Bank of America to lay off 135 in Richmond area

Washington Examiner Site Feed — Thu May 20 18:00:27 UTC 2010 More than 130 Bank of America workers in the Richmond area are losing their jobs. about: Business Labor Metro Areas News, VA Bank of America Va Layoffs Richmond Metro Richmond Virginia at: Bank of America

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Bank of America to lay off 135 in Richmond area

SF Teachers Rally Against Looming Layoffs

SF Teachers Rally Against Looming Layoffs — Wed Apr 14 08:31:59 UTC 2010 San Francisco teachers marched through city streets Tuesday night en route to a contentious Board of Education meeting where union members called for the school district to rescind layoff notices sent to some 900 educators. about: Board of Education Education K-12 Labor San Francisco School district

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SF Teachers Rally Against Looming Layoffs

Company Layoffs: More Companies Trim the Fat Without Trimming the Workforce

The U.S. unemployment rate, currently at a level of 6.5%, could rise to 8% next year. But it could also find a ceiling sooner than expected, as more companies implement unpaid vacations and four-day workweeks to preserve jobs.

The U.S. recession may just now be entering full swing, but storm clouds have been gathering for more than a year and many companies have already trimmed payrolls. Now, the goal for many companies is to prepare for an economic rebound by finding ways to keep the their skilled productive labor intact.

“More companies are exploring alternatives to layoffs,” John A. Challenger, chief executive of consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told BusinessWeek. “If they can keep people on until the business turns around, the company would be in much better shape to ramp up quickly.”

Dell Inc. (DELL) employees, for instance, recently received a memo from Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell asking them to take some time off without pay. The company has already met its previously stated goal of cutting employee payrolls by 10%, but the memo said there would be more layoffs unless other cost-cutting measures, like unpaid leave, weren’t effective.

Other companies throughout Silicon Valley have joined Dell in elongating the holiday.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) and Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) are among the industry heavyweights to be taking a break, with some closed from today until January 5.

Maria Guidice, owner of San Francisco-based Web design firm Hot Studio Inc., told the New York Times that when the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 many companies, including hers, immediately slashed payrolls but that tactic was painful and counterproductive.

“In 2000, it was like ‘cut the heads,’” she told The Times. But things are different this time around.

“Our No. 1 priority is to keep people employed and to do that we’re going to bank the money and keep it for when we need it,” Guidice added. “I know some people are super bummed, but they understand we’re trying to keep the workforce intact.”

California’s technology giants aren’t the only ones pursuing alternative cost-saving measures to save jobs, either. Across the country, in Towanda, PA, Global Tungsten & Powders is encouraging its 1,000 employees to take leave without pay in an effort to preserve manpower, The New York Times reported.

“We have a very skilled and competent workforce and the last thing we want to do is lose them when we’re assuming this economy is going to come back,” Craig Reider, the company’s director of human resources, told The Times in an interview.

The number of U.S. workers who normally work full-time but now clock fewer than 35 hours per week has soared 72% in the past year according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The agency said the number of such employees climbed from 1.49 million in November 2007 to 2.57 million in November 2008.

Pella Corp., an Iowa-based manufacturer of windows, is instituting a four-day workweek for a third of its 3,900 employees, BusinessWeek reported.

“Our contention is, consumer confidence will rebound,” said Pella Senior Vice President Chris Simpson. “If there’s a [government] stimulus package of some kind, we think people are going to respond.”

A stimulus package being drummed up by the incoming Obama administration is rumored to cost roughly $800 billion, for instance.

Other companies, like Motorola Inc. (MOT), are cutting back salaries, but so far, pay cuts do not seem to be widespread. Labor Department figures indicate the average hourly pay for about 80% of the work force grew by 3.7% last month from November 2007.

John Challenger, of Challenger Gray & Christmas, says that the effort to save jobs is not just a fad, or a case of companies living in denial, but a shift in modern corporate ethos that is not only more humane, but more economical.

“People are measured and ‘metricked’ to a much greater degree,” he told The Times, “So companies know that when they’re cutting an already taut organization, they’re leaving big gaps in the workforce.”

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reCareered: Who’s Firing? Layoffs week ended 10-16-09

Who’s Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as many from the same sector appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 10/12/09. It is interesting to note that while Federal hiring is on the rise, a number of State and Local governments face continued cutbacks. Also, Verizon has led the top hiring lists, but is also announcing a number of layoffs. Boeing made the layoff list, while competing aerospace manufacturers top the Who’s Hiring lists.

Job seekers: You might want to look in greener pastures than these companies.

Layoffs announced and rumored this week were in the Government, Manufacturing, Automotive, Technology, Publishing and Energy sectors.

Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs week ended 10/16/09:

