Pacific Wings Airlines may cut 100 jobs

Pacific Wings Airlines is eliminating as many as two thirds of its inter-island flights and plans to layoff or relocate some of its roughly 100 workers. Company owner and C.E.O. Greg Kahlstorf told KGMB9 the moves are the result of an alleged assault on one of his employees.

Friday the airline released pictures it says are evidence a security guard at Kahului airport assaulted a company employee Tuesday. Kahlstorf said she was hurt as the security guard tried to push his way through the door of the company trailer.

To protect his employees at Kahului Kahlstorf said he will hire his own guards, and the added expense will be passed on to customers.

And because of what Kahlstorf called a pattern of intimidation by Kahului airport security the airline will eliminate flights and reduce its work-force.

Kahlstorf said he hopes to be able to offer employees jobs on the mainland where the company operates airlines in several other states. He could not say how many workers may be affected.

"It's unfortunate that these jobs and these tax revenues have to leave Hawaii, but again, if we can't ensure the safety of our employees, if we can't be certain that they are going to be able to work in an intimidation and harassment free workplace, we become liable," Kahlstorf.

"I think it's a little drastic decision by Pacific Wings, and I don't think that they are truly thinking about the people they are impacting," said state Transportation Director Brennon Morioka.

Morioka told KGMB9 there is no evidence of an assault.

Pacific Wings had grounded its planes Wednesday and Thursday. Flights between Honolulu and Kalaupapa resumed Friday, and Kahlstorf said flights to Kamuela and Hana would resume no later than Monday.

Pacific Wings is stopping all flights to Kona, Lanai City, and Molokai's main airport at Hoolehua.

Kahlstorf said anyone with tickets to those cities on Pacific Wings will be able to fly for free on Island Air.

Source: Kgmb9

Tip - Staples layoffs 110 in Northern California

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On Thursday Staples announced that they are closing all fleet delivery locations in Northern California and going to a third party carrier. This will affect around 110 people.

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Aston Martin cuts 95 jobs in UK

Up to 95 Aston Martin workers are to lose their jobs at a plant in Warwickshire.

A company spokesman said the redundancies were part of 600 jobs cuts - a third of the workforce - announced in December.

Cost-cutting proposals put forward by the firm have been rejected by the union, they added. Des Quinn, TGWU regional organiser, said he was concerned at the number of cuts but discussions with management were on-going.

Production line staff were put on a three-day week in January as David Richards, the firm's owner, said he did not expect there to be any more more redundancies following the announcement in December.

In March the firm unveiled its new £1m limited edition sports car - The One-77 - at the Geneva Motor Show.

Source: BBC

Midway Games closes San Diego studio, 100 jobs lost

Midway Games' “Mortal Kombat” game franchise, which was popular enough to spawn two feature films in the mid-1990s, was introduced in 1992 and updated through the years.

Bankrupt Midway Games has told about 100 employees at its San Diego video game design studio that the facility will shut down within two months.

Chicago-based Midway, best known for its popular and violent “Mortal Kombat” game series, sold the bulk of its assets earlier this month to Warner Brothers Entertainment for $33 million through bankruptcy court. The company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in February.

The Warner Brothers deal included studios in Chicago and Seattle but not the one in San Diego.

Midway spokesman Geoffrey Mogilner said yesterday that about 100 local employees were given 60 days' notice under the state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The layoff would represent 20 percent of Midway's worldwide work force.

Midway has struggled to develop a follow-up hit to the blockbuster “Mortal Kombat” franchise, a fighting game first introduced in 1992. The game has been updated through the years, with the latest title being “Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe.”

The game was popular enough to spawn two feature films in the mid-1990s.

Midway said in a regulatory filing this week that it does not expect to release an unidentified game currently under development in San Diego. Because the game won't be released, Midway will write down about $4 million in product development costs.

The San Diego studio is designing “Total Non-Stop Action Impact 2,” a follow-up version of a professional wrestling game. Mogilner said the development team in San Diego continues to work on the game. It's unclear whether they will finish before the studio closes.

A buyer still could emerge for the San Diego studio, although those prospects seem less likely now that Midway has agreed to sell its other assets and notified local employees of the pending closure.

“As long as the studio is open, there is still a possibility that a buyer could purchase the assets of the studio,” Mogilner said.

Source: Sign on San Diego

St. Marys Paper cuts 40 jobs in Ontario

St. Marys Paper in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario has placed another 40 employees on indefinite layoff, ForestTalk reports.

The company has laid off about 100 employees in the past nine weeks, including about 80 workers represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, due to weakening paper demand.

Two of the mill's three paper machines were shut down in early May, and 60 CEP members were pink-slipped, as the company launched what it felt was "a short-term measure," of maybe a month's duration, to get inventory in line with demand.

St. Marys Paper produces specialty paper and will not be able to benefit from the federal black-liquor aid package. The company is pinning its energy and environmental future on a cogeneration plant. St. Marys Renewal Energy Corp., the energy subsidiary of St. Marys Paper, has made a submission to the Ontario Power Authority for a 10-year 35 megawatt purchase agreement.

Source: Lesprom

American Augers cuts 50 jobs

American Augers Inc. has implemented a 25 percent work force reduction at its Jackson Township facility.

The reduction impacts both salaried and hourly workers and will affect about 50 employees.

A news release from the company cited the "downturn in the market" as the reason for the reduction.

"We have the utmost empathy for our employees, and we hope they may soon return to their jobs," American Augers president James F. Pfeiffer said in a press release. "However, we simply must continue to right size our total work force to our sharply lower product demands."

The reduction in force follows a similar reduction at the company that occurred in early March. At that time, about 70 workers were impacted.

"Officially, they are a permanent reduction but we hope and pray we can bring them back," Pfeiffer said. "This is not considered just a layoff, it's considered a permanent reduction."

The cuts were made across the board, affecting every department, Pfeiffer sad.

"We just hope the economy turns around and we can be back full bore just like everyone else," Pfeiffer said.

The reductions leave American Augers with about 150 employees, which is enough to remain in compliance with requirements outlined in grants the company received for its construction of an additional 100,000-square-foot building that began last summer and a now-complete electrical substation, said Evan Scurti, executive director of Ashland Area Council for Economic Development.

Scurti said the state government monitors companies' adherence to grant stipulations.

Scurti's office is working with American Augers on plans to further diversify the company, including efforts in alternative energy.

American Augers was formed more than 30 years ago and is on U.S. 42 in Jackson Township.

Source: Times Gazette

Cincinnati Enquirer cuts 101 jobs

Enquirer Media in Cincinnati, which includes The Cincinnati Enquirer in print and online and other publications, has eliminated 101 positions.

Publisher Margaret Buchanan said in an open letter to readers Friday that the cutbacks were part of a companywide tightening of the work force by the parent Gannett Co., which publishes USA Today and 85 other daily newspapers.

Layoff notices were given to employees, including several in the Enquirer newsroom, on Wednesday and Thursday. The newspaper said Friday it has an average circulation of about 203,600 on weekdays and 280,200 on Sundays.

Gannett said last week it would eliminate about 1,400 jobs, or 3 percent of its work force. Publishers nationwide have been making similar cuts amid the struggling economy.

Source: Fox8

Placer Superior Court layoffs 40 employees

Placer Superior Court officials announced they plan to lay off more than 40 employees by next month.

Court CEO Jake Chatters confirmed Friday that 40 union-represented positions will be eliminated on or about Aug. 1 as well as four non-union represented, management positions.

A memo obtained by the Journal indicates there was a “heated” discussion Friday surrounding the cuts and resentment toward past management practices.

The layoffs come as the court system tries to cut $3.5 million to $4 million in expenses for the 2009-10 fiscal year to stay within its $20 million budget, Chatters said.

The court expects to be about $550,000 over budget for fiscal year 2008-09.

“The court is looking at having to reduce expenditures in all areas like peer court,” Chatters said. “Certainly that’s the situation we’re in today.”

Peer court officials announced Wednesday that the 18-year program was forced to shut after Placer Superior Court officials revealed that it could not provide the $100,000 funding it typically gave the operation.

Chatters said he anticipates the elimination of 40 positions, all but one of which are filled, to save $1.8 million for 2009-10.

In addition to eliminating 40 represented positions, four unrepresented employees will be laid off in August. That announcement came in June when court officials announced that unrepresented employees will take 22 furlough days for the upcoming year and will not receive their cost of living increases in addition to other compensation cuts, Chatters said.

Chatters said court executives are still negotiating with union representatives what positions will be eliminated.

“We are still meeting and conferring about the impacts with the union,” Chatters said.

He said layoff notices will likely be sent next week.

A memo obtained by the Journal dated July 10 from business representative Kevin O’Hair to all Local 39 Placer Superior Court members states plans for which positions will be cut. They include more than 30 court clerks, a custodian, maintenance supervisor and one half time court reporter.

The memo also outlines a “heated” discussion between the union and court management.

Union representatives reportedly asked management officials why there were currently 18 management positions when four years ago there were six.

“We called it the ‘Mendes Build,’” the memo stated. “Yelling began shortly thereafter, as the union noted that with less staff, it seemed only logical there would be less management.”

In April, an Administrative Office of the Courts audit revealed that former Placer Superior Court CEO John Mendes may have given himself more than $400,000 in salary raises and benefits during his tenure between 2001 and 2009.

When asked whether Mendes’ alleged actions could impact the current budget situation, Chatters referred to the 2008-09 fiscal year budget debt and the current cuts. He declined to speculate on the matter.

Source: Auburn Journal

Teleperformance USA plans to cut 218 jobs at Dublin call center

Call-center operator Teleperformance USA is warning Ohio officials it could eliminate 218 jobs at its Dublin center next month, the result of a customer’s reduction in business.

The Miami Beach, Fla.-based company wrote in a filing with the state Department of Job and Family Services that it expects to begin eliminating jobs at its Farmers Drive facility Aug. 31. The company, which also runs an office in Columbus, arrived in Central Ohio when it acquired locally based CallTech Communications LLC in 2004.

Teleperformance USA is among Central Ohio’s largest employers, with about 2,200 full- and part-time workers in the area, according to Columbus Business First research.

The decision to reduce its work force, Teleperformance USA said, comes after client it did not identify opted to consolidate operations.

“Teleperformance USA will continue to pursue alternative clients for the Columbus location with the objective of retaining the current work force,” Jackie Stiteler, vice president of human resources, wrote in the filing. “However, there is no guarantee that the company will be able to do this once our current client’s business has concluded on Aug. 31.”

Teleperformance USA runs about 250 centers that employ about 83,000 workers.

Source: Biz Journals

University of California plans pay cuts

University of California President Mark Yudof is planning a furlough that would cut employees' pay by up to 10 percent.

The cuts are part of a plan to address the expected 20 percent funding cut from the state. The plan would be in effect from Sept. 1, 2009, until Aug. 31, 2010, but subject to renewal.

If the plan is approved by the Board of Regents at their meeting in San Francisco next week, employees would see pay cuts starting at 4 percent for lower-paid employees and up 10 percent for employees making more money.

Yudof will ask Regents to protect retirement benefits.

The UCSF Academic Senate denounced the cuts Tuesday. They said the cuts at the UCSF medical center, for example, could cause faculty members to leave, reduce the number of research grants and hurt patient care.

UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, who steps down Aug. 3, said in a message to faculty and staff today that "reaching consensus on this matter was impossible. Compromise was the best that could be achieved."

"Salary reductions are the last thing that I would want to be announcing in what may be my last message as chancellor to the campus," Bishop continued. "I know only too well and deeply regret that the reductions will impose personal hardships. But UC faces a budget crisis of unprecedented magnitude, one that can only be weathered by unwelcome austerity."

Source: Biz Journals

Sitel Corporation cuts 120 jobs in Huntington

Sitel corporation in Huntington is reducing it's staff. 105 customer service representatives and 18 support and management personnel will be out of a job effective August 2. According to a letter sent to employees, Sitel lost a client which is forcing them to make the job cuts. Company management out of Nashville, Tennessee confirmed that the staff reduction will happen in August.

The letter states the company anticipates the separation from this location may be permanent. Also, employees will be getting an exit letter containing information about benefits and other separation information. We're told the reduction in jobs is directly related to economic conditions in the marketplace.

Sitel will still employ about 150 other workers in the Huntington office.

Source: WOWKTV

Democrat and Chronicle cuts 64 jobs

Of the 64 positions Democrat and Chronicle officials eliminated this week, the number includes 11 newsroom layoffs.

The positions included copy desk staff and midlevel editors, but spared any "content provider" jobs, like reporters or photographers, says Matt Daneman, president of the Newspaper Guild of Rochester, the newsroom union.

As a whole, the company laid off 49 workers and eliminated 15 unfilled positions.

A brief story in today's D&C quotes Publisher Ali Zoibi, who says that company officials made efforts to protect journalists and advertising representatives. The story also said the company "remained committed to serving the Rochester area."

"The challenge is going to be doing that with fewer bodies to make that work," Daneman says.

Source: Rochester City Newspaper

American Steamship Co layoffs 204 employees

Four months after warning its crews that a expected downturn in business might lead to layoffs this shipping season, American Steamship Co. has laid off 204 employees.

The Amherst-based company, which is a unit of GATX Corp., notified the New York State Labor Department that the workforce reduction took place between June 18 and June 25.

Last March, when the prospect of layoffs arose, a spokeswoman said that, if enacted, they would involve employees living throughout the country, including those in Great Lakes cities such as Buffalo and Cleveland.

The spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Friday, but in March she said all levels of shipboard employees from captain on down would be involved.

The duration of the layoffs, which are based on seniority, was not disclosed in the recent filing.

In its March notice, the company said that because of the recession, the 2009 shipping season might not be busy enough to provide jobs for all the hands who normally work the company’s ships.

The steel industry provides about 50 percent of the shipper’s business, with iron ore being the largest cargo. The steel industry is especially hard hit by the economic downturn.

American Steamship owns 18 ships and listed a 534-member workforce in March.

Forty-one other employees work at the company’s headquarters on 500 Essjay Road in Amherst.

Source: Biz Journals

Cisco plans to cut 2,000 jobs

Cisco Systems Inc is in the process of cutting between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs. according to an report from Thomas Weisel analyst Hasan Imam.

A Cisco representative was not immediately available to comment on the report, which also said that the company could exceed its plan to cut annual costs by $1 billion with job cuts.

"Our checks indicate Cisco is aggressively managing expenses as management navigates through the downturn," Imam said in the research report.

The analyst said that on top of cuts such as reducing travel budgets and cutting variable compensation he believed that "further cuts including a headcount reduction of about 1,500 to 2,000 persons is underway currently."

"The headcount reduction alone would bring Cisco's operating expense run-rate down by about $200-$250 million annualized, strengthening our conviction that management will do better than its target operating expense reductions of about $1.0 billion a year," Imam said in the report.

The analyst also expects July quarter revenues to beat the average analyst estimate.

"Our supply chain checks reveal order uptick across component and contract manufacturers, indicating stabilization and some growth in Cisco's top line," he said.

Imam raised his expectation for calendar year 2010 earnings of $1.44 per share on revenue of $35.82 billion from his previous estimate of earnings of $1.41 per share on revenue of $34.88 billion.

Cisco Updates

A Cisco spokesperson said:

“This limited restructuring is part of our ongoing, targeted realignment of resources. While Cisco constantly manages its business priorities, resources and overall employee alignment as part of our overall business management process, we are sensitive to the impact these decisions have on employees during this challenging economic environment. We are doing everything possible to minimize the impact on employees affected by the limited restructuring.”

Source: Reuters

NCM closes factory, cuts 90 jobs

NCM, an Iowa plant that makes air-filtration components for cars and construction vehicles is closing in Grundy Center, putting nearly 90 people of out work.

NCM, which has operated in the northeast Iowa town for nearly 50 years, will likely close in September.

Jerry Bakker, the Grundy Center company's president and chief operating officer, says the plant already had a round of layoffs. He says 20 percent of the work force was laid off, and others were working a four-day week.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Gorman-Rupp Co cuts 24 jobs

The Gorman-Rupp Co., which posted a record year for sales in 2008, has been forced by the global economic downturn to reduce its workforce 5 percent, President and CEO Jeffrey S. Gorman said.

Twenty-four Mansfield division employees learned they lost their jobs early Thursday — and not just to temporary layoffs.

“It’s very unfortunate and a sad day,” Gorman said. “We call it a reduction in force. But, yes, it was a permanent reduction in force. We don’t anticipate the economy recovering any time soon.”

“There is clearly a lack of confidence in the overall economy that’s affecting the purchase of pumps by municipalities and other industries,” he said.

While Gorman-Rupp sold $330 million worth of pumps in 2008, a record year, much of that occurred in the first part of the year. But sales fell off sharply last fall. “We saw a major downturn in November. It’s like somebody turned off the spigot,” Gorman said.

Though they stayed healthy longer, even international sales, which make up about a third of Gorman-Rupp’s bottom line, have begun dropping off.

“We’ve been doing everything we can, since, to keep people,” he said.

Gorman-Rupp Co. cut expenses and reduced work hours to four-day work weeks for the past five weeks. But it wasn’t enough, Gorman said.

A half a dozen employees lost their jobs at the Bellville plant about six weeks ago.

After looking at second quarter figures, company officials made the decision to terminate 5 percent of the work force at the two Mansfield plants, the CEO said.

Gorman said despite the job cuts, long-term plans to consolidate the company’s Mansfield division will go forward. Costing an estimated $52.2 million, the move into a new 390,500 square foot addition to its Harrington Memorial Road plant will take place within the next few weeks.

Source: Masfield News Journal

LSJ Media cuts 26 jobs

LSJ Media is laying off 26 employees.

The layoffs affected nearly every department at LSJ Media, which publishes the Lansing State Journal, Lansing Community Newspaper weeklies, specialty publications and Web sites.

No reporters lost their jobs.

In addition to the 26 jobs eliminated, hours were reduced in two positions.

“The recession is causing cutbacks everywhere, whether it’s government, nonprofits … and we’re not immune,” LSJ Media President and Publisher Brian Priester said. “Like all businesses, we have to keep our expenses in line with revenue and that’s what we’re doing.”

In December 2008, the company laid off 31 full-time and part-time workers. The move was part of McLean, Va.-based Gannett Co. Inc.’s initiative to cut payroll expenses by 10 percent. Gannett, which owns the Lansing State Journal, also owns more than 80 daily U.S. newspapers, including USA Today and the Detroit Free Press.

With this latest round of layoffs, Gannett has changed its compensation to terminated employees. Gannett traditionally has given laid-off workers a week of pay for every year of service.

It now offers workers what it terms “transitional pay,” a supplement that when added to Michigan unemployment insurance provides a worker with a weekly payment equal to his or her former salary. A week of continuation payment is provided for every year of service to a maximum of 36 weeks compared with 26 weeks of severance pay.

Gannett planned to eliminate about 1,400 jobs company-wide, largely because of decreased advertising revenue.

Source: Lansing State Journal

Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott layoffs 90 lawyers

Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott laid off 90 temporary lawyers from its document coding center Downtown because of insufficient work volumes, the head of the Downtown firm said.

The layoffs occurred when client contracts with the firm's attorneys expired around July 1, and there was no replacement work, managing partner Timothy Ryan said.

About 60 temporary lawyers remain at the center.

Temporary lawyers manage legal documents and other evidence in the fact-finding phase prior to trials.

"The firm does expect new contract work to commence at the center in the future and plans to hire a substantial number of attorneys as clients approve the start of those projects," Ryan said.

The firm employs 318 permanent attorneys, including 142 attorneys at the headquarters Downtown.

Source: Pittsburgh Live

Alcatel-Lucent cuts 1,000 jobs

FRENCH-US telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent is to cut another 1,000 jobs between now and 2010 under its latest cost-saving plans, trade union officials told AFP.

They said the cuts had been announced to worker representatives on Wednesday and would affect mainly administrative, sales and a few industrial activities, including a electronic card manufacturing site in northern France.

The company declined to confirm the information, saying only that a study of how to improve the group's financial performance and reduce its portfolio of products had been launched six months ago.

'It is being put in place at the moment,' said a spokesman.

Since the difficult merger of Alcatel and Lucent in 2006, the group has announced several restructuring plans that have included 17,500 job cuts.

Source: Straits Times

Virgin Blue considering capacity cuts and layoffs

Virgin Blue stated at the end of May-2009 that it was considering increasing planned capacity cuts for the new financial year to 5.5%, commencing 01-Jul-09.

The LCC previously planned to cut capacity by 2.4%, but according to CEO, Brett Godfrey, cuts “need to go further as demand remains weak”. Mr Godfery added that the cuts would result in “taking out some flights”, but would not disclose which routes would be affected.

Source: Centre for Aviation

New Zealand Post cuts 400 jobs

Nearly 400 jobs at New Zealand Post Group have fallen victim to the recession.

Acting group chief executive Sam Knowles said there had been 237 redundancies in the first half of this year, 86 jobs were lost through attrition, and 61 fixed term contracts not renewed.

Not all the news was bad, with 90 new jobs created.

Mr Knowles said the recession, an unprecedented mail volume decline and challenging trading conditions were to blame for job cuts.

The group had about 10,000 permanent staff.

Approximately 90 per cent of total job reductions were in the postal services business, and 72 per cent of that block took voluntary redundancy.

"Different businesses within the Group are being affected in different ways and each is responding appropriately," Mr Knowles said.

"While the postal services and data processing and management activities have been adversely affected, Kiwibank is experiencing substantial growth and has added 89 people to its payroll during the period."

Further job cuts were possible as Group businesses continued "to manage through a tough commercial environment".

Today's figures did not include 74 potential redundancies arising from plans to close the Auckland call centre.

Source: NZ Herald

TNS Infratest cuts 35 jobs

In Germany, the TNS Infratest Group – which includes TNS Emnid – has announced that it is to shed 35 staff positions at its Bielefeld site. While 20 employees have been made redundant, 15 others have been offered jobs in the firm’s Hamburg office.

CEO Hartmut Scheffler made the announcement at a staff meeting yesterday, saying that the job cuts had been made as a result of the economic crisis: ‘We feel the slowdown is not as fast as other industries, but it is more than a dent,’ he stated.

Scheffler explained that the restructure was being made partly because of changes in the company resulting from WPP’s purchase of parent company TNS.

He also scotched rumours that the Bielefeld site could be closed permanently at some point in the future, and confirmed that all TNS Infratest offices in Munich, Bielefeld, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Wetzlar will remain open.

Following the merger of TNS and RI earlier in the year, the company announced last week that TNS Infratest will now be known in Germany as TNS Infratest RI.

Source: Mr Web

Danvers Bancorp Inc.’s takeover of Beverly National Corp will result in layoffs

Danvers Bancorp Inc.’s planned takeover of Beverly National Corp. will result in an unspecified number of job cuts, the Beverly bank said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

“While not all decisions have been made regarding staff levels, many of the Beverly National employees will have jobs in the combined organization,” the bank said in a question and answer segment. “There will likely be some duplication of positions as a combined organization, and therefore some positions may be either consolidated or eliminated.”

The bank said Danversbank will make every effort to place qualified Beverly National employees in open positions.

“And in fact, effective immediately, preference will be given to (Beverly National) employees for all openings,” the bank said in the filing.

For those who lose their jobs, there will be severance packages available. Severance packages generally will award 2 weeks of pay for every year of service, with a cap of 52 weeks, according to the filing.

Danvers Bancorp’s acquisition of the Beverly bank is expected to close sometime in the fourth quarter. The combined bank will have $2.2 billion in assets and more than 25 branches.

Source: Biz Journals

Gannett layoffs 20 at Arizona Republic

At least 20 journalists were laid off Wednesday at The Arizona Republic in the latest round of job cuts issued by the nation’s largest newspaper chain, Gannett Co. Inc., sources close to the paper confirmed.

Designers, feature writers, copy editors, and business and community reporters were among the newsroom staffers cut in what insiders and fellow employees dubbed “Black Wednesday.” The job cuts were part of a national initiative by Gannett.

Gannett spokeswoman Robin Pence said the company's newspaper division cut 1,400 employees nationwide. She did not provide breakdown of how many of those cuts occurred in Phoenix or other specific markets.

Republic staffers had been bracing for the bad news for a week, which created an uneasy feeling in the newsroom, according to several employees. A staff meeting is scheduled Thursday afternoon at the Republic to inform employees of the changes and to address the uncertain future of the last daily in the Phoenix market.

The Cincinnati Inquirer, Detroit Free Press, Ft. Myers (Fla.) News-Press and Honolulu Advertiser were among the dozens of newspapers that cut jobs Wednesday.

The Des Moines Register also was expected to make cuts this week.

McLean, Va.-based Gannett, which owns USA Today and 85 other daily newspapers, has been hit hard by the recession as big advertisers drastically cut their marketing budgets and consumers flock to the Internet for news. Web ads generate far less revenue than print, a dilemma the news industry has faced for nearly a decade with no clear-cut answer.

Every newspaper in the Phoenix market is struggling to keep advertising and subscription levels steady. Many have implemented layoffs and furloughs to trim expenses.

On July 13, the East Valley Tribune will implement a 5 percent pay cut. The salary cut will be felt across the board at Freedom Communications, which owns 32 newspapers, seven broadcast stations and more than 70 weekly papers, magazines, specialty publications under its chain.

The Tribune, which earned a Pulitzer Prize this year for its reporting on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office, has trimmed its circulation to three days, cutting more than 40 percent of its staff.

After 138 years serving Southern Arizona, the Tucson Citizen closed its doors in March. The Citizen was owned by Gannett.

Gannett also owns KPNX-TV Channel 12 in Phoenix. No layoffs have been reported at the Phoenix NBC affiliate.

Source: Biz Journals

Startup TokBox layoffs 12 engineers

San Francisco video chat startup TokBox has cut six of its 12 engineers, and the last of the company’s founders has left, a company spokesman has confirmed.

The terminations were not “layoffs,” and the company immediately posted eight job listings in operations, engineering and product development, said Tom Suiter, a Grow Marketing representative speaking on behalf of the company.

The staff changes, reported earlier by online technology news site TechCrunch, were part of strategic overhaul of TokBox by new CEO Ian Small, Suiter said.

TokBox is advertising for eight positions in engineering and product development. Efforts to get comment from the company were unsuccessful.

TokBox offers a product that allows for multi-user video chat from a browser, but it hasn’t really managed to take off, much to the chagrin of the company’s investors who include Sequoia and Bain Capital. TokBox has raised $14 million to date, a lot of money for a video and chat startup, especially when similar sites have begun offering some of the same functionality.

Small is the company’s third CEO. Founder Serge Faguet was replaced by Nick Triantos last July, who in turn was replaced in May by Small, a former Mark Logic exec, according to TechCrunch.

TokBox’s last remaining co-founder, CTO Ron Hose, left the company in May to pursue other opportunities, Suiter said.

Source: Biz Journals

Hershey to cut around a dozen jobs

The Hershey Co. said that it will close its gifts catalog and Web businesses on July 31, eliminating about a dozen jobs. The chocolatier plans to clear out the gifts inventory with a 25% closing sale discount.

“Hershey has made the strategic decision to exit the Hershey Gifts business. The present business model is not sustainable," said spokesman Kirk Saville in a statement. The company “will continue to evaluate all options in e-commerce, including strategic partnership and licensing agreements."

Saville told The Patriot News (Harrisburg, PA) that while the online store, Hersheygifts.com, will stop taking orders July 31; the division won’t officially close until Aug. 28. Consumers can continue to purchase Hershey items directly at Chocolate World in Hershey, PA, and at Hershey Times Square in New York and Hershey Chicago.

Hershey Co. in March 2007 laid off about 50 employees in the catalog and online gift department when it decided to outsource those positions. The company signed a multiyear agreement to have King of Prussia, PA-based GSI Commerce handle the Hershey’s Gift and Mauna Loa catalogs and Websites.

In fiscal year 2008, Hershey recorded sales of $5.1 billion. The company’s net income rose 6.6%, to $311.4 million.

Source: Multi Channel Merchant

Vale Inco cuts 140 jobs worldwide

Sudbury will become Vale Inco's centre of operations in Canada and the United Kingdom in a restructuring move that also resulted in cutting 140 white collar positions worldwide, including 54 in Sudbury.

The elimination of regional presidents means management decisions will be made in Sudbury, rather than in each region. Three newly appointed Sudbury-based vice-presidents will be in charge of their areas of operations throughout Canada and Great Britain.

Cory McPhee, director of corporate public affairs at the company, says the management changes are about improving efficiency by basing the company's structure on function – not geography.

“Rather than look at a very decentralized, silo approach of having separate (nickel) operations in Thompson, Sudbury, St. John's (Voisey's Bay) ... we're looking at having more integrated Canadian and U.K. operations that looks at the entire flow sheet as a single mining, milling, smelting and refining unit,” says McPhee.

The 140 immediate company-wide layoffs are a further result of the restructuring. They are all from managerial positions.

“We recognize that these actions are difficult, but we hope they provide some sense of certainty to our staff family that has been anticipating further actions,” states Vale Inco president and CEO Tito Martins in a release to industry partners, July 9.

The managerial restructuring has been ongoing for the past eight months, with this latest announcement being a “culmination of all of those efforts,” says McPhee.

“I think it just allows us to leverage a lot of things that will make the business more efficient – economies of scale, optimize a lot of assets, processing capacity.”

McPhee says expertise in Sudbury will now apply to all Canadian and British operations.

The three vice-presidents who have been appointed for the new positions to oversee Canadian and U.K. operations are Mike MacFarlane, mining and milling; Steve Wood, smelting and refining and John Pollesel will add production services and support to his regular duties as president of Ontario operations.

“Sudbury will be the hub for all of our operating expertise,” says McPhee.

Supporting these roles, Lovro Paulic will assume general management responsibilities for Manitoba and Tom Paddon will assume general management responsibilities for Newfoundland and Labrador. Brian Maynard, the current president of the Manitoba operations, has been offered a role in the broader Vale organization.

Source: Northern Ontario Business

International Game Technologies cuts 161 jobs

KOLO 8 has confirmed layoffs are ongoing at International Game Technologies in Reno.

From IGT spokesman Ed Rogich:

"I can confirm that we will be reducing the global workforce this week. Reduction will affect 161 positions worldwide, with equal division between domestic and international workers. This is a continuation of efforts to reduce expenses, consolidate efforts among our business units, and find efficiencies within the organization."

Rogich went on to say that 35% of the layoffs (56 employees) are from the Reno Market.

Source: Kolo TV

West Penn Allegheny Health System furloughs 185 employees

West Penn Allegheny Health System furloughed 185 full-time equivalent people in response to the sputtering economy, the system announced.

The staff reduction, which were effective immediately, will be accomplished by attrition, eliminating vacant positions and layoffs. An exact number of people who lost their jobs was not available, according to spokesman Dan Laurent.

The system employs around 13,000 people and the layoffs affect every hospital and department in the network, the second biggest in the region next to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Source: Biz Journals

Vandalia Correctional Center to cut 127 jobs

The Vandalia Correctional Center is slated to lose 127 jobs as a result of the Governor's call to cut 25-hundred state positions. Department of Corrections Spokesman Derek Schnapp says the Vandalia prison is one of six statewide minimum to medium security prisons to share in the elimination of 500 jobs on September 30th.

"Now we have to work on, as far as identifying those positions because it's bumping rights, seniority rights, all that stuff we have to work with the union on the contract. Details of Phase Two, which includes an additional five-hundred employees, we are still working on that plan and it has not been finalized," Schnapp said.

Schnapp says while the Centralia and Big Muddy Prisons have been spared cuts for now, he can't say what will happen in the phase two reductions if they are carried out. So far no cuts have been announced at Murray Center in Centralia. State Senator John O. Jones says he can't support this way of cutting the state budget.

"We're already understaffed in our prisons. They're working overtime now. In Murray Developmental Center in Centralia, they're working a tremendous amount of overtime. How in the world do you think you can save money by laying people off and creating more overtime for the employees that are left is beyond me," Jones said.

Jones says while Governor Quinn is trying, he fears Quinn is being hampered by others in State Government left behind by the administration of former Governor Rod Blagojevich. Quinn's plan would also require all state employees to take 12 furlough days. Vandalia Mayor Ricky Gottman says he's deeply concerned about the negative impact the Vandalia Correctional Center layoffs will have on families in the community. He wants the Governor and legislators to consider the real life impact of massive employee layoffs within state agencies.

Source: WJBD Radio

Verizon Wireless layoffs 50 former Alltel employees

Verizon Wireless has laid off 50 workers in Arkansas who were part of the former Alltel Corp., which Verizon acquired in January.

Verizon spokesman Scott Morris said the cut made up the bulk of 80 people who were laid off across the company. Morris says the workers were notified of the layoff on Thursday, but that their last day will be 30 days from now.

The Arkansas layoffs came as part of the process that Verizon is going through to identify redundant positions among its corporate staff. Morris says the layoffs were in human resources, finance, security and other areas.

Morris said Verizon has about 3,200 Arkansas employees.

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. of New York and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain.

Source: AP

Tata Steel cuts 366 jobs in UK

Tata Steel will cut 366 jobs in its Scunthorpe plant in the North Eastern part of England.

The process has already started and the management is in consultations with the employees and their representatives. This is the third job cut announced by Tata Steel in this calendar year and adds up to a 14 per cent job cut by Corus, out of a total employee strength of 41,800 in Europe.

Corus said that the job cuts are done “to improve the competitiveness of its Scunthorpe site by aligning employment cost with anticipated steel demand.”

Corus is running at almost half its capacity with a production cut of 47 per cent currently due to lower demand and may be looking at a further decline in steel demand in Europe.

Tata Steel Group has a target of reducing the costs by 700 million pounds in FY10. A large part of it is expected to come from the cost cutting measures on the wage bills. In January 2009, the company announced a job cut of 3500 workers, which would save 200 million pounds.

In June 2009, Tata Steel announced another round of layoffs at 2045 jobs, this is expected to reduce costs by 70-80 million pounds. The current job cut of 366 workers is expected to add to the cost cutting measures.

Tata Steel Group with a turnover of 12 billion pounds spends over 1 billion pounds in wage bills. Through the job cuts the company is reducing its wage bill by 20 per cent this fiscal.

It could increase further as the Teesside Cast Products has 1900 workers and the company may mothball the operations if the talks with the customers fail.

Corus follows a 90-day consultation period with the workers and most of their job cuts are under negotiations.

Source: NDTV Profit

AGCO Corp layoffs 154 hourly workers

AGCO Corp. of Hesston says it will lay off 154 hourly workers in response to a slumping agriculture market and world economy.

The layoffs, which were announced Wednesday, come after the agriculture equipment manufacturer laid off 60 full-time workers in early June.

The company also plans to reduce hours worked and shut down production three times in the last half of 2009.

Company officials are discussing with the state whether it can take advantage of the state's Share Work program, which would pay a percentage of wages for those whose hours have been cut.

AGCO employed 1,500 people before the layoffs. It is Harvey County's largest employer.

Source: Fox4kc

Denso cuts 800 jobs in Hungary

Japanese car parts supplier Denso Corp will lay off up to 800 workers at its Hungarian plant by the end of September, national news agency MTI reported, citing the company.

Denso's Hungarian unit blamed the job cuts on the difficult business environment, MTI said.

Denso currently employs 4,100 people at its plant in Szekesfehervar, about 60 km west of Budapest.

It has already cut overtime hours and reduced shifts and in January switched to a 4-day work week.

'Despite all this, due to extraordinary difficulties in the business environment job cuts are unavoidable for the company to be able to preserve conditions for long term operation and competitiveness,' MTI quoted Denso Hungary chairman Yukimasa Ohoka as saying in a statement.

From October Denso plans to return to a five-day work week.

Source: Forbes

PPD Inc cuts 80 jobs

PPD Inc. is laying off “fewer than 80” people at its Wilmington headquarters as part of a work force reduction of 270 across North America.

PPD spokeswoman Louise Caudle said that “while we have a strong backlog of global business demand for our services, demand in North America has been lower than we had expected.”

The cuts involve employees in a variety of roles across a number of locations in North America, Caudle said. She would not be specific about the kinds of jobs affected in Wilmington.

Cuts are also being made at PPD’s operations in the Research Triangle Park area, which Caudle described as nearly as big as the Wilmington’s facility. The company, however, would not release the number of cuts there.

The majority of employees losing their jobs had been notified by late Wednesday afternoon, Caudle said.

“We are providing transition pay and benefits as well as outplacement services” to those employees, she added.

PPD employs about 1,800 at its riverfront headquarters.

The company is a contract research organization.

Caudle spoke of the current challenges for the contract research organization market, but she said that “despite the slowdown in North America, we remain very optimistic about the long-term prospects for PPD and the industry as a whole.”

The job cuts come after the company’s efforts over the past year to cut expenses and increase efficiency.

“Despite these efforts, growth in our North American business has not resumed,” Caudle said.

Source: Star News Online

Rumor - Monster layoffs around 200

Cheezhead reports that Monster is laying off.

“There is a reorganization happening to put the employer and seeker groups together,” said our source, who also alleges to be one of the axed. “A number of people from product and technology are being laid off, including Michael Gray and Keith Landau. I don’t know many other names. I don’t have a count either, but one of my colleagues was given a list of the people being released by title and age, and it was about 8 pages in length, so I’m guessing about 200 people.”

For Monster’s part, basically supporting many of our source’s information, Kathy O’Reilly, senior manager, media relations said, “Over the past several days, we’ve announced internally two important moves that position Monster to meet the changing needs of our customers: the opening of a Technology Center of Excellence & Innovation in Cambridge, MA; and a re-structuring of our Product & Technology organization to support our strategic direction.

“As we have been doing for the past 24 months, we continue to re-structure, re-organize and, importantly, re-invest in our organization in ways that we believe are necessary to meet our ever-growing and changing customer needs. This means that roles and skill areas that are no longer needed to support the business are re-structured so that we can bring in the skills necessary to continue to invest in industry-leading product innovation and in building the infrastructure and organization to successfully grow our business for the future.”

North Coast Area Health Service to cut 100 jobs

The North Coast Area Health Service will push ahead with a third wave of staff cuts across the region.

In a memo leaked to The Northern Star, area health service chief executive Chris Crawford has asked senior managers to come up with a third list of positions for 'deletion'.

“While I realise that obvious changes have been made, please apply lateral thinking about how your network workflows could be reorganised to identify more positions that can be deleted,” he wrote in the secret memo.

He said the shortfall in the previous round, which saw 100 positions immediately axed, must also be met.

The shortfall occurred because the NSW Nurses' Association lodged a dispute with the industrial tribunal arguing that a number of the positions earmarked cannot be cut without affecting services.

It is particularly concerned about the axing of five positions in Lismore, including the surgical co-ordinator, and renal, oncology and maternity staff.

The union is also challenging the reduction of staff hours at Ballina Hospital.

The tribunal will hear the case on Monday.

Mr Crawford also asked his senior managers whether it was necessary to replace staff on sick leave.

Nurses' Association organiser for the North Coast, Joanne KcKeogh, reacted angrily when told of the memo.

“It is clear North Coast Area Health doesn't care about the real clinical impact,” she said.

“This is about money, about budgets. They don't care about how it is done, as long as it is done.”

Mr Crawford last night confirmed more positions would be axed.

“Targets not reached in the first and second rounds will need to be considered in the third round,” he said, adding that specific numbers had yet to be determined.

He said part-time management and co-ordination positions would be targeted in the latest round.

Source: Daily Examiner

Triumph International plans to layoff 65 employees in Swindon

More than a quarter of the people who work for one of the world's largest lingerie manufacturers in Swindon may lose their jobs.

Triumph International's packaging and shipping arm in the town employs 238 people.

It has announced 65 of those jobs are now at risk.

In December last year the firm announced it was to freeze recruitment and pay for existing staff, citing "exceptional trading conditions".

A Triumph International spokeswoman said: "This reorganisation is a necessary step to keep the UK business competitive in extreme market conditions.

"The company deeply regrets that any job losses are being considered and will make every possible effort to ensure that all affected employees are being treated fairly and with respect for their contributions to the company."

Source: Biz Journals

Mondi plans to cut 240 jobs in South Africa

JSE-listed paper and packaging group Mondi has entered into consultations with staff and unions at its Merebank site in South Africa, regarding the proposed mothballing of its PM32 paper machine as well as the reorganisation of its newsprint and paper production operations.

The mothballing of the PM32 machine, which represented a capacity reduction of around 120 000 t/y, was in response to a strong decline in sales margins and low market prices in the fine paper business and a reduction in international selling prices of Newsprint, Mondi said on Wednesday.

The remaining two fine paper machines, PM31 and PM33, have sufficient capacity to meet market demand in the current conditions, the company stated.

Mondi said that some 240 employees might be affected by its organisational alignment, which represented around 4,1% of Mondi’s permanent employee complement in South Africa.

The company reported that it would offer support to employees, in addition to severance packages, subject to consultation with staff and their representatives.

Source: Engineering News

Covidien layoffs 119 temporary workers

Seneca plant Covidien announced the layoff 119 temporary workers because of a decrease in the demand for the product it produces.

Covidien said that the layoffs will be effective on Wednesday.

The company said that a reduction in demand for its SCD sleeves, a vascular therapy compression device, is anticipated, which led to the decrease in its workforce.

Covidien said the decrease in the workforce will continue until the end of the company’s fiscal year, which is Sept. 30.

The company said that the decrease in demand for its product is forecast to continue through 2010.

Source: Fox Carolina

CinWeekly layoffs unspecified number of employees

The expected layoffs at the Cincinnati Enquirer apparently have hit the staff of CinWeekly, its publication aimed at young readers.

Several Twitter messages and e-mails from Enquirer staffers confirmed that the publication’s staff was laid off Wednesday afternoon. Calls to CinWeekly’s staff members were not answered, and there has been no official announcement about the layoffs.

On its Web site, the Enquirer announced that starting with the July 15 edition, CinWeekly will be rebranded as Metromix. The newspaper described the publication as "the premier printed snapshot of all things entertainment that younger adults need to plan their free time." Metromix would target ages 25-39 with content from Metromix.com, Cincinnati.com and The Enquirer, according to the story.

CinWeekly was founded in 2003 as a free arts and entertainment tabloid aimed at adults in their 20s and 30s. It is distributed via newsboxes and other venues throughout Greater Cincinnati.

Gannett Co., the Enquirer’s parent, said on July 2 that it would lay off 1,400 employees in its community publishing division. An Enquirer memo indicated that about 100 employees at the paper would be cut.

Gannett, over the past year, has instituted a voluntary severance plan, a previous layoff and quarterly furloughs as ad sales fell. The company posted first-quarter earnings of $77.4 million, or 34 cents per diluted share, down 60 percent year over year.

McLean, Va.-based Gannett also owns the Community Press newspapers locally.

Source: Biz Journals

Comair plans to furlough 100 pilots

Comair expects to furlough up to 100 pilots from September to the year’s end, as parent Delta Air Lines Inc. cuts capacity out of Cincinnati.

The announcement follows a memo July 6 by President John Bendoraitis, who said that under the circumstances, additional furloughs would be unavoidable. Delta on July 2 said it would cut September capacity out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport by 17 percent. That includes the elimination of flights as close as Dayton and as far-off as Amsterdam (in mid-August). It will result in a decline in peak-day flights to 215 in September, from 270 in June.

In his memo, Bendoraitis said Comair in the second half of August expects to see a 9 percent decline in block hours (hours during which the planes are earning revenue). Come September, he expects a 20 percent decline in block hours from the beginning of August.

Comair does not expect furloughs among flight attendants.

Spokeswoman Christine Wever, in an e-mail, said the carrier is working with the Air Line Pilots Association “to explore every avenue for mitigating the impact.

“The number of furloughs could be reduced based on the voluntary options we are able to put in place,” she wrote.

Erlanger-based Comair is based at the CVG, the seventh-largest hub operated by Atlanta-based Delta.

Source: Biz Journals

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co plans to close all Smith & Hawken stores by year end

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co announced plans to shut down its 56-store Smith & Hawken chain by the end of the year.

Jim Hagedorn, CEO of the Marysville-based lawn and garden giant, said in a statement that “the combination of a weak economy and the lack of scale proved too great to overcome.” For a year, Scotts had been exploring options for the high-end garden brand it bought in 2004 for $68.5 million but decided closing the business was the “best option available,” Hagedorn said.

Smith & Hawken, based in Novato, Calif., has a store in Columbus at Easton Town Center. Scotts on Wednesday said storewide sales across the chain will begin Thursday and will be managed by a third-party firm. Orders on Smith & Hawken’s Web site, catalog and call center will be discontinued Thursday.

The company in its last annual report said the chain has consistently underperfomed since it was acquired nearly half a decade ago. Scotts’ “corporate and other” segment, which consists of Smith & Hawken and administrative expenses, posted a 23 percent decline in sales at $51.2 million for the six months ended March 29. That segment’s operating loss for the six-month period totaled $75.4 million, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Scotts expects to take a $25 million after-tax hit on the closure of the chain, mainly tied to terminated leases and severance costs. Most of those charges, the company said, will be taken on by the end of the year.

Scotts in the year ended Sept. 30, 2008, lost $10.9 million on $2.98 billion in revenue. The company has about 6,400 full-time workers worldwide.

Source: Biz Journals

Paul Reed Smith Guitars layoffs 30, hires 60

Paul Reed Smith Guitars said that it would lay off 30 employees and implement a 4-day manufacturing week as it grappled with the recession.

The Stevensville company is disbanding its nightly manufacturing operations, spokeswoman Rebecca Eaddy said in an interview.

Eaddy said the recession has impacted musical instrument sales overall and Paul Reed Smith, known for its stylish craftsmanship, is not immune.

The cuts will bring Paul Reed Smith’s work force to 250.

Despite the economic downturn, the company has completed an 84,000-square-foot expansion to accommodate its new acoustic guitar and amplifier lines. The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Developed helped finance the expansion with a $10 million bond.

Paul Reed Smith said it would hire 60 new employees as part of the expansion. Eaddy said the company has hired new workers, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly how many.

Eaddy said the company is seeing “what it is we can bring to market that our consumers might not already have.”

The company plans to roll out a 25th anniversary line of guitars later this year.

Some of the finest musicians in rock music, including Carlos Santana and Rush’s Alex Lifeson, play Paul Reed Smith guitars. The company manufacturers around 70 guitars a day.

Source: Biz Journals

LCN Closers cuts 44 jobs

LCN Closers, one of Princeton’s major industrial employers, announced that it will lay off 44 employees.

“We’re seeking volunteers first and whatever we don’t get in volunteers we’ll do involuntary,” said Kyle Stuebs, human resources manager with LCN.

The layoffs were officially announced internally Tuesday, though rumors have been heard about the possibility for some weeks.

The employees being laid off will be hourly employees, Steubs said. There have been no announcements made about reducing salaries.

Stuebs wouldn’t comment on the likelihood layoffs will be permanent, but said if business picks up in the future employees are welcome to reapply for their positions.

“We don’t have immediate plans to bring people back through this process,” Stuebs said. “They’ll have the opportunity to reapply. What that demand looks like in the future dictates whether we would bring people back at that point.”

Hourly employees are being provided with information about a severance package that is available to them.

“We’re providing one-on-one sessions (about the severance package),” Stuebs said. “It’s early to comment on whether we’re going to get all 44 volunteers.”

Stuebs said the goal is to have all 44 positions eliminated by the middle of August, but that no specific department or shift is being targeted.

Source: News Tribune

DLA Piper cuts 121 jobs

DLA Piper is laying off 21 associates and 100 staff members from its U.S. offices.

The cuts are the second round of layoffs in the law firm's domestic offices this year. In February, it let go of 80 associates and 110 staffers.

The law firm issued a firmwide memo on Wednesday announcing the reductions. "Demand across the legal sector remains soft, and it is increasingly clear that major improvements in the U.S. and global economy will not occur before 2010," the memo said. It was written by Global Chairman Francis B. Burch Jr., Joint Chief Executive Lee Miller and U.S. Managing Partner J. Terence O'Malley.

DLA Piper also has made cuts in its foreign offices this year, including 30 attorneys in London, nine fee earners in the Middle East and 20 fee earners in Asia. The firm's reductions are the result of a sharp drop in business that most major law firms have experienced amid the recession. Since January 2008, AmLaw 200 law firms have cut 2,976 attorneys. DLA Piper's reduction of 101 attorneys in 2009 represents 7.6% of its 1,335 U.S. attorneys.

Layoffs at major law firms occurred mostly in the first quarter of 2009. DLA Piper's memo on Wednesday said that its reductions in February were designed to avoid cuts later in the year. "Unfortunately, economic weakness has continued," it said.

While the firm's "financial position remains strong," according to the memo, tight management of its cost structure is "essential to compete effectively during these uncertain times."

DLA Piper, now with 3,593 attorneys worldwide, announced in May that it was reducing first-year associate salaries in major markets from $160,000 to $145,000. At the same time, it announced that it was shifting to merit-based pay for associates instead of basing compensation primarily on years of service. Other law firms, including Baker & McKenzie and Greenberg Traurig, also have slashed attorney salaries.

The firm will hold "town meetings" in its offices Thursday regarding the layoffs, the memo said.

Source: Law.com

Mechel Targoviste layoffs 249 workers

It is reported that Mechel Targoviste, a Romanian based subsidiary of the Russian mining and steel producing group Mechel, intends to implement a collective layoff scheme during the July to August period this year which would affect 249 workers.

According to Mechel Targoviste workers’ union leader Mihai Toma, the reasons which have forced the company to take such measures are lack of demand, the refusal of customers to receive and pay for orders, and the losses incurred by the plant in recent months due to the economic crisis. According to local media reports in the first three months of 2009 Mechel Targoviste registered losses of RON 31.06 million whereas it recorded a profit in the same period last year.

Since the beginning of the current year, Mechel Targoviste has on several occasions sent its workers on technical leave, paying them 75% of their wages. At the end of the first quarter Mechel Targoviste had 3,128 employees.

Source: Steel Guru

WQED Multimedia cuts 11 jobs

WQED Multimedia Pittsburgh is cutting staff in the face of a difficult funding environment.

On Tuesday, the public broadcasting company announced that it laid off nine employees and eliminated two additional staff vacancies. While the laid-off employees were not identified, WQED described the employees as “executive to hourly to non-exempt” in a press release. WQED described the move as a response to ongoing economic turmoil, and the potential reduction in revenue for varying sources, the most pressing the $1.1 million WQED typically gets from the state. Governor Ed Rendell proposed eliminating all funding for the state’s public broadcasting companies for the 2009-2010 budget.

WQED said it would offer a package to assist in job searches and professional career development. George L. Miles, Jr., President and CEO, offered an unusually extensive prepared statement about the cutbacks.

“This is a drastic action and a very painful day in the history of this station, in Pittsburgh and in this region that we serve when we have to respond to financial pressures by cutting staff.

“Our employees have given back to this company in multiple ways--through salary cuts and freezes and by paying more for their health care. We cut budgets and expenses, including suspension of travel and pension contributions-pensions that are the basis for our future and the futures of our families. Everyone who works here has done everything to keep this organization going.

“Then earlier this year, Governor Rendell proposed a state budget that eliminated all state funding for public television, including $1.1 million for WQED. Since 1968, WQED used these state monies for station operations and production. For the past five months we mounted a public communications campaign to explain why those monies were important to our daily operations. We now have to confront the reality that these state monies may never be reinstated.”

Miles also expects revenue reductions from individual donations as well as from private foundations and corporations as WQED faces difficult choices leading up to its new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. WQED said not to expect the new cuts to impact the station’s programing.

In late May, WQED sold off its long-time publishing arm, Pittsburgh Magazine.

Source: Biz Journals

Celanese Corp subsidary Acetex Chimie cuts 350 jobs in France

Chemical maker Celanese Corp. said that the company has reached a final agreement with workers on how the corporation will shut down its Acetex Chimie subsidiary, which is located in Pardies, France.

A spokesman said no employees in the North Texas area will be impacted by the closing of the French facility, but all 350 plant employees in France will lose their positions as operations are cut.

Celanese expects the French facility to end all operations by December.

The French subsidiary makes two chemicals, including acetic acid. Acetex Chimie's products are commonly used in consumer products and plastics.

The 350 employees losing their jobs are in management-level positions, as well as maintenance, operations and all support services.

A spokesman for Celanese told the Dallas Business Journal Wednesday that Celanese assessed the Pardies facility earlier in the year and evaluated it on factors such as competitiveness in their respective markets, long-term viability, raw material costs, labor costs and customer demand for the product. After evaluating all of these factors, Celanese decided the facility in France, should be closed.

The company will continue making the same products at existing plants in Clear Lake, Texas as well as facilities in China and Singapore, the spokesman indicated.

Employees impacted by the shutdown will receive severance and outplacement services, Celanese said.

In the second half of 2009, Celanese anticipates recording $90 to $100 million in exit expenses.

Source: Biz Journals

Honeywell layoffs 148 employees

Honeywell Inc., has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) statement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, announcing that it intends to layoff 148 employees within the next 60 days at two Freeport locations.

Company spokesman, Cori Lindstrom, was not available for comment Tuesday regarding the WARN statement, which the company filed with the state on June 12.

Information in the statement indicates that workers at Honeywell Plant No. 4, at 2320 S. Walnut Road, and at Honeywell Plant No. 1, at 315 E. Stephenson Street, will be affected by the layoff. Honeywell also operates Plant 2 and Plant 3, both on Spring Street in downtown Freeport, and Plant 6 is at the intersection of Jackson Street and Chicago Avenue.

The company manufactures automatic environmental controls for residential, commercial and appliance use.

Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp said his office first learned of the layoff two weeks ago after receiving a notice from Honeywell officials.

“We were aware that this was coming, and we have been working with Honeywell to see what we can do to keep as many jobs in Freeport as possible. This is unfortunate news, but it is further evidence of what’s happening in the national economy,” Gaulrapp said.

The Mayor said he has been in conversation and had meetings with company officials since January to discuss Honeywell operations in Freeport and what can be done to save local jobs.

Honeywell was required to notify the state of its intention to layoff workers under Illinois law. The WARN Act, which has been in place since 2004, requires employers to provide 60 days advance notice of pending plant closures or mass layoffs. The law applies to businesses with 75 or more full-time employees and required Honeywell to alert the state that its action will result in an employment loss for a 90-day period or longer, for at least 33 percent of the company’s employees.

Source: Journal Standard

Wacker AG to layoff 800

Silicon wafer manufacturer Wacker AG (Munich) announced a reorganization of its manufacturing capacities. While the move is said to have no negative impact on the company's production capacities, it will lead to job cuts.

In the future, the company plans to assign certain wafer sizes to each of its production locations. Currently, all locations produce a mix of wafer sizes. The company's location in Freiberg (Saxony) will be responsible for 300-mm wafers while the company will concentrate its 200-mm production in Singapore.

The dwindling 150-mm wafer production quantities will be assigned to the company's Burghausen (Bavaria) campus where also the R&D activities will be located. A company spokesperson admitted that this boils down to the end of production at that location.

The move is a reaction to the current market situation, the company said. It will lead to some 800 redundancies. However, not all of these job cuts are associated to the wafer production at Wacker subsidiary Siltronic; the company at the same time announced similar moves for its silicone production. Since the Wacker's polysilicon production continues to expose strong growth rates, the company hopes it can avoid layoffs. "We continue to expand our polysilicon production and we will create several hundred jobs over the next years in this segment," the spokesperson said.

With its polysilicon production, Wacker addresses for customers in the photovoltaics business in the first place.

Besides the job disruptions, the company will have to do write-offs for manufacturing equipment at a value of about €120 million ($168 million).

Source: EETimes

Cardinal Glass cuts 30 jobs

More than two dozen employees will be laid off from a Cardinal Glass plant this summer, an official said.

Most of the Northfield plant’s 90-some production employees will have to reapply and interview to keep their jobs, plant manager Dwight Kalousek said, but an estimated 27 won’t make the cut.

As many as five employees would be laid off in July, he said. The remaining layoffs would follow in September and October.

The plant, which until now made energy-efficient window coatings, will retool to make coatings for the renewable energy industry. Kalousek would not elaborate on the new business or the privately held company’s finances, but said the new product would require less manpower.

“The manual glass handling that’s required for tempered doors and things like that are not going to be required for this new product,” he said.

Non-production employees will not be required to reapply for their jobs, he said, though Kalousek forecasted “some movement in management to be figured out at a later date.”

A company statement expected to be released as soon as Wednesday blames the reduction on the “current economic downturn” and puts the “prospect of recovery ... several years away.”

The statement also reads, in part: “At Cardinal, our workforce is our most valuable asset. It is unfortunate that a reduction must take place, but it will strengthen the plant and prepare us for the future. Cardinal remains committed to Northfield and the surrounding community.”

Cardinal Glass, headquartered in Eden Prairie, has been in Northfield since 1988. The company is a fully integrated supplier of coated glass to the window and door industry.

The news comes as Northfield’s unemployment rate decreased for the second month in a row, dropping nearly two points to 5.7 percent in May, the most recent month for which data is available from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Source: Northfield News

Colonial Bank cuts 136 jobs

Colonial Bank announced that it eliminated 136 jobs across its five-state footprint this week, including about 30 positions in the Montgomery and south Alabama markets.

Colonial spokeswoman Merrie Tolbert said the cuts im pacted about 3 percent of Colonial's work force of 4,873 employees.

Notifications began Monday, she said, and should be complete in the next day or two. All affected workers will receive a severance package. Some left the job immediately and others are working out a notice period, she added.

"Colonial has been impacted by the sharp economic down turn, and that led to this decision to reduce personnel," Tol bert said.

She was unsure if any of the affected jobs were vacant or if every eliminated job translates to a newly unemployed worker.

Colonial is waiting to close on a $300 million private invest ment deal and has new leadership as it tries to weather the economic downturn. Once the private investment deal closes, the bank hopes to receive up to $550 million in Trouble Asset Relief Program funds to boost its capital position.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Alabama Banking Department entered an order with the bank a month ago in which Colonial agreed to improve the quality of its loan portfolio and its capital standing.

Colonial founder Bobby Low der also retired earlier this year.

Last month, the bank announced Montgomery business man Simuel Sippial replaced Lowder as the bank's chairman and Mobile businessman Lewis Beville replaced Lowder as CEO and president.

Source: Mongomery Advertiser

Baker & McKenzie plans to cut 11% of workforce in China

Baker & McKenzie LLP, the world’s second-largest law firm by revenue, plans to eliminate 11 percent of its lawyers and professional staff in China because of the “very challenging” economic climate.

“These difficult measures are necessary to ensure our ongoing financial health in an increasingly competitive environment,” the Chicago-based firm said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. A comparable number of secretarial and support staff will be leaving, according to the statement.

Baker didn’t say which practices were affected. The firm has more than 350 lawyers and professional staff in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, according to a separate statement yesterday on the appointment of five partners in the three cities.

International firms including New York-based Proskauer Rose LLP and London-based Ashurst LLP have opened Hong Kong offices in the past 12 months, drawn by a boom in initial share sales by Chinese companies in the city which raised $40 billion a year in 2006 and 2007.

While new share sales collapsed to $7.9 billion last year, bankers and analysts predict a revival this year, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. saying as many as 100 companies may be reviving sales plans postponed during the 2008 equities rout. The accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP has said as much as $39 billion may be raised in Hong Kong and China in 2009.

The dismissals at Baker are at least the firm’s third round of job cuts globally this year.

“The current economic climate is proving very challenging for most businesses, including many of our clients,” Baker said in its statement. “It is difficult to predict the timing and pace of the recovery of the markets in which we operate in Asia.”

Baker & McKenzie said in its statement that its new partners in China are: Joseph Deng, Barbara Li, Eugene Lim, Scott Palmer and Jennifer Van Dale. The firm said in it now has 72 partners at its offices in China and Vietnam.

Source: Bloomberg

British Columbia's Forest and Environment Ministry might cut 270 jobs

British Columbia's largest public sector union says the Liberal government is planning to cut as many as 230 jobs in the Forests Ministry and another 40 in the Environment Ministry.

The B.C. Government and Service Employees Union says it's been warned about the reductions ahead of expected budget cuts coming in September, when the province brings in a new budget.

The union says the government is promising to try to avoid layoffs through job transfers and attrition.

However, the union says it's worried about the loss of public services and the potential for increased workloads among the remaining staff.

NDP leader Carole James says imposing cuts on the Forests Ministry when the industry is struggling will just make a bad situation worse and it's a backward step to reduce environmental protection.

She also says the reported cuts are another sign the coming B.C. deficit will be far worse than feared.

Source: Canadian Press

Albany Times Union identifies laid off workers

Workers at the Times Union began learning their fate today after months of anticipation about layoffs at the Albany, N.Y. daily.

The Hearst Corp., the paper’s New York City-based owner, walked several workers to the door, according to a post on the Albany Newspaper Guild’s blog site. The guild represents about half of the paper’s 400 workers, and has been engaged in contract negotiations with management for nearly a year.

No definite numbers are available, but about 35 people are expected to lose their jobs. Publisher George Hearst originally put the count at 65 to 70, but 33 people have taken buyouts since May.

The paper is trying to cut expenses by 20 percent.

According to the guild site, employees—both union and nonunion—who were shown the door were told they were getting a 45-day paid leave that would most likely result in their being laid off. Union rules require that workers get 45 days notice of their jobs being eliminated.

Management and Guild leaders are scheduled to meet July 8 to continue their negotiation of layoff criterion. The paper presented its proposed terms to the union in late June.

The union’s original contract, which expired in August, mandated that layoffs be based solely on seniority by department. Management said that would not meet its needs, leading to the primary sticking point in the negotiation of a new pact. It urged the union to vote on its “best and final” offer, which was rejected by a vote of 125 to 35. This prompted management to declare an impasse, which, in turn, prompted the union to file a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board.

On June 24, management told the union that in some job categories the layoffs would be made strictly on a last-hired-first-fired basis. But in 11 job categories—nine in editorial and two in sales and marketing—cuts will be based on other criteria, including job performance.

Source: Biz Journals

Massive restructuring in Air India

The entire top management of Air India is to be replaced in the next 30 days owing to the turbulent 2 years of the national carrier.

There would also be a partial disinvestment of Air India sometime in 2010. The major revamp includes axing most of the old time directors to make way for a Professional Chief Operating Officer.

"You will see in the next 30 days a major change in the top management in Air India. You are going to see a major change in the board. Some heads are going to roll... We are going to bring high quality people of great integrity and people with a proven track record in business," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said.

"The government is not going to kick out employees. It can happen in private sector but not here. The Government has its own commitments and we will honour the commitment,” Patel said.

The 'metamorphosis' comes after Air India reported huge losses of about Rs 5,000 crore in the 2008-09 financial year, forcing Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a Rs 10,000-crore bailout package for the airline. At least seven independent directors, who are internationally reputed, would be inducted on the board. At the moment Air India does not even have a chief operating officer and a global advertisement will be put out for the post.

"Considering the critical financial state of the airline, we should all be prepared to face the impact of harsh decisions that will be required to be taken in the coming weeks to meet the current difficult financial situation," Air India chief Arvind Jadhav said.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global aviation industry is expected to lose about $9 billion this year. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) says the Indian aviation industry is likely to incur around $2-billion losses this year. Two major domestic air-carriers, Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways have reduced jobs and slashed salaries.

Source: India.com

State of Illinois layoffs 2,600 workers

Thousands of state workers will be getting pink slips as Gov. Pat Quinn struggles to close a multi-billion-dollar budget gap.

His office announced Tuesday that 2,600 workers statewide will be laid off.

Of those, 870 will be from the Department of Human Services and 105 will be from the Department of Juvenile Justice. Remaining workers in both departments will have to take 12 unpaid furlough days as he tries to cut the state budget by an additional $1 billion.

The Department of Corrections is losing 1,000 jobs, though the governor didn't say how that will affect prisons around the state.

There will also be $185 million in cuts to state operations, and the governor said he would veto a second budget bill sent to him by the General Assembly.

Because of regulations with unions, it'll likely be around Aug. 15 before any state employee is actually out of a job.

The action comes as a stalemate continues between Quinn and legislative leaders as to how to clean up the state's budget, which is estimated to be $9.2 billion in the hole.

The Chicago Democrat warned that everyone will share in the "sacrifice," calling furloughs a "good idea" for lawmakers and their legislative staffs, having said previously that higher taxes are the only fair way to close a deficit.

Illinois began the new budget year on July 1 without a spending plan in place.

Unable to agree with legislative leaders on how to clean up the state's budget mess, the governor has been meeting with the rank-and-file, hoping their support can break the deadlock that has left the government without a budget.

Source: NB Chicago

Motorola laying off 74 at Libertyville unit

Motorola Inc. is letting go of 74 employees from its Libertyville location, the Schaumburg-based company disclosed in a filing to the state.

According to the latest Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act report, which was released this week, Motorola's layoffs will begin on July 31. Employees were notified in May. Libertyville is home to the company's mobile phone division.

From October through the first quarter of 2009, Motorola eliminated 7,500 jobs, with most of these cuts affecting the mobile-devices unit. Motorola spokeswoman Tama McWhinney said Tuesday that the 74 layoffs in the WARN report are new reductions and part of efforts to exceed the $1.7 billion in cost savings for 2009 announced earlier this year.

"These are difficult decisions," McWhinney said in an e-mail. "In keeping with Motorola's core values, we are fully committed to helping our colleagues through this transition period while continuing to make customer service a top priority."

Source: Chicago Tribune

Correct Craft layoffs 100 employees

Correct Craft Inc., the Orlando-based manufacturer of Ski Nautique water-ski boats, said today it will lay off 98 workers by the end of August.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Bill Yeargin, would not say Tuesday how many employees would remain, but the company reported having about 360 workers last fall. Generally speaking, the state must be notified of a pending layoff if at least one-third of a company's workers are affected.

Yeargin blamed the global recession and credit turmoil for the layoffs. "The boating market is off roughly 60 percent," he said. "We're not off as much as the market, [but] we're definitely off."

Yeargin said company officials noticed early this year that business was slumping, but instead of cutting workers, the company spent time on training programs. When the market did not change by April, some employees were furloughed with benefits, he said. When summer started with a recovery nowhere in sight, the decision was made to cut jobs, he added.

Yeargin said the industry has been hurt not only by falling sales but by dealers cutting back on inventory.

Correct Craft, originally the Florida Variety Boat Co., was started in 1925 by the Meloon family of Orlando. Over the years, the company has carved a market niche with boats made especially for water skiing and wakeboarding. The Meloons now owns less than 1 percent of the privately held company.

Yeargin said last month's unveiling of a new ski boat has been good for the company.

"We're still building boats and have orders for a few months," he said. "The new ski boat, Ski Nautique 200, we consider it a blessing. ... It's causing people to look at Correct Craft and Nautique."

Source: Orlando Sentinel

800 Pennsylvania workers will be laid off

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says state government will lay off close to 800 employees because of spending cuts. Rendell said Tuesday that pink slips will go out when he and the Legislature agree on a budget, perhaps sooner. Rendell says he deeply regrets the layoffs, but that he has been unable to persuade labor unions to allow rolling furloughs as an alternative.

Rendell said the latest $72 million in budget cuts that he and legislators have agreed to will drive up the number of state employee layoffs necessary to bring the 2009-10 budget into balance.

At a late morning Capitol news conference, the governor said he envisions close to 800 layoffs will be necessary as a result of the reductions he has proposed since February. He said most of the cuts were accomplished through reductions in personnel. He said affected employees will be notified as soon as a budget is passed, if not sooner.

The Democratic governor and the Legislature are in the seventh day of a budget impasse over how to deal with a multibillion dollar deficit.During the impasse, state government is unable to pay many bills, including the payroll for much of its 79,000-member work force.

Rendell says he plans to write to the state's larger vendors asking them to continue providing services during the impasse.

Rendell said he also has asked legislative leaders to find $70 milllion in cuts, which should produce a total savings of $200 million. He indicated that still leaves a huge gap between the $28.8 billion spending plan he feels is needed to operate state government and the $27.3 billion that Senate Republicans are willing to spend.

Although Republican leaders have shown no willingness to back down on their no-tax increase stance, Rendell said it is his hope that the nine hours legislative leaders spent with him going over every budget line might have changed that.

"Having gone through this process, it's my hope that the realization is going to sink in we just can't simply do a budget without some increases in revenue," Rendell said.

Source: Penn Live

Tip - Metlife layoffs in Tri - State area

Got via a tip:

MetLife sales offices have laid off several employees in the tri state area. More will be at the end of the month as well.

Few were in my sales office. I was of the few who was laid off.

Air carrier Austrian Arrows to layoff 400

The Tyrolean air carrier Austrian Arrows is to lay off 400 staff as part of 1,000 job cuts at Austrian Airlines.

AUA bosses Andreas Bierwirth and Peter Malanik said last week the cuts over the next twelve months were part of "sustainable” cost-cutting measures which were essential to get the company through its current crisis as bosses look to save more than 200 million Euros by 2012.

But it was revealed today that short-distance flights run by AUA’s subsidiary Tyrolean will be heavily affected.

The company said today that business customers were booking fewer short-distance flights due to the economic crisis - making profit almost impossible using Tyrolean’s many 50-seater airplanes. The plan is to cut the 55-plane Tyrolean fleet by 14 with the aircraft being sold. Some of them will be replaced with bigger airplanes but job cuts are unavoidable, it was added.

This announcement comes as doubts remain over the sale of the struggling company to German competitor Lufthansa.

The European Commission (EC) has said it will take more time to scrutinise the deal, but Lufthansa can back out of it if it has not been approved by 31 July.

According to reports, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is concerned Lufthansa’s acquisition of AUA will result in less competition and higher ticket prices.

Economy Chamber President Christoph Leitl recently warned of serious consequences for the Austrian economy if the EC does not give the deal the green light. Leitl warned a collapse of the deal would put Austria’s status as an international business location in jeopardy.

Source: Wiener Zeitung

Morton Metalcraft layoffs 95 workers

Morton Metalcraft said that it will close a facility at 2080 E. Williams St. in Apex by Oct. 30. Morton will layoff 95 workers because of the move.

Morton is a metal fabricator with customers that include Deere & Co., Caterpillar and Kubota Manufacturing.

“Earlier this year, Morton Metalcraft Co. began experiencing dramatic reductions in sales volumes,” Lydia Walton, human resources manager, wrote in a letter to Commerce. “The company continued to lose volume at the Apex location and now it is with regret that I must report to you that the company has decided to permanently close its entire facility.”

Source: News Observer

Stock Building Supply cuts 81 jobs at Raleigh HQ

Just days before emerging from bankruptcy, Stock Building Supply took one more pass with a circular saw at its costs, eliminating an estimated 81 jobs at the firm’s Raleigh headquarters.

Included in the cuts were a mix of workers – some veterans with more than 20 years on the job, others younger employees who’d seen the onetime national building-materials supplier pass through acquistion, court-supervised reorganization and substantial downsizing.

“These are just part of the tough decisions the company had to make to move forward,” says Stock spokeswoman Giovanna Konicke.

Layoffs took place June 26 at the firm’s corporate headquarters in the Brier Creek Corporate Center II building at 8020 Arco Corporate Drive. One longtime worker said he was given a severance package, but he declined to elaborate.

“I’m not bitter about it,” says the worker, who didn’t want to be identified. “I wish them all the best going forward.”

Stock reported the 81 figure in a Worker Action and Retraining Notification posted Tuesday with the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Stock, which employed roughly 18,000 workers at well over 250 branch locations nationwide during the housing boom in 2006, emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization July 1.

The plan put forth by the firm’s new owner, The Gores Group private equity firm of Los Angeles, called for a much leaner organization Stock with about 5,000 workers who will move forward concentrating on 19 key markets, including the Triangle, Charlotte and the Piedmont Triad in North Carolina.

Gores, which agreed to recapitalize the company and extend it a $125 million line of credit, purchased 51 percent of Stock from U.K.-based Wolseley PLC in May. Wolseley retains a 49 percent stake in Stock.

Source: Biz Journals

Tellabs Inc cuts 150 jobs

Naperville-based communications equipment manufacturer Tellabs Inc. disclosed it will lay off about 150 more employees.

Last October, the company announced it would cut 280 jobs, or about 8 percent of its workforce, as sales sagged in a tough economy. That trend appears to have continued.

In a filing with federal securities regulators Monday, Tellabs said it's continuing "to align our costs with customer spending and market conditions."

The company said it would record pretax charges in the second quarter through the first quarter of 2010 to cover workforce reductions of approximately 150 employees. Tellabs officials couldn't be reached for comment.

Source: Chicago Tribune

World Vision layoffs 50 employees

World Vision has laid off about 50 employees, between 4 and 5 percent of its U.S. workforce, saying a decrease in cash donations in the first half of 2009 has forced it to make some painful cost cuts.

Some of the layoffs were at the Christian relief organization's Federal Way headquarters, where about 800 employees work. Employees were notified of the layoffs last week. World Vision will cut 2 to 3 percent more jobs by eliminating 25 open positions.

World Vision said its private cash donations have fallen this year, dropping about 3 percent from January through March, and about 18 percent in the most recent quarter.

The non-profit's cash shortfall is expected to be $39 million for fiscal year 2009, which ends Sept. 30.

"We can no longer avoid the painful cost reduction steps that many organizations have already implemented," World Vision President Richard Stearns said in a statement. "The efforts of our faithful employees and donors have allowed us to swim against the tide longer than almost any other non-profit."

Other cost-cutting moves include reducing the organization's contributions to retirement plans by 50 percent, increasing employee premiums for health benefits and canceling annual merit raises for the second year.

Its five highest paid employees, according to World Vision's 2008 tax filing, are Atul Tandon, vice president of donor engagement ($213,000); William Randolph, vice president of information technology ($160,000); George Ward, senior vice president of international programming ($157,000); Martin Lonsdale, vice president of channel management ($155,000), and Michael Veitenhans, senior vice president ($150,000).

Stearns talked about the role of faith-based organizations and federal funding in an interview earlier this year.

World Vision is coming up shorter in cash contributions from major donors and individuals, but income from current and new child sponsors is expected to rise about 4 percent in 2009, to about $333 million. Sponsors regularly donate $30 to $35 per month.

"The overwhelming majority of our child sponsors remain loyal, despite the harsh economic conditions many of them are facing," Stearns said. "These unsung heroes have been the foundation of our ministry for decades, and we are grateful for their faithfulness."

In-kind gifts of products such as pharmaceuticals are up more than 30 percent this year, he said, to top a record of $390 million.

Globally, World Vision International said its cash income likely will drop from a projected $1.9 billion to $1.6 billion in the fiscal year. World Vision International has about 40,000 employees in 100 countries.

Source: Seattle Times

Consumer Reports plans to layoff 21 editors

Consumer Reports, the non-profit advocacy magazine owned by the Consumers Union, may fire 21 editors and product reviewers if its writer’s union does not agree to sacrifice raises. According to the New York Post, other employees have already agreed to cuts.

The magazine does not take advertising because it wants to appear independent when it reviews products and services. It is time for the magazine to reverse that policy, if it wants to continue to provide full services to its readers. Taking advertising does not mean catering to advertisers.

A subscription to Consumer Reports cost $26 a year. Subscribers can read reviews in which the magazine’s editors trash Starbucks coffee and criticize Ford cars and trucks for that modest annual fee. A cut in the editorial staff at Consumer Reports would certainly hurt the quality of the testing by the Consumers Union research staff and as a result the quality of the magazine will suffer. The reader’s $26 will be going for a degraded product.

Consumer Reports won’t be Consumer Reports any more unless it comes up with new ways to bring in revenue.

Source: 247 Wall St

IDT-Tundra plans to cut 100 jobs

Integrated Device Technology, which last week announced the closing of its purchase of the Canadian chip maker, Tundra Semiconductor, said today it would reduce its workforce by about 4.1 percent after assessing its “ongoing personnel needs in light of the acquisition.”

Based on the most recent figures we could find, a combined IDT and Tundra would have about 2,350 employees, meaning the reduction in force would affect between 95 and 100 employees.

IDT estimates that it will spend between $7.8-$8.2 million in cash for severance and related costs, most of which it will write off in the current quarter. The restructuring is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Source: Silicon Beat

Bristol-Myers Squibb cuts 25 jobs

Twenty-five people were notified last week that they’re going to be laid off from The Bristol-Myers Squibb facility in East Syracuse.

The employees worked in manufacturing and in support of manufacturing at the plant. The layoffs are part of the company’s on-going productivity transformation which is happening on a global scale.

The 25 employees will be let go in two weeks.

Source: 9WSYR

ABB layoffs 69 hourly employees in Boston

A total of 69 hourly positions were eliminated affecting ABB employees on all three shifts and reaching across all of the product lines at the South Boston plant, local plant officials confirmed.

According to Milton Axton, ABB vice-president and general manager, the affected employees were told Wednesday that their jobs would be eliminated effective Thursday.

After the layoffs, ABB has a remaining workforce of approximately 500, according to plant officials.

The job eliminations are the company’s reaction to the general recession affecting businesses and industries across the nation.

“We have seen a significant fall off in our orders,” Axton said. “We have seen a tremendous decline for transformers that has resulted in cancellation of investment projects.”

Source: Gazette Virginian

MAF Biosecurity cuts 60 jobs

Around sixty jobs are on the line in border control at MAF Biosecurity.

It comes as cargo volumes have fallen 13 percent this year and passenger arrivals are down by three to four percent.

MAF Biosecurity spokesman Steve Stuart says across border operations, they are seeking to disestablish around 30 existing vacancies and further reduce capacity by 30 currently filled positions.

Around 700 staff in the Passenger, Cargo and Border Standards divisions are being asked for their feedback on the proposal.

Source: Newstalkz

Aker Verdal cuts 155 jobs in Norway

Norwegian yard Aker Verdal has announced that 155 jobs will be cut, due to major losses and a lack of new contracts.

The number of jobs will be reduced from 610 to 445. How many workers will actually be laid off will not be determined until the end of September, according to Shop Steward Stein Aamdal.

Union representatives say they now fear that th layoffs will be the beginning of the end for the company.

Aker Verdal was established in 1970 and has developed a special competence in engineering and building large steel constructions and steel substructures (jackets) for the offshore oil industry. With 33 jacket deliveries since 1975, Aker Verdal has established a leading position in this area.

The yard has also delivered a wide range of floating and fixed installations to the oil industry in the North Sea. A total of 10 semi-submersible platforms of Aker H3 and H3.2 design was built in the period 1973 to 1982. Furthermore, a wide range of modules and decks, sub-sea templates, bridges, flare towers and a loading buoy have been delivered.

Source: Norway Post

Chinese auto maker BAIC plans for job cuts in Europe, new plant in China

Chinese auto maker BAIC, which is offering 922 million dollars for a majority stake in Opel, plans to build a plant in China and cut jobs in Europe if its bid succeeds, a report said.

In a non-binding offer submitted last week for the German-based unit of General Motors, BAIC proposed to spend two billion dollars on what would become Opel's first factory in China, according to the Financial Times.

The plant would come online in 2012 and make Opel models specifically geared towards the China market. In addition, BAIC would use Opel's German plants to export to China, the London-based newspaper said.

The Chinese auto maker also planned to shut down General Motors' Antwerp plant in Belgium and cut Opel's workforce across Europe, the report said, citing unnamed sources close to the matter.

A German economic ministry spokesman said this week that BAIC had written to German officials regarding Opel, without elaborating.

But earlier German press reports said the Chinese firm had proposed to take a 51-percent stake in Opel for 660 million euros (921.5 million dollars) with state guarantees of 2.64 billion euros.

BAIC's offer could put pressure on negotiations already underway for Opel.

Canadian auto parts manufacturer Magna International, backed by Russian state lender Sberbank, is in advanced talks with the US car giant to take a combined 55 percent stake.

According to German reports Carl-Peter Forster, head of GM Europe, has said he hopes Opel will be bought by Magna by mid-July, adding that the Canadian firm had a "considerable lead" on other possible buyers.

Source: AFP

IKEA founder says more layoffs are required

IKEA, the world's top furniture retailer, needs to cut more staff in the face of weaker consumer demand due to the economic downturn, the founder of the Swedish company said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday. IKEA, known for low-price, self-assembly furniture, has already cut staff by about 5,000 employees but Ingvar Kamprad, who founded the company in 1943 and now serves as an adviser to the group, said more was needed.

"It is naturally a disappointment, but it will unfortunately not be enough. It will be necessary to do significantly more on the staff side," he was quoted as saying in an interview with Swedish business daily Dagens Industri.

"We need to cut staff more mainly within manufacturing and logistics. This is about adapting to sales being far below budget as well as becoming more efficient."

Kamprad noted IKEA would be hiring thousands of employees per year across the world in coming years to staff new stores, though he added it was scaling back on expansion plans.

"The forecast shows the margin and earnings falling considerably this year. That is proof that we've been too lax in dealing with our existing stores," he was quoted as saying. "I've actually tried to warn for some time that we've had too much focus on expansion and now the board has chosen reduce the pace of new establishments significantly."

Source: Reuters

Rumor - Google is laying off again

Webguild reports that Google is laying off again

"Apparently, Google is laying off a large number of sub-contracted employees and full-time employees that manage those contractors. The layoffs are taking place in Seattle, WA and Kirkland, WA. Further, entire offices are being closed in Michigan and Texas with all employees getting laid off.

At the Mountain View offices, the layoffs will begin with those doing internal tech support inside for Google employees, Google-issued work computers – both desktops and portables, as well as those working on Google servers, according to sources.

Another source said Google is looking to add capacity in Nebraska on the data center operations and management end.

Another source said the layoffs are coordinated in a fashion to avoid getting on the radar of governmental, business, and media reporting agencies. In other words, the layoffs are below the threshold of the various state and federal rules to avoid being identified and hence, having to pay large severances.

All sources said that they had signed “tight” secrecy employment agreements with Google and were not in a position to speak to co-workers or third parties about their employment, employment terms, pay, terminations, layoffs and any other work that relates to Google. They also cannot organize with other employees to mount class action lawsuits or side with labor unions against Google."

Source: Webguild

Racemark layoffs 36 employees

Racemark, a manufacturer of automotive floor mats, notified 36 employees July 2 that they will be laid off as of Sept. 30, CEO Ginger Cannon Bailey said.

Most of the laid-off employees do light manufacturing such as sewing for the company, which supplies floor mats for BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi, Bailey said. They had worked for Racemark anywhere from one to 20 years, she said.

The layoffs are part of a restructuring that will bring more of the company’s manufacturing operations to their Calhoun, Ga., plant. The employees who are being let go will have the opportunity to apply for positions at the Georgia facility, Bailey said.

The restructuring will leave 16 employees in the Malta location, a number that is “dependent on our customer base,” she said.

Bailey said the company, which has been in Malta for 25 years, has suffered the same effects of the recession as other automotive companies. “I think all of the auto market is down about 30 percent,” she said, adding that her company’s profits were in line with that trend. “We’ve never had a layoff until this recession.”

The expanded Georgia facility will continue to manufacture automotive floor mats. “We do not supply Detroit, so we are very healthy in terms of our customer base,” Bailey said. The restructuring will alleviate some of the costs associated with transporting raw materials from Georgia to Malta and “make us a very strong and healthy company,” she added. The layoffs will ensure that “our costs are in line with our current value.”

Employees who stay through the end of September will receive a bonus and assistance finding a new position, Bailey said.

Source: Saratogian

548,930 jobless in Romania

The number of jobless in Romania climbed 22,127 in June to a three-year high of 548,930, exceeding the initial estimate of the Labor Ministry for the end of the year, data of the national work force agency (ANOFM) show.

Number of jobless in Romania hits 548,930 in June Out of the total number of unemployed, 435,765 (79.4 percent) come from the private sector.

This is the twelfth consecutive month of growth in the jobless rate. The number of unemployed rose by 62.8 percent the previous month on June 2008, when it stood at 337,084, NewsIn informs.

Such a high rate was last recorded in February 2006, when the jobless number counted 554,585.

The unemployment rate hiked in June to 6 percent from 5.8 percent in May.

Some 290,281 jobless of the total received an unemployment benefits.

Mechel Targoviste steel plant said it would run a collective layoff scheme that would affect 249 workers.

World Bank said it expected the unemployment rate of 8% in Romania.

World Bank also said the unemployment rate is expected to scale back gradually in 2010, Romania being one of the ten EU-members in Central and Eastern European countries where the situation is to improve.

The highest unemployment rates were reported for the counties of Vaslui (12.1 percent) and Mehedinti (10.6 percent) and the lowest ones for Ilfov (1.5 percent) and Bucharest (1.8 percent).

Unemployment rate calculated for jobless persons aged between 15 and 74 but willing to work and sought jobs over the last month, climbed in first quarter 2009 by 1.1 pc from prior-year quarter, to 6.9%, National Institute of Statistics informed.

The data provided by NIS shows that the employment rate, calculated based on the International Bureau of Labor criteria, was 0.6% up from first quarter 2008.

The gap between female and male unemployment was 2.5% (7.9% for men and 5.5% or women), while on areas, the gap was 1.5 percent (7.5% for urban area and 6% for rural area).

The unemployment hit the highest rates for persons aged 15 and 24.

Source: Wall Street

Toronto Star cuts 27 jobs

The Toronto Star says it's cutting six full-time and 21 part-time positions at its classified department as sales for the section decline.

The country's largest newspaper and a division of Torstar Corp. said it had notified both the union and staff on Monday that the positions would be contracted out.

"Due to the dramatic drop of classified services and the rise of online classified services we feel it no longer makes economic sense for us to run an in-house classified call centre," said Torstar spokesman Bob Hepburn in a phone interview.

The cuts will affect six full-time and 21 part-time staff, he said.

Brad Honywill, president of Local 87-M of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, criticized the decision, which he says will shuffle the work across the border to Buffalo, N.Y.

"It's shameful that one of the largest newspapers in the country ... is now shuffling work off to Buffalo in order to save a couple of bucks," he said.

However, Hepburn said that the Star hasn't made a commitment to any company on either side of the border, though he wouldn't confirm whether Buffalo was being considered as an option.

"Currently we're in talks with some outside vendors," he said.

Classified sections of newspapers have seen their orders dwindle as more readers migrate to free-listing websites like Craigslist to attract attention for items they're selling.

The Star has agreed to delay issuing formal layoff notices for two weeks as the union weighs its options. Once the notices are issued, the employees have 90 days of work time left under the current contract.

Earlier this year, Torstar laid off about 60 unionized staff and managers across the organization, primarily in advertising sales at the Toronto Star, in a move it says will save on labour costs.

In May, Torstar said in its first-quarter report that it would take a $25.9 million restructuring charge in the quarter for staff cuts and streamlining efforts to boost the bottom line.

Source: Canadian Press

105 Shelby County workers to lose jobs

More than 100 Shelby County workers will lose their jobs, according to the most recent Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development dislocated worker report released Monday.

Medtronic Inc., VML Co. LLC and Shelby County government all filed letters notifying the department that they will lay off a sum of 105 workers.

Medtronic Spinal and Biologics will lay off 56 employees effective Aug. 17.

VML Co. notified the department that it will close its local operation at 2070 Channel Ave. and take 28 jobs with it. Memphis-based VML specialized in the production of household linens, polish, sanitation goods, soaps and detergents.

Shelby County government will shed 21 workers. More detailed information about the layoffs, including what departments they will come from, was not immediately available.

In February, Shelby County filed a notice with the state that said it would laid off 225 people from the Shelby County Juvenile Court at 616 Adams. The layoffs were effective June 30.

The county’s letter to the department did not cite any reasons for the layoffs, but in February county officials warned of such cuts after the state awarded the Shelby County child support collection contract to Maximus Human Services, a private company based in Virginia.

Source: Biz Journals

ProHealth Care cuts 50 jobs

ProHealth Care, which operates Waukesha Memorial Hospital and Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital, announced that it would eliminate 50 positions.

The jobs will be lost through layoffs and attrition, although spokespeople for the hospital system would not give a specific breakdown.

ProHealth’s announcement makes it the latest health care provider to cut staff. Last week, Aurora Health Care, the state’s largest hospital system announced it would lay off 90 people and not fill another 220 positions. Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, Glendale, and Columbia St. Mary’s, Milwaukee, have also had layoffs in the last six months.

ProHealth officials cited the economy as the reason and released a statement saying “(ProHealth’s) leadership is making these adjustments in a thoughtful, responsible manner which will position the company for continued strength.”

Spokesperson Sandra Peterson said the jobs being eliminated are spread systemwide and will not affect the quality of patient care.

Source: Biz Journals

Sunoco cuts 50 jobs

Sunoco Inc. said that 40 to 50 workers will lose jobs because it is permanently closing the ethylene complex that was damaged in an explosion and fire at its Marcus Hook, Pa., oil refinery.

The Philadelphia company said the demand for ethylene, ethylene oxide and cyclohexane doesn’t justify repairing or replacing equipment at the complex that was damaged by the explosion and resulting fire.

Sunoco said it has begun negotiating with Local 10-901 of the United Steelworkers Union, which represents 650 to 700 employees at the refinery, to finalize the workers’ severance packages.

An explosion in the ethylene unit at the refinery on the night of May 17 started the fire.

Ethylene is a byproduct of the petroleum refining process that is used to make the plastic polypropylene, which Sunoco produces at a chemical plant adjacent to its Marcus Hook refinery.

Source: Biz Journals

TNS plans for layoffs in UK

In the UK, TNS has told ‘a small number of employees’ in its Custom division that their jobs are at risk, and has made a more general request to employees to take a fortnight’s unpaid leave during the second half of 2009, as it tries to avoid further cuts.

UK CEO Andrew Czarnowski said in a brief statement: ‘Like most UK businesses we have not been immune to the effects of the economic downturn. It is with reluctance that a small number of TNS UK Custom employees have been notified that their roles are at risk of redundancy. In addition, employees are being asked to take two weeks unpaid leave between now and December 2009 to reduce potential for further redundancies.

‘The actions we are taking are balanced so that we can address our short term business pressures and retain our talent to ensure that we are in the strongest possible position to respond to recover from the recession.’

TNS, which now forms part of Kantar within WPP, recently merged with Research International. WPP has been cutting jobs to match a fall in revenue, as outlined in comments made by CEO Sir Martin Sorrell in March. A revenue drop of almost 6% was announced in late April, followed a week later by the news that having eliminated 3,600 positions in Q1, the group planned to cull as many again in the remainder of 2009. A month ago, Sorrell announced a 6.7% dip in like-for-like revenues for the first four months of the year.

Source: Mr Web

Trinity Mirror plans to cut 66 jobs in England

The National Union of Journalists has condemned Trinity Mirror's plan to make a further "savage" round of 66 job cuts in the north-east of England.

Trinity Mirror today told staff it wanted to cut a total of 66 jobs, including 25 in editorial, with 18 coming from the publisher's Newcastle operation, where it publishes the Journal, the Evening Chronicle and a string of weekly titles. A further seven editorial posts will go in Middlesbrough, home to titles such as the Teesside Gazette.

The company is also closing the South Tyne Chronicle Extra, the North Tyneside Chronicle Extra and lifestyle titles Exclusive and City Living. In Middlesbrough, niche publications the Times series and the Yarm Town Crier will cease publication.

Today's move follows the group's announcement in November last year that it would make 28 editorial redundancies in the north-east as it closed district offices and extended multimedia newsroom operations.

The NUJ said members were "surprised" by the severity of the cuts, with those at Trinity Mirror's Newcastle centre set to meet tomorrow to plan their response, Those in Middlesbrough are also expected to meet.

Chris Morley, the NUJ northern regional organiser, said: "The announcement of these savage cutbacks have left people feeling shellshocked and angry. These latest cuts must represent about 10% of the editorial workforce and come on top of reductions in staffing earlier this year.

"Journalists on these titles are already struggling to cope with the day-to-day demands placed on them since the last round of redundancies. It is hard to understand how the company expects people to continue to produce quality journalism with such depleted staffing levels.

"NUJ members will now decide on how they plan to respond. Combined with Trinity Mirror's plans for cutbacks across the Midlands, the company's stated commitments to local communities look pretty hollow. It is left to its journalists to stand up for quality on their titles."

Trinity Mirror last week said it would close nine local newspapers in the Midlands and make almost 120 staff redundant.

Union members have called for industrial action ballots after the company refused to give guarantees about its plans for the region or rule out compulsory redundancies.

In November, Trinity Mirror said it intended to cut 23 editorial jobs at its Newcastle base, with a further five jobs going at its Middlesbrough office.

Trinity Mirror said at the time that challenging trading conditions had contributed to the decision but that the changes also reflected its ongoing development as a multiplatform media organisation.

Source: Guardian

DeCrane Aerospace in Peshtigo layoffs 90 employees

DeCrane Aerospace in Peshtigo filed notice of layoffs at its facility located at 701 Maple Street, Peshtigo, affecting approximately 90 employees.

DeCrane said the layoffs are to occur on or about August 31, 2009, and continue through September 11, 2009.

DeCrane described the layoffs as temporary in nature.

DWD and its regional partner, the Bay Area Workforce Development Board, are working to arrange a rapid response meeting with the affected workers.

Source: WFRV

Modus Inc layoffs around 40 employees

After opening with great fanfare in April 2008, the Modus Inc. modular structure manufacturing plant in Swift Current has laid off most of its workers due to the economic slowdown.

Last month, about 40 employees were given temporary layoff notices, reducing the workforce to about 20 at present, according to Tanja MacIsaac, office manager for Modus Modular Structures in Swift Current.

"We've kept a skeleton crew out there, so that if (customers) say they want one or two units, we can build those in a reasonable time-frame.,'' MacIsaac aid.

"At the same time, they're the core people, so that if we get another job, and we need to start bringing new people in, they'll train the new people."

Those layoffs came on top of permanent job cuts in January, which reduced the workforce by roughly 40, plus about 30 probationary staff, MacIsaac said Monday.

At peak employment in November, the manufacturing plant, which makes modular structures for schools, telecommunications and oil and gas industries, employed about 130 workers.

MacIsaac said the layoffs were largely the result of the suspension of the $54-million contract to build 1,500 portable accommodation units for Suncor Energy's Voyageur upgrader in Fort McMurray, Alta.

"It hasn't been cancelled,'' MacIsaac said. "It's just been suspended.''

When the Suncor project looked like it wouldn't resume anytime soon and there wasn't any "enterprise'' contract on the horizon, Modus decided to issue the second layoff notice June 9.

"We had hoped that the (first layoff) would be the only set of layoffs we'd have to do and that we would be able to maintain enough production to carry us through the (Suncor project) suspension,'' she said.

"However, (the slowdown) has gone on much longer than we had hoped, so we're having to take further steps so the company can remain viable and be ready when the jobs pick up again.''

At the official opening April 25, 2008, which was attended by Lt.-Gov. Gordon Barnhart, Premier Brad Wall and Cypress Hills-Grasslands MP David Anderson, Modus CEO John Verhagen said the 100,000-square-foot facility would employ about 100 workers.

With expansion, that number could rise to 200, Verhagen said. "We call ourselves the Cadillac of the industry,'' referring to the quality of Modus modular structures, Verhagen said.

Modus also operates Clear Choice Windows, a Swift Current-based company which the Calgary-based company acquired. The window manufacturing plant is still operating and employs about 12, MacIsaac said.

Source: Leader Post

Caraco Pharmaceuticals cuts 350 jobs

Detroit-based drug maker Caraco Pharmaceuticals Laboratories, Ltd. is slashing its workforce by about half and eliminating about 350 jobs indefinitely after federal authorities shut down distribution at all the company's Michigan plants last month citing faulty manufacturing practices.

The generic drug company announced the job cuts today. Caraco officials said the workforce cuts are needed to reduce expenses following a raid last month by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that halted manufacturing at three of its facilities in Detroit, Farmington Hills and Wixom.

The FDA ordered a seizure of all drugs and raw ingredients kept at those facilities after a May inspection revealed the company had failed to correct numerous manufacturing violations. Caraco, which manufactures more than 50 generic products, employs about 660 workers.

Since January, Caraco has initiated voluntary recalls for numerous drugs because of manufacturing problems, such as poorly shaped pills.

Additionally, Caraco announced today that JPMorgan Chase & Co. bank has yanked access to a $10 million credit line until the company resolves its problems with the FDA.

The credit line currently has a zero balance, Caraco officials said.

Generic drugs seized by federal authorities will cost Caraco an estimated $15 million to $20 million in lost sales revenue.

