
Mike: Missouri is a state that is running out of unemployment benefit funds and needs to borrow from the feds to pay it’s unemployed workers. With luck these newly laid off Missourians will be able to collect their due benefits:
* Missouri Gov.-elect Jay Nixon told 150 state employees Wednesday that they will lose their jobs effective next Monday.
via Nixon cuts 150 state workers: bizjournals.com Business News – MSN Money.
* RALEIGH, N.C. — The state Department of Transportation has now laid off more than 750 temporary workers, an agency spokesman said Wednesday, as sagging revenues lead to further cost-cutting and delays for highway projects.
via DOT layoffs of temp workers surge beyond 750 :: WRAL.com
* The state Department of Mental Health, facing a more than $9 million cut in its budget, yesterday laid off nearly one quarter of the case managers who supervise people with severe mental illness and make sure they get the services they need.
– About 100 case managers received their pink slips or will get them today, said John Labaki, president of the Department of Mental Health chapter of local 509 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents state case managers, clinical social workers, and others.
via Mental health liaisons laid off – The Boston Globe.
* POTTSTOWN — There have been more layoffs at borough hall. In addition to the 13 union and non-union positions eliminated as part of the 2009 budget process, add three part-time positions, including the only remaining parking enforcement officer and the borough’s only part-time water meter reader.
* Macomb County commissioners this morning voted to lay off 10 employees in the first round of job cuts this year after union negotiations fell apart earlier this week.
* EMC Corp. is slashing 2,400 jobs, freezing salaries and eyeing real estate sell-offs in a comprehensive cost-saving campaign as the recession drags down technology spending. Some 600 workers will be laid off in Massachusetts.
* FORT MILL, S.C. — Springs Global announced today it will start phasing out towel manufacturing and distribution operations at the Griffin, Ga facility and transfer production to Brazil. The phase out will begin around February 28, 2009 and be completed within 45 days.
– The announcement affects 365 associates at the Griffin facility located at 349 Railroad Avenue, Griffin, Ga.
* Economic considerations are forcing the closure of the NetShape Technologies plant at 114 Appalachian Drive in Clearfield.
NetShape Technologies said the Clearfield plant will be consolidated into its plant in Falls Creek. The Clearfield plant will cease operations in June.
The privately held company manufactures powdered metals components for various industries.
via Courier-Express/Tri-County – Clearfield PM plant closing.
* The aluminum industry in West Virginia is melting down, and it could be taking Tyler County with it.
– Precision, Inc. in Sistersville has laid off over 20 employees. The plant has over 50 employees. The plant has also been temporarily shut down since Dec. 31. Precision specializes in heavy fabrication and machining of components for aluminum smelters and other production facilities.
via Tyler Star News: Aluminum industry melts down .
* JACKSON, Miss. — Regulators said on Wednesday that Mississippi casinos lost about 2,300 jobs in the first 11 months of 2008.
via Mississippi Loses Casino Jobs – Jackson News Story – WAPT Jackson.
* CHAMPAIGN – Americall Group has informed the state it will close its call center in Champaign by March 6, affecting 74 workers.
The call center has been in business for nearly 12 years, having operated in downtown Champaign before moving to its current location at 103 S. Country Fair Drive in 2003.
via The News-Gazette.com: Local Americall center will close by March 6.
* In response to falling aluminum prices and demand, Alcoa Inc. announced significant job reductions worldwide, including at Alcoa Intalco Works near Ferndale.
– There will be 80 job cuts at the Alcoa Intalco Works facility, and an additional 10 contractor positions eliminated, said Mike Rousseau, plant manager.
via Bellingham, Whatcom County Local News | Bellingham Heral
* MONTREAL — The downturn in the newsprint industry has forced Kruger Inc. to cut newsprint production by 25,000 tonnes in the first half of 2009.
The Montreal-based private company says the production cuts will be spread out at two mills in Quebec and one in Corner Brook, N.L. But company spokesman Jean Majeau says a plan has not been finalized on how the cuts will be carried out at the mills.
Job cuts are expected, but the company did not say how the latest cuts will affect its workforce.
via The Canadian Press: Kruger Inc. reduces production of newsprint by 25,000 tonnes.
* BUFFALO, N.Y. – A longtime Buffalo company, Frontier Lumber, has been forced to close its doors after nearly 70 years in business.
The Elmwood Avenue lumber and construction supply company had been struggling in these poor economic times making drastic cutbacks last Spring . It finally closed with a workforce of 23 employees
via Frontier_Lumber | WIVB.com.
* KIRKWOOD – L-3 Communications Corp. eliminated 11 full-time positions Tuesday at its Link Simulation & Training facility as it prepares for the company’s future needs, spokesman Rick Oyler said.
The layoffs were within the “engineering organization,” he said. He would not elaborate on the specific positions affected.
via 11 workers laid off at L-3 Communications | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin.
* In a prepared statement, Trane confirmed this afternoon that it will lay off another 111 hourly production workers because of slow sales.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we informed employees that we are
laying off 111 hourly production employees due to reduced orders for
Clarksville products. The layoffs are effective Friday,” the statement from Trane General Manager Doug Apelt reads.
* The bad news for startups keeps on coming in. This time it’s RubyOnRails application hosting provider Engine Yard that has laid off 15% of its staff, as publicly reported on the company’s blog earlier this week. We’ve contacted co-founder Lance Walley and can confirm that 12 out of 82 people have been let go, across several departments.
via Engine Yard Cuts 15% Of Workforce – Examiner.com.
* Jan 7 (Reuters) – Facet Biotech Corp (FACT.O), which was spun-off from PDL BioPharma Inc (PDLI.O) in December last year, said it would cut about 80 jobs as it tries to reduce costs and narrow its focus on oncology drug candidates.
via UPDATE 1-Facet Biotech to cut 80 jobs, narrow focus on oncology | Markets | Markets News | Reuters .
* Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) – Syracuse University has announced that it is laying off nearly 50 people as part of its plan to cut down on administrative costs.
via Syracuse University to lay off nearly 50 workers – NewsChannel 9 WSYR .
* Jewelry television has begun a new round of layoffs at its Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters, according to media reports.
A spokeswoman for the television shopping network was unable to release an exact number of jobs that will be cut but she did say that it will affect all departments.
via More Layoffs at JTV – 1/7/2009 2:39:00 PM – JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone.
* ONEIDA, N.Y. – Oneida Ltd., once the world’s pre-eminent flatware maker, is closing its remaining 20 retail outlet stores in North America.
Beginning Friday, the company will hold inventory clearance sales at its outlets. The sales are expected to be completed by April.
via Oneida Ltd. to close North American outlets — Newsday.com.
* ICT Group Inc. said Tuesday it plans to close all or part of six call centers in the United States and Canada and reduce staffing at its European and Australian call centers as part of a plan to move its call-center operations to countries with lower labor costs.
via ICT closing call centers, seeking lower-cost sites – Philadelphia Business Journal: .
* CRANFORD, N.J. – (Business Wire) Beacon Energy Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BCOE) (“Beacon” or the “Company”), an emerging producer and investor in the developing biodiesel sector, announced today that it had reduced its work force at its Cleburne, Texas facility (the “Texas Facility”)…………
The duration of this scale-back will be determined by numerous factors including anticipated future sales volume. The reduction amounted to approximately 30% of the on-site staff.
via Beacon Energy Holdings, Inc. Announces Reduction in Work Force.
* WALNUT CREEK — Virgin Mobile USA has decided to shut its offices here in a move that will eliminate nearly 200 jobs once the cutbacks are complete by early 2009, the wireless services provider said Monday.
For the most part, the devastating economic slump nationwide and globally did not unleash these job reductions at Virgin Mobile.
via Virgin shuts Walnut Creek office; 200 jobs gone – Inside Bay Area.
* WEIRTON, W.Va. — Weirton Medical Center announced Wednesday that it is reducing its workforce by approximately 36 full-time equivalent employees.
via Weirton Medical Center Announces Workforce Reduction – News Story – WTOV Steubenville.
* Koch Industries is in the process of reducing its Wichita work force by about 150 employees, the company told The Eagle today.
That represents about a 7 percent reduction since the moves began in November.
via Koch cutting 150 from Wichita work force | Business Updates | Kansas.com.
* WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Noble Hospital in Westfield has announced that 9 workers have been laid off from the hospital’s clinical and non-clinical areas.
* The Marcus Whitman School District will lay off 12 full-time teachers and one part-time employee in the next school year. Additionally, a vacancy that will be left by a teacher’s retirement at the end of this school year won’t be filled.
via Whitman to cut 12 teachers – Canandaigua, NY – MPNnow.
* “In addition, Ahlstrom has started the process of reducing personnel at several plants globally,” Lang said. “The adjustments concern personnel both in the Specialty Papers and the Fiber Composites segments,” he said, adding that the measures will result in a reduction of around 150 employees.
via Journal Inquirer > Business > More cuts at Ahlstrom.
* SAUK RAPIDS — A cabinet maker laid off a “substantial” number of employees Wednesday in response to a weak economy and called in state advisors to talk to the newly unemployed about what happens next.
Crystal Cabinets Works Inc. cut employees at its offices in Sauk Rapids and Princeton. It refused to say how many workers were let go at both offices but said it employed 560 before the job cuts.
via Crystal Cabinets announces \”substantial\” layoffs | sctimes.com | St. Cloud Times.
* The LPGA wasted little time in gearing up for a season that doesn’t begin until next month.
Several staff members were promoted in a “reorganization of business functions’’ that Golfweek has learned also resulted in as many as seven layoffs.
Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, speaking with Golfweek in response to the tour’s Jan. 7 news release announcing the changes, would only confirm that chief operating officer Chris Higgs was among those who were let go.
via LPGA Tour | LPGA shakeup: Promotions, pink slips
* Hartwell’s Tenneco plant is still in business, but 127 employees learned Wednesday morning they will be laid off for the rest of January.
The plant normally employs about 300 workers.
* Wednesday, Asyst Technologies, Inc. (ASYT: News ) announced that it would additionally cut 15% of the company’s global workforce to further reduce the company’s break-even level and improve cash flow in response to continued weakness in the semiconductor equipment industry.
via RTTNews – Quick facts Articles, Positive EPS Surprises, News Analysis, Earnings, Audio News…. .
* SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. has jettisoned a substantial number of temporary workers in a recent austerity drive spurred by the recession, although the Internet search leader still intends to spend billions of dollars during the next two years on product research, development and acquisitions
via Google cuts temp jobs but murky on details – ContraCostaTimes.com.
* Morganton – Valdese Weavers laid off some workers this week.
Mike Shelton, president and CEO of the company, wouldn’t say how many were laid off but the workers included salaried and hourly, with some management positions involved.
via More Valdese Weavers workers lose jobs.
* FORT MILL, S.C. — Springs Global announced today it will start phasing out towel manufacturing and distribution operations at the Griffin, Ga facility and transfer production to Brazil. The phase out will begin around February 28, 2009 and be completed within 45 days.
The announcement affects 365 associates at the Griffin facility located at 349 Railroad Avenue, Griffin, Ga.
WENATCHEE — For the first time in recent memory, the Chelan County PUD has announced layoffs. It will eliminate 10 jobs at its two Columbia River dams to cut costs.
via – Chelan PUD to cut 10 jobs at dams
* Austin-based Motion Computing Inc. said Wednesday that it cut about 30 workers, or roughly 25 percent of its work force; the company also announced the departure of CEO Scott Eckert.
via Motion Computing cuts about 30 workers.
* As skittish consumers scrap plans for elaborate holiday trips, the phones at Collette Vacations have quieted. Advanced booking for travel this year is down 21 percent.
Yesterday, the Pawtucket-based company said it was laying off 40 employees, 9 percent of its global work force.
* The One Laptop Per Child initiative laid off about half of its staff Wednesday, leaving 32 employees on reduced salaries to forge ahead on “a new path that will allow us to realize the moral purpose of OLPC,” according to OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte.
* NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Cytec Industries Inc. (CYT: 23.51, -0.52, -2.2%) lowered its 2008 adjusted-earnings forecast to $3.45 to $3.50 a share, compared to a prior range of $3.75 to $3.85 a share. The West Patterson, N.J., specialty chemicals and materials company said it would also lay off about 10% of its workforce, or 600 employees, due to the downturn in the global economy.
via Cytec cuts 2008 outlook, slashes jobs as economy sinks – MarketWatch .
* Greater Baltimore’s work force is shrinking by another 250 jobs.
Shipping giant DHL Express Inc. plans on laying off 123 employees at its Baltimore facility and 65 in Hunt Valley, according to a notice the company filed with the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
via DHL Express, Old Mutual detail layoffs in state DLLR filings – Baltimore Business Journal: .
* About 70 employees of Roadway Express at 3700 78th Ave. West, Rock Island, will be laid off by March 1, the parent company, YRC Worldwide, has said.
According to a news release from YRC Worldwide, the facility will employ about 60 people, down from the current work force of about 130. Some laid-off employees may be able to transfer to other regional facilities, the news release added.
via Rock Island’s Roadway Express to lay off 70 employees / QCTimes.com.
* NEW YORK (AP) –– Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. says it will cut 1,000 jobs this year, or about 9 percent of corporate management, through a combination of voluntary buyouts and layoffs.
The Deerfield, Ill., company says the job cuts will come from corporate and field management and won’t include store employees. The targeted workers will be able to resign or retire with severance pay and benefits based on their tenure.
via Walgreen will cut 1,000 management jobs in 2009 – Yahoo! Finance.
* NEW YORK (AP) — Department-store operator Macy’s Inc. said Thursday it will close 11 underperforming stores in nine states — affecting 960 employees — and lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter after one of the weakest holiday seasons in years.
Stores slated to close include locations in Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis, among others. Cincinnati-based Macy’s Inc. says the closures will cost about $65 million, most of which will be booked in the 2008 fourth quarter.
via Macy’s will shutter 11 stores in 9 states – Yahoo! Finance.
* Sprint Nextel’s top executive said Wednesday that — even though signing more customers is the top priority — more job cuts are coming in 2009.
“From a profitability point of view, job one has to be about doing something about the top line and subscriber numbers,” Dan Hesse, Sprint’s chief executive officer, said Wednesday during an investment conference in Arizona.
“We can take costs out and we will continue to do that, just like we did last year,” Hesse said. “We will do more of that in 2009.”
via Sprint Nextel’s leader says company will cut more jobs – Kansas City Star.
* OTTAWA, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Teck Cominco Ltd (TCKb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) will cut about 1,400 jobs, or 13 percent of its staff, as part of its plan to clip costs and keep competitive as commodity prices remain weak, the Canadian mining company said on Thursday.
via UPDATE 1-Teck cuts 1,400 jobs, 2009 coal production | Markets | US Markets | Reuters .
* Oscilloscope maker LeCroy Corp. yesterday said it was cutting jobs, pay and retirement plan contributions in the face of a weakening global market for both its sophisticated electronics and those of its competitors.
Chief Executive Officer Tom Reslewic said the company would eliminate about 45 jobs, or about 10 percent of its global work force. Only a “fraction” of the job losses would occur among the staff of 190 at its Chestnut Ridge headquarters, he said.
via LeCroy cuts jobs, pay, benefits due to economy | lohud.com | The Journal News.
* The west Michigan based maker of Hush Puppies and Merrell footwear said this morning it would cut 450 jobs worldwide and likely close its Rockford tannery.
Wolverine World Wide said the job cuts in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and the Dominican Republic would result in a pretax annual savings of $17 million to $19 million.
via Shoemaker Wolverine World Wide to cut 450 jobs | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.
* The Crozer-Keystone Health System, Delaware County, Pa.’s largest employer, said it is planning to cut up to 400 positions in a cost-reduction move.
via Crozer-Keystone Health cutting up to 400 jobs – Triangle Business Journal: .
* KENTWOOD — X-Rite Inc. said today it will cut 90 jobs and incur $3.5 million in restructuring charges for 2009. The moves are expected to save $20 million, after the company weathered a tough fourth quarter and a chill in business.
* While the il mostro racing yacht they built for Puma Racing departs from Singapore Saturday on the next stage of its around-the-world race, Goetz Custom Boats is riding out stormy seas back at home.
Effective Tuesday, Jan. 6, the company has been petitioned into receivership and all of its 75 workers have been laid off.
via EastBayRI.com.
* Windsor Vineyards laid off 16 workers this week in response to the tough sales environment for high-end wines.
via Windsor Vineyards lays off 16 workers | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA.
* WTAP has just learned that Eramet Marietta will be announcing employee layoffs Thursday and Friday.
An Eramet spokesperson says 110 employees will be notified over the next few days of the layoffs.
via Eramet Will Lay Off 110 Employees .
* DES MOINES, Iowa — Meredith officials announced Thursday that close to 250 employees will be laid off nationwide.
Officials said 100 of the jobs will be cut in the Des Moines offices. Nationwide, the company employs more than 3,500 people.
via BREAKING NEWS: Meredith Announces 250 Layoffs – Des Moines News Story – KCCI Des Moines.
* HARRIS TOWNSHIP — Brush Wellman’s Elmore plant laid off 56 hourly and nine salary positions Wednesday morning, Plant Manager Randy Drummond said this morning.
* Jim Schuster, chairman and CEO of Hawker Beechcraft Corp. sent all employees a letter today notifying them of pending job reductions.
In the letter, Schuster cites the current economic conditions and an “unpredictable business climate” as reasons why the company will be forced to lower its production level for 2009.
via Hawker Beechcraft to commence with more layoffs – Wichita Business Journal: .
* The struggling economy is to blame for a round of layoffs at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railway operation in La Crosse.
– 30 train crewmen, including conductors and engineers, were laid off in La Crosse, according to Steve Forsberg, general director of public affairs for BNSF.
via WKBT La Crosse, WI-NewsChannel 8-30 BNSF Employees Laid Off in La Crosse.
Mike: Canadian mining is taking a beating. That’s not a good sign in a country so dependent on natural resources as a means of wealth:
* A mining project on the Baie Verte Peninsula is the latest sector of the province’s natural resources industry to feel the pinch of worldwide financial challenges.
– Rambler Metals Mining announced today that it will scale back operations at its Ming copper-gold project and lay off 18 employees.
via TheWesternStar.com: Business | Layoffs announced at mine on Baie Verte Peninsula .
* Only a little more than a month after an earlier round of job cuts, Butler-based Burt Hill laid off nearly 50 people Thursday from its international studio office located Downtown.
J. Rossi, the chief marketing officer for Burt Hill, the Pittsburgh region’s largest architecture firm, said the firm’s latest layoffs were caused by some major projects being put on hold in Dubai.
* Jan 8 (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) began laying off staff in its investment bank and capital markets group, the New York Post said, citing sources.
via Bank of America begins layoffs – NY Post | Markets | US Markets | Reuters .
* MIDDLETOWN — About 45 workers will be laid off at AK Steel’s Middletown Works facility, union officials confirmed this afternoon.
The layoffs are in response to decreasing demand for the company’s products, said Scott Rich, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1943 — which represents hourly workers at the Middletown Works.
via AK announces layoffs at Middletown Works.
* Sluggish business is getting the blame for more layoffs at a Watertown manufacturer.
– Stature Electric in Jefferson County’s Industrial Park temporarily laid off 17 of its workers for an indefinite period of time.
via More Layoffs At Stature Electric : WWNY TV 7.
* Musashi Auto Parts Canada Inc. is feeling the effects of a reeling automotive industry and just prior to Christ mas it laid off 81 em ployees at its Arthur plant.
via The Wellington Advertiser – Complete Article.
Mike: This is one of the downsides of cheap oil:
* Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil field services provider, has begun cutting about 5 percent of its North American work force amid a downturn in oil and natural gas drilling.
The cuts , which started Wednesday, will eliminate up to 1,000 administrative, operations and contractor jobs from the company’s 20,000-strong work force in North America, company spokesman Stephen Harris said today. Up to 100 jobs will be cut among the company’s 5,000 employees in the Houston area, he said.
via Schlumberger to cut 1,000 jobs, up to 100 in Houston | Energy | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
* VIROQUA, Wis. – A company that manufactures supplies for ATMs and retail checkout machines said Thursday it will close its plant in Viroqua (vir-OH’-kwah).
NCR says it will end its 40 years of production in Viroqua by March 31, idling about 80 workers. Company spokesman Alan Ulman says production in Viroqua will be moved to NCR’s plant in Morristown, Tenn.
via NCR closing Viroqua plant –– chicagotribune.com.
* The slowdown in the housing market is claiming another victim. Door maker Jeld-Wen is closing its Rockford distribution facility as of Feb. 17, idling 40 workers.
The Portland, Ore.-based company did not renew its lease at the 5960 Falcon Road facility, according to a news release. Several years ago, Jeld-Wen ramped up door operations at other Midwest locations to serve the then-thriving housing business.
via Jeld-Wen’s Rockford plant to close – Rockford, IL – Rockford Register Star.
* According to Tami McLallen, American Airlines spokeswoman, on Friday, Jan. 16, the airline will lay off 170 workers at its main overhaul base at Kansas City International Airport as part of a planned staff reduction.
via American Airlines to lay off 170 employees in K.C..
* About 55 contracted workers at Big West refinery recently lost their jobs because of problems stemming from the plant owner’s bankruptcy filing last month, a union official briefed on the situation said Thursday.
via Big West lays off 55 workers amid financial turmoil – Today’s Paper > Local News | Bakersfield.com – Kern County news, events,shopping & search .
* The Freightliner truck manufacturing plant in Cleveland will reduce its workforce by 1,290 workers effective March 13.
The second shift will be discontinued.
– In total, 2,327 production line and shop positions are being wiped out at Freightliner’s four manufacturing plants, including three in North Carolina. The Mount Holly plant will become idle, with the exception of limited component assembly activities.
via SalisburyPost.com – Area – Freightliner laying off 1,290 in Cleveland .
* The diamond exploration company is also laying off 89 employees as part of the cutback.
Saskatoon-based Shore plans to spend $17.9 million this year, including $2.5 million on its Star property, $1 million on Star West and $9.5 million at the Fort a la Corne joint venture.
via Shore Gold scales back budget, lays off 89 employees
* Vistakon, the Jacksonville-based contact lens maker, is laying off 85 employees.
Officials with the company confirmed today about 110 employees of the company are being let go, with 85 in Jacksonville.
via Vistakon laying off 85 workers in Jacksonville | Jacksonville.com.
* Window and door manufacturer Andersen Corporation announced layoffs Thursday.
Andersen, which is based in Bayport, permanently cut 50 employees.
via KSTP TV – Minneapolis and St. Paul – Anderson Corp. announces layoffs .
* In a Dec. 17 letter to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, plastics manufacturer Fortis Plastics LLC said it intends to move its Elkhart operations to an existing plant South Bend.
In the letter, Fortis stated 75 employees will be transferred to South Bend facility, while others will be laid off. The company stated it had not yet determined which employees would be transferred or laid off.
via Plastics maker to close Elkhart plant.
* Officials with Andersen Corporation announced layoffs at the company’s Bayport, Minn., and Cottage Grove, Minn. in a late-afternoon press conference.
The company will be making 50 permanent layoffs and approximately 400 employees will be laid off temporarily.
* Plum Creek Timber Company announced another round of layoffs Thursday, eliminating a total of 145 jobs and leaving an additional 221 employees temporarily out of work in Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Fortine and Pablo.
via Plum Creek Announces Sweeping Round of Layoffs; 145 Jobs Lost | Flathead Beacon.
* BOSTON: Shift Communications has cut about 10% of its workforce in response to gloomy PR forecasts in 2009.
Eleven staff members were told today, January 8, that they would be let go, according to Jim Joyal, a principal at Shift. The layoffs were spread almost evenly between the firm’s San Francisco and Boston offices. Those let go were “mostly but not exclusively” junior level staffers, Joyal noted.
via Shift cuts 10% of staff – PRWeek US.
* As a result of cutbacks during the current economic downfall, the Lozier Corporation is closing its Cedar City location.
Dave Fox, plant manager, said the company is phasing out production beginning in March, and is officially closing in August.
There are currently 82 employees at the plant, located at 5080 West 400 N, and primarily produces store fixtures like display shelving for companies including Wal-Mart, Fox said.
via Lozier plant to close, 82 possible job losses | thespectrum.com | The Spectrum.
* TOKYO – Japanese electronics component maker TDK Corp. said Thursday it would cut 8,000 workers and post its biggest net loss ever this fiscal year, due to falling orders and a stronger yen.
The company — known to consumers for its DVDs, audio tapes and other recording media — will cut the jobs as it closes four factories outside of Japan, said spokesman Kazutoshi Kogure. He declined to comment on which factories it would close.
via Japan’s TDK to cut 8,000 jobs, forecasts loss – Yahoo! News.
* With rumours still circulating that Microsoft Corp. may be on the brink of jettisoning thousands of jobs from its global workforce, computer manufacturer Dell Inc. has become the latest industry heavyweight to crack beneath mounting economic pressures.
Specifically, recent rumours suggesting the onset of significant job losses at Dell have now panned out after the Texas-based giant confirmed that 1,900 employees at its long-serving facility in the west of Ireland are to be cut free as the company strives to reduce its costs.
via Dell culls 1,900 Irish jobs while turning to cheap Polish labour – Business.
* Dell has confirmed the worst fears of Irish officials after announcing that it will cut 1,900 of the 3,000 jobs at Limerick in the Irish Republic, ending production at its largest manufacturing plant outside the US. The move is a massive blow for the Irish economy, and comes as the PC maker seeks to cut $3 billion (£1.99 billion) of costs globally.
Last month analyst house IDC warned that slowing demand for new equipment could affect PC makers next year, leading to industry consolidation.
via Techworld.com – Dell joins EMC and Lenovo in axing staff.
* NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Jan 8 (TNA) – After experiencing global economic recession and declining purchase orders from overseas, two major foreign firms producing auto and electronics parts laid off 623 of their employees Thursday with severance pay.
* Chinese PC maker Lenovo confirmed Thursday that it is carrying out a restructuring, which involves the company letting go of 2,500 employees–about 11 percent of its workforce.
With the changes, the company is targeting to save $300 million annually, according to a Singapore-based company spokesperson.
The announcement comes after a report surfaced earlier this week, saying that the PC maker would lay off 200 employees in its Beijing-based headquarters, including around 10 senior management staff. In response to queries from ZDNet Asia, Lenovo had dismissed the report as rumors.
via Lenovo to cut 2,500 jobs amid restructuring | Business Tech – CNET News.
* WORKERS were reeling yesterday after the world’s biggest beer maker announced it was shutting a British brewery with the loss of 182 jobs.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV blamed tough trading conditions and high beer duty for its decision to close the historic Stag Brewery in Mortlake, South-West London.
Beer making began at the site in the 15th century and Budweiser has been produced there for over a decade.
The brewery, which also produces Bud Ice and Michelob, will shut next year.
via Sun City | Market report | All the latest business news | The Sun |News|Sun Money|Sun City.
* Staff at Total Produce in Lansdowne Road, Norwich, have been told the firm will shut its doors later this month.
The firm, which was formerly known as Fyffes, said 44 jobs would be lost. The closure will leave only one fruit and vegetable wholesaler in the area.
via BBC NEWS | UK | England | Norfolk | Job losses as wholesaler closes.
* THE Capital’s economy suffered another blow today after it emerged that 135 jobs have been lost following the liquidation of a printing company.
Leith-based Summerhall was liquidated just one month after being saved from administration by Livingston firm Stewarts.
via 135 jobs lost at Summerhall – Scotsman.com Business
* ANKARA, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Turkish auto maker Tofas (TOASO.IS), a joint venture of Italy’s Fiat (FIA.MI) and local group Koc, said on Wednesday it had laid off 657 workers amid poor demand for cars.
* Aleris International Inc. has set a one-month shutdown-possibly longer-for most of its specialty alloy production capacity in Coldwater, Mich., resulting in the temporary layoff of 100 workers.
via (AMM) Aleris idling Mich. specialty alloy plant (UPDATE) – Metal Bulletin .
* Mitsubishi Motors is preparing to cut some 900 more jobs as Japanese automakers downsize to cope with a slump in demand for cars, media reports said Wednesday.
via Mitsubishi Motors plans 900 more job cuts › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion.
* Jan 7 (Reuters) – Fair Isaac Corp (FIC.N), a provider of credit-scoring system, said it would cut 250 jobs globally as part of an ongoing cost-reduction program and expects to reduce expenses by about $40 million in fiscal 2009.
* Profits slide at Grant Thornton
Grant Thornton is first big accounting firm to show the effects of the economic downturn, after reporting a fall in profits in 2008
Grant Thornton has become the first big accounting firm to report a fall in profits in 2008, blaming the drop on the economic downturn and the cost of its merger with Robson Rhodes.
via Profits slide at Grant Thornton – Accountancy Age.
* Up to 100 jobs could be at risk following an announcement by F&C that it was looking to reduce its annual costs by a further £15m.
via FTAdviser.com – F&C review could see 100 jobs cut.
* MILAN, Italy (AP) — The Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA’s layoff plans are now hitting white-collar workers.
Fiat informed unions this week that 1,800 white-collar workers will be temporarily laid off for the first week of February, and 1,500 during the second week, the company confirmed Thursday.
via The Associated Press: Fiat announces white-collar layoffs.
* LONDON (Reuters) – Japanese car maker Nissan said on Thursday it was cutting 1,200 jobs at its Sunderland plant in response to a dramatic decline in customer demand.
via Nissan to cut 1,200 jobs at Sunderland plant | Reuters .
* Clifford Chance has launched a redundancy program in its London headquarters, with the Magic Circle firm potentially set to cut around 70 to 80 lawyers.
via Law.com – Clifford Chance Set to Lay Off up to 80 Lawyers in London .
* More than 250 workers are to be made redundant at County Antrim engineering firm FG Wilson.
* COLUMBUS, GA – The Georgia Department of Labor’s Columbus Career Center will help Valley Hospitality fill about 200 job openings for full-time and part-time hospitality workers at Doubletree Hotel in Columbus.
via WTVM.com and WTVM News Leader 9, Columbus, GA | Valley Hospitality job fair underway! Hiring 200.
* The new Hurricane Wal-Mart is hiring 285 people before the store opens March 18th.
KCSG went to the hiring center at 1155 West State Street in Hurricane, to talk to the new store manager Alberto Rivera.
via One Company Set to Hire 285 People in Southern Utah | KCSG-TV St. George, UT | Local .
* South Whitley, Ind. — ShindigZ is bringing good news to the northeastern Indiana economy. Plans are in the works to hire over 200 seasonal workers through May.
via Indiana Party Supply Company to Hire 200 – Newsroom – Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
* The Brawley Police Department is looking to hire some more officers And they’re changing the way they recruit their officers this time around. KSWT News 13’s Jennifer Jones has the details.
For the past decade, the Brawley Police Department has been hiring officers with prior experience. But now you could be their next hire.
The Brawley Police Department is looking to hire 2 officers to complete their 36 man squad, And they’re looking for any average joe to apply. “No prior law enforcement experience, you will need to be an individual of good moral standings, in good physical condition, no felony convictions.” says Brawly Police Chief Mark Gillmore.
———-News you can use————
* People who have been laid off from their full-time jobs can apply to attend Kent State University’s Trumbull campus for free in the spring semester.
Those who were laid off since Oct. 1, 2008, can have application and tuition fees waived for up to 12 credit hours in the semester that begins Jan. 20. Potential students must be able to prove that they were laid off due to the recession by providing a letter from their former employer or documentation of unemployment benefits.
via Crain’s Cleveland Business: Kent State Trumbull campus offers free schooling to laid-off workers .
Mike: This was a very active 24 hours of layoff announcements. I was trying to find a little more video, but the announcements came fast and furious all day. I’ll post any large scale layoff announcements as they arrive, but if it’s quiet I’ll just leave you with a laugh or two …………….
The Obama girls start their first day of school, and Rachel Maddow doesn’t own a television.
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Ed Stein - Jan 8