AM General (250)
State of Massachusetts (up to 2K)
State of Iowa (1000)
Standish Max Prison (Michigan) (100)
Smiths Medical PM Inc. (100)
The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation (260)
Boeing Corp. (200-300)
City of Spokane, WA (200)
SunTrust Bank (YTD 100)
Wilsonart International (120)
Moog Aircraft Group (220)
Onondaga County, NY (133)
State of New Hampshire (300)
Country Financial (400)
Kohl’s Corporation (250)
Team Broadcast Services (96)
HNI Corporation (150)
State of Vermont (160 total jobs lost)
Verizon Communications (200)
City of Moraine, OH (187)
Solvay Pharmaceuticals (450)
Steifel Laboratories (200)
Pilgrim’s Pride (GA) (100)
Hamilton County Public Library (250)
Oral Roberts University (124)
NYC Dept. of Education (714)
Albany County, NY (109)
Bestop (140)
Flour Energy Corp. (500)
Valero Energy Corp. (250)
Boeing Corp. (130)
D&E Communications (280-290)
United States Postal Service (650)
Lafayette Caterpillar (106)
American Cancer Society (140)
Canron Western Constructors Inc. (106)
Fluor Corporation (100-150)
Redcats USA (490)
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (150)
Kent County, MI (145)
Boise Cascade (130)
Dell (905)
L.L. Bean Call Center (700)
Sunoco Inc. (400)
ATK Space Systems (550)
Hilton Reservations and Customer Care (176)
Thermo Fisher Scientific (130)
Conde Nast Publications (180)
Atlantic City Casinos (1067)
Metavation (120)
Prairie Correctional Facility (120)
University of California Riverside (425)
Pilgrim’s Pride (640)
Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solutions (135)
United Space Alliance (258)
Dow Roofing (100)
Tomasco Mulciber Inc. (213)
Delta, Eagan, MN (unknown)
Aramark Health Support Services, Huntsville, AL (163)
Chevron Mining, Gallup NM (80)
Electric Boat, Groton, CT (96)
Sylvania Yarn Systems (145)
Trojan Battery Co., Sandersville, GA (50)
HON Co., Owensboro, KY (144)
Aramark Sports & Entertainment, Deer Creek Resort, Mt. Sterling, OH (112)
Phoenix Health Systems, Pittsburgh, PA (50)
GE Oil & Gas Operations, Bethelehem, PA (81)
Parsons, Pittsburgh, PA (90)
Alliance One Inc., Trevose, PA (63)
Richfield Hospitality, Charlottesville, VA (146)
FreightCar America Inc., Roanoke, VA (33)
Lockheed Martin, Fairfax, VA (65)
Educational Credit Management Corp., Richmond, VA (60)
Wells Fargo Mortgage, Kirkland, WA (60)
Brandrud, Auburn, WA (104)
Corhart Refractories, Buckhannon, WV (26)
Care Wisconsin First, Madison, WI (77)
Eppendorf Inc., Westbury, NY (44)
Avant-Garde Optics LLC, Washington, NY (137)
Matthews International Corp., Seneca Falls, NY (33)
Tavern on the Green LP, NYC (405)
Dominion Enterprises DBA Interco Print, Ontario, CA (31)
Telecare Corp, Lemon Grove, CA (102)
Duane Morris LLC, Carpinteria, CA (126)
USS-Posco Industries, Pittsburg, CA (827)
Bassett Furniture Industries Inc, Bassett, VA (45)
Summit Holdings, Lakeland, FL (70)
Frontier Oil Corp., Cheyenne, WY (28)
NCH Healthcare, Naples, FL System (66)
Freudenberg-NOK, Spencer, IA (65)
Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, Lacrosse, WI (25)
McCann Erickson, San Francisco, CA (40)
Jeld-Wen, Bend, OR (31)
Foley & Lardner LLC, Milwaukee, WI (39)
Crothall Services Group, Valhalla, NY (235)
Aramark, Huntsville, AL (163)
Mueller Industries, Fulton, MS (37)
Miller Brothers Mining, KY (85)
Baker Hughes Inc., Houston, TX, (62)
Hamilton Sundstrand, Hartford, CN (30)
City of Loveland, CO (5.9%)
Comcast, Wellesley, MA (64)
Rensselaer County, NY (24)
Midcoast Aviation, Cahokia, MO (150)
TomoTherapy, Madison, WI (10%)
Boston Globe, Boston, MA (unknown)
Police Department Kansas City, MO (16)
Clear One Health Plans, Bend, OR (25)
Save – A – Pet, Greyslake, IL (40%)
Microtune, Plano, TX (10%)
Viking Range Corporation, Greenwood, MS (30)
Current Media, San Francisco, CA (unknown)
NH Department of Corrections (37)
Bossier City, LA (88)
Calumet City IL Schools (57)
Lackawanna County, PA (30)
Verizon, Newark, DE (66)
Bistol Meyers Squibb, National (355 of Abilify sales force)
MetLife, Lackawanna County PA (34)
Stanley Furniture, Stanleytown, VA (unknown)
North Providence, RI (35)
Louisiana State Department of Education, Baton Rouge, LA (50)
Yuba Community College, Clearlake, CA (56)
Chelan County, WA (50)
City of Kingston, NY (28)
AOL, NY, NY (2,000)
EBay, San Francisco, CA (several dozen)
LCN Closers, Princeton, IL (47)
NC Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, NC (thousands)
City of Aurora, CO (50)
Ohio State Prisons, Ohio (41)
Osceola County, FL (40)
University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, OH (50)
Volvo Trucks North America, Dublin VA (50)
Zillion TV, Sunnyvale, CA (1/3)
Victor Valley College, Victorville, CA (28)
DaySpring Inc, Siloam Springs, AR (53)
CNN, Atlanta, GA (unknown)

Source: Google, Twitter, AllPinkSlips.com, Telonu.com, TechCrunch.com, CoStar.com, Gawker, Screwedd.com

Readers – If you know of employers announcing significant layoff plans, or employers reducing large numbers of employees, please comment below to add to this list.

Trackback:  http://www.recareered.blogspot.com/2009/10/whos-firing-layoffs-week-ending-10-16.html

Chron Parent Company May Expand Empire. Just Not Print Empire.

The Snitch — Fri Nov 13 12:00:00 UTC 2009 With all the bloodletting at the San Francisco Chronicle this year, local readers could be forgiven the impression that all is not hunky-dory in the financial universe of Hearst Corp., which…

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Chron Parent Company May Expand Empire. Just Not Print Empire.