"We anticipate working with the FDA for resolution as expeditiously and effectively as possible," the company stated in a release.

Source: Det News

Wyle Information Systems layoffs 80

Wyle Information Systems is laying off 67 employees in Austin connected to its contract with its Job Corps contract. The McLean, Va. company lost that contract to Altech Services and said many of the workers it's cutting, including the 67 in Austin and another 13 in Maine, will become direct employees of Altech.

In a letter to the Texas Workforce Commission notifying the state of the layoffs, Wyle officials say the cuts are effective July 10. But they said that "most" of the employees will transfer to Altech and the transition will be "seamless." Affected positions range from software engineers to telecommunications analysts.

Source: Biz Journals

Penguin UK layoffs 100 employees

Penguin UK will layoff around 100 people in the publisher's London offices. As the publisher restructures, Penguin UK managing director Helen Fraser will retire, and be replaced by Tom Weldon as deputy chief executive.

The cuts affected almost 10 percent of Penguin UK's employees, and the company will consolidate adult publishing into three divisions. While the Penguin list will not change, the DK list will be reduced by 20 percent from the 250 titles it currently produces.

Here's more on the company's restructuring: "[There will be] three adult divisions: Michael Joseph, under Louise Moore; Penguin General (including Viking, Hamish Hamilton, Fig Tree and Penguin Ireland) run by Joanna Prior; and Penguin Press under Stefan McGrath. A new children's division is also to be created under Stephanie Barton as managing director, comprising Puffin, Frederick Warne, Ladybird and BBC Children."

Source: Media Bistro

British Telecom offers leave for pay cuts

Telecoms company BT Group PLC is offering staff a year off work in return for a 75 per cent cut in that year's pay.

BT is one of Britain's biggest companies, with more than 100,000 employees. It is trying to cut costs after posting a net loss of almost 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) for the first three months of 2009.

The company said that staff who take up the offer will get the remaining quarter of their salary as an upfront payment. Employees are also being offered incentives to work part-time.

BT already has said it expects to cut 15,000 jobs in the next year. Many companies are seeking to trim payroll costs. British Airways asked employees to take unpaid leave or work for a month without pay. It says 7,000 of its 40,000 staff agreed.

Source: Times of India

Discover Financial Services cuts 55 jobs at New Albany call center

Credit-card giant Discover Financial Services LLC told state officials it plans to finish cutting 55 jobs at its New Albany call center beginning Tuesday.

The Riverwoods, Ill.-based company wrote in a filing with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that the cuts at its call center, in New Albany’s Research and Information District, will be complete by July 14. Discover first disclosed the cuts in May, saying they were part of a company-wide wave of 500 job cuts.

Discover had about 1,200 full-time and 500 part-time workers at the end of 2008, making it one of Central Ohio’s largest employers, according to Columbus Business First research.

The company in the year ended Nov. 30, 2008, earned $927.8 million on $2.69 billion in revenue. Discover has about 11,500 employees company-wide.

Source: Biz Journals

Evident Technologies files Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition

Evident Technologies Inc., one of the region’s first companies devoted to nanotechnology, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.

The company, headed by president and CEO Clint Ballinger, lists $4.8 million in debts in its court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albany. The company also lists $3.9 million in assets.

The Troy, N.Y., company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a typical Chapter 11 case, companies remain open and operating while they reorganize their finances.

Calls to Ballinger and the company’s attorney, Richard Weisz of Hodgson Russ LLP, were not returned.

Evident Technologies was one of the region’s first purely nanotech-related companies. Nanotechnology is a developing scientific field where researchers manipulate molecules and other subatomic particles to develop microscopic devices and materials.

Evident Technologies, founded nine years ago, was one of the first companies to develop nanocrystal “quantum dots.” That technology is used in everything from flat screen TVs to cancer treatments to Christmas lights.

The court filings indicate that Evident Technologies has undergone some leadership changes in recent months. Chris Bondy, a member of the company’s board of directors, resigned in April. The next month, the company’s chief operating officer, David Duncan, resigned.

Among the company’s debts are $951,000 in disputed attorney’s fees to Kenyon & Kenyon LLP, a downstate firm that specializes in intellectual property law.

The Kenyon firm is representing Evident Technologies in a pending lawsuit in Texas. Evident Technologies has been sued for alleged patent infringement.

Court filings show that two other lawsuits involving the company have been settled within the past year. Both involved alleged trademark infringement.

The company averages $10,000 of income per month, and $200,000 of monthly expenses, according to court papers.

Source: Biz Journals

Sun Microsystems layoffs 103 employees

Sun Microsystems recently dismissed 61 employees in Dallas as part of a broader restructuring, according to a company filing with the Texas Workforce Commission.

California-based Sun Microsystems, which makes servers and related hardware and software, laid off the Dallas employees between May 30 and June 13, a letter to the Workforce Commission says. Aside from Dallas, other Texas sites impacted by the job cuts were Austin, which had 11 people laid off during that time frame; Houston, with 27, and San Antonio, with four, the letter says.

In addition, Sun plans to dismiss two other employees in Austin between Aug. 24 and Sept. 7, the letter says.

The filing, done to comply with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — or WARN for short — does not delineate what types of jobs were cut or their salary ranges. A Sun spokeswoman wasn’t immediately available for comment Monday.

Sun has been shedding jobs worldwide in an effort to get profitable for some time. In November, it announced it would dismiss up to 6,000 of its 33,000 employees as part of a push to save $800 million annually.

Sun recently agreed to be acquired by another California software giant, Oracle Corp.

Source: Biz Journals

Media News Group cuts 18 jobs

Media News Group, the Denver-based owner of the Oakland Tribune, the Contra Costa Times and the San Jose Mercury News, is looking to eliminate 18 newsroom jobs from its East Bay unit. This comes on the tail of rumors alleging that the company is undergoing bankruptcy arrangements or a change in ownership -- both of which Media News denies.

What they're not denying is that flagging revenues continue to take a toll, and the quickest means to slashing expenses is to divest the company of employees. The 18 positions will be eliminated by mid-summer. Before layoffs take place, the company is looking for buyout volunteers.

Full text of the memo from executive editor and vice president Kevin Keane, courtesy of the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club:

Colleagues,

I had always held out hope that business would bounce back quickly enough that we would be able to avoid further staff reductions this fiscal year. Unfortunately whatever rebound there is in this economy hasn't reached the advertising market yet. We project revenues will continue their skid well into next year, which means expenses will need to come down accordingly.

Today we're announcing that we will be eliminating 18 full-time positions in the newsroom (managers and rank and file employees) by mid summer. We will notify the union today as well. Employees let go will receive a week's salary for each year worked, with a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of 12. The company will also pay the employer portion of Cobra benefits for health care for three months.

It goes without saying that this deep a cut on top of previous reductions will have a lasting impact on our newspapers and Web sites. Our preference would be to hold staffing at its current level until the revenue bottomed out, but we can't delay if we're to get through this downturn.

Before we finalize these cuts, however, we're asking for volunteers to step forward. These volunteers will receive an additional severance of up to eight weeks salary on top of the severance mentioned above - one week's pay for each year worked, up to eight years. Under the volunteer program, a 12-year employee would receive the maximum 20-week severance.

Management reserves the right to accept or reject a voluntary offer, depending on how vital a position is to the news organization. Every accepted offer brings down the involuntary layoff number by one. If we accept 18 volunteers, we'll eliminate the need for the layoff altogether. Anyone interested in the voluntary program should contact Belinda Byrd in HR by Wednesday, July 8 at 5 p.m.

Any questions, feel free to drop me a line.

Source: Media Bistro

Kenosha News shuts down Wisconsin facility, 54 jobs lost

The Kenosha News plans to shut down its printing and packaging operations and outsource the work to a contractor. The move will leave 54 workers without jobs.

The shutdown is expected to occur by Aug. 30, according to a mass layoff notice filed July 3 with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. The Kenosha News will shift its printing and packaging work to an independent contractor, according to the notice.

Layoffs at the facility, 5800 Seventh Ave., Kenosha, will affect 13 full-time and 40 part-time employees.

The Kenosha News, which publishes a daily newspaper covering Kenosha County and northern Illinois, is owned by United Communications Corp., of Kenosha

Source: Biz Journals

BASF will cut 3,700 jobs by 2013

BASF SE, the world’s biggest chemical company, said the integration of Switzerland’s Ciba Holding AG will lead to 3,700 job cuts by 2013 and annual cost savings of about 400 million euros ($555 million).

“The combined businesses can be successful in the long term only if we optimize them and exploit the full potential for synergies,” Juergen Hambrecht, chief executive officer of Ludwigshafen-Germany-based BASF said in a statement today.

The slump in chemical demand coincided with Hambrecht’s decision to buy Ciba for about $3 billion. The integration of the dye-maker will include the revamp, sale or closure of 23 of the 55 former Ciba sites worldwide. By the end of 2010, BASF aims to achieve savings of about 300 million euros with merger costs totaling 550 million euros.

BASF, which concluded the purchase of Ciba in April, had said it expected synergies of about 10 percent of Ciba’s sales from the purchase and past acquisitions have yielded about 50 percent of expected savings within the first year. Ciba had 5.9 billion Swiss francs ($5.4 billion) in revenue in 2008.

The majority of job cuts will be eliminated by the end of 2010, BASF said.

Source: Bloomberg

Scandinavian airline SAS plans to cut 300 jobs

A Danish airline workers' union said that it failed to win agreement on concessions offered in talks with Scandinavian airline SAS, and that it expected more than 300 job cuts.

The HK Luftfart union had offered to take five days off without pay to avoid job cuts, but it said in a statement that the offer had not satisfied SAS management.

"Unfortunately we fear that there will be more than 300 fewer colleagues in SAS," HK Luftfart chairman Nicholas Fischer said in the statement. "So far, so bad."

The union said the reductions were likely to consist of about 70 jobs in SAS Denmark, 50 jobs in SAS ground services and the rest from outsourcing of various activities.

Source: Reuters

UK retailer Makro cuts jobs

Retailer Makro today signalled further job losses as it began talks with staff and union representatives over plans to improve efficiency in its UK stores.

Makro said a small number of posts would go across some of its branches, including Manchester.

Last month, Makro said it would reorganise operations at its Eccles headquarters, with several redundancies, and earlier this year announced proposals to close three of its superstores.

Makro operates from 30 sites around the country and employs just over 5,000. It was also discussing proposals to change working hours and shifts.

A spokesman for the Manchester-based shopworkers' union Usdaw said: "We are sad and disappointed that there may be a number of redundancies at Makro. We will do all we can to protect jobs and, in the case of any redundancies, to obtain the best terms and conditions for our members."

Source: Manchester Evening News

Strike warning over Diageo layoffs

Union leaders have said they cannot rule out balloting for strike action in their fight against job cuts at drinks firm Diageo.

Members of the union Unite are due to meet in London to plan their campaign against the axing of 900 workers in Kilmarnock and Glasgow.

The company has said restructuring is needed to expand the business and ensure long-term profit.

Jim Winter from Unite said he could not rule out strike action.

Diageo announced the job losses, of which 700 are based at the Johnnie Walker plant in Kilmarnock, last week.

"We don't think the company's arguments stack up," Mr Winter told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme.

"We believe Kilmarnock in particular is one of the most profitable areas with the iconic blends of red label and black label whisky."

He added: "Strike action is always going to be an option. We rule nothing out and nothing in. We hope it won't come to that and with the help of the politicians that we can reverse this decision."

Mr Winter admitted that strike action could be seen as counter-productive but said: "Sometimes we have to take drastic measures."

Kilmarnock and Loudoun MP Des Browne and SNP MSPs Willie Coffey and Bob Doris are also planning to make their cases to Diageo management this week.

Mr Coffey told the programme Diageo's announcement was "absolutely devastating" for the town.

First Minister Alex Salmond met Diageo representatives on Thursday.

He said the company had agreed to consider alternative proposals during a consultation process which started on Friday.

He also said he was given a guarantee that there would be no compulsory job losses in the next 12 months.

There was outrage when Diageo, which made a profit of £1.64bn in the six months to the end of December, said jobs were to go.

Diageo aims to offset the job losses by creating up to 400 new posts at its packaging plant at Leven in Fife.

East Ayrshire Council placed an angry advert in Saturday's Herald newspaper, complaining the first it knew about the plans for Kilmarnock was in a press release.

That meant the council could not discuss the impact on the town, before the news got out.

Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney is leading a cross-party alliance, which wants to come up with an alternative business plan - to persuade Diageo not to shut the sites.

Unite union members are due to meet in London to decide how to force Diageo to explain to staff why the jobs must go.

Diageo claims restructuring is needed to expand the business and ensure long-term profit.

Source: BBC

Sanofi-Aventis plans for layoffs

For American employees of Sanofi-Aventis, the most interesting part of CEO Chris Viehbacher’s recent restructuring statement was a line buried near the end, which said:

The research reorganization project will also concern preclinical activities in some sites of Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan where divestment or reconversion solutions will be sought for certain activities.

A source tells BNET that those “divestment or reconversion solutions” are actually the layoff of 60 - 135 people at Sanofi’s Great Valley, Pa., site. The source said:

The very day that Chris Viehbacher declared that there would be no forced layoffs (in a sanofi-aventis official press release), departments of Analytical Sciences and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Great Valley, PA research facility were called together and told that they would be out of jobs by the end of the year (about 60+ positions). There is no plan to relocate staff from these departments. Other departments were affected less severely, but there are other cuts as well. I know all of this because I am one affected. I am not so upset by the layoffs themselves, in fact was anticipating something like this, as by the fact that this was not made known in any company statements …

I know for certain that about 60 people in these two departments will be terminated by the end of the year. Other departments are still up in the air about the number of job cuts. One unverified number is 135 total. Most feel that this is the beginning of the end for the Great Valley site.

Great Valley employs about 700 people. Notes were also posted on comments boards at Seeking Alpha, Topix and — of course — Cafe Pharma bemoaning the layoffs.

Source: BNET