Layoff Tracker

American Airlines to cut more than 2,000 jobs in Tulsa

2012-02-03T08:12:00.001+05:30

A spokesman for American Airlines says Tulsa is expected to lose 2,100 jobs at its maintenance base under a bankruptcy reorganization plan released by its parent company.

American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said Wednesday the company employs about 6,800 workers at its Tulsa facility, mostly mechanics who work to overhaul engines and equipment.

Fort Worth-based AMR Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, and released a proposal Wednesday saying it planned to slash about 13,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce. U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe and other state officials said they were disappointed, but not surprised by the airline's announcement.

They expressed optimism that the maintenance facility in Tulsa will remain operational. Smith says the plan released Wednesday is the starting point for union negotiations.

Source: Bartlesville Radio

Thirty-One Gifts layoffs 182 workers in Ohio

2012-02-03T08:10:00.004+05:30

Central Ohio-based direct-sales company Thirty-One Gifts has laid off 182 workers at two of its four area operations.

Company officials said that they were forced to lay off 92 employees at its Johnstown office and 90 employees at its Easton office because of lagging sales growth.

Thirty-One and its independent sales representatives sell purses, totes and other accessories via home parties.

Although sales “continue to beat last year’s numbers, it’s simply not at the pace that was expected for 2012,” the company said in a statement. The reduced number of employees will make Thirty-One better able to deal with the slower sales growth.

In addition, "Throughout 2011, we invested heavily in systems, improved infrastructure in our call center operations, warehouse, and order management systems and in the hiring of employees,” said Cindy Monroe, founder and CEO of the company.

“All of this led to great efficiencies,” she said, which meant that some employees wouldn’t be needed. “This was an extremely difficult decision as we value all our employees’ contributions to our success.”

In addition to the Johnstown and Easton facilities, Thirty-One has operations in Springfield and on Fisher Road.

Source: Dispatch

Manheim Remarketing plans to layoff 70 employees in Texas

2012-02-03T08:08:00.004+05:30

Manheim Remarketing Inc. dba Manheim San Antonio plans to lay off 70 employees, according to a letter the company sent to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The letter states that the company plans to assign its transportation function to a third-party vendor, which result in a workforce reduction.

The targeted date for the layoffs is Monday, March 27 and will likely be permanent.

Furthermore, the letter states that the affected employees — who have all been notified — will be provided health coverage and pay (where applicable) for a 60-day period. There will be no employee displacement or bumping of other employees in connection with the layoffs.

Manheim is a wholesale vehicle auction company. The company has 122 locations across the globe. Manheim is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises .

Manheim San Antonio is located at 2042 Ackerman Road. Manheim auctions off bank-repossessed vehicles and vehicles that are owned by car-rental companies.

Source: Biz Journals

Ryan International Airlines announces 200 layoffs

2012-02-03T08:06:00.004+05:30

Rockford-based Ryan International Airlines has announced it will lay off about 200 pilots, flight attendants and other workers.

The Rockford Register Star reports Thursday that the airline will make the cuts at four U.S. bases and said the reduction reflects less business coming from the U.S. Department of Defense. Much of the company's business has come from moving troops around the world. Ryan executive vice president Mark Robinson says there is "just less military flying." Robinson says the airline will restructure over the next six months to add more charter flights.

The airline employs 585 people. Those affected by the layoffs are based in Arizona, Florida, Louisiana and Rockford.

A spokeswoman for the Airline Pilots Association says the union was notified of the layoffs on Wednesday.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Tracker Marine laying off 112 employees at Miami plant

2012-02-03T08:05:00.004+05:30

Falling boat sales and the move of a boat manufacturing production line to Missouri has prompted the Ottawa County-based Tracker Marine Group to layoff 112 employees, Miami city leaders announced Thursday.

Tracker Marine is moving the Tahoe boat line production to Clinton, Mo.

The layoffs will happen in 60 days and will reduce the plant from 175 employees to 63 employees, said Tim Wilson, Miami interim city manager.

“Although boat sales are down significantly, because the Miami plant is a quality facility, it only makes sense for us to continue utilizing this location for the MAKO production,” said Terry Shook, Sr. Vice President of Operations in a prepared statement.

MAKO is a saltwater personal watercraft line.

The Miami plant is also being considered for the installation of high-tech robotic equipment that will be used in the production of the MAKO watercraft.

Source: Tulsa World

Nippon Sheet Glass of Japan plans to cut 3,500 jobs

2012-02-03T08:04:00.004+05:30

Nippon Sheet Glass of Japan released its third quarter results today. Deteriorating market conditions during third quarter impacted operating results, and revenue totaled $5.5 billion USD (420.78 billion yen) compared with $5.7 billion USD in the prior-year quarter. Specialty Glass markets softened with revenue of $600.2 million USD compared to 47.1 billion yen in the prior year quarter.

To improve the profitability of the company, the board of NSG has approved a program of actions to realign its global manufacturing sites, to reduce capacity and to reduce headcount.

The company will stop production at one of its float lines in the United Kingdom. This follows the announcement on December 15, 2011, to delay the construction of a solar energy line in Vietnam. Further actions will be announced once due process has been followed with employees and unions affected.

As part of its cost reduction plan, the company is targeting a reduction of 3,500 employees in its global headcount. A significant part of this reduction will come from overheads; management and staff.

Source: US GNN

Abercrombie & Fitch to close Simi Valley store, more than 100 layoffs

2012-02-03T08:02:00.004+05:30

The Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister stores at Simi Valley Town Center will close by the end of March and lay off more than 100 employees as their parent company continues shutting domestic stores with lackluster sales.

The apparel chains, both under the Abercrombie & Fitch umbrella, wrote to Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks that both stores will close by March 31, bringing the layoffs of 117 people.

Eric Cerny, senior manager of investor relations, said the closures are part of a trend the company started in its fiscal year 2010.

"The brands have been expanding internationally and closing a lot of underperforming domestic stores," he said.

The company closed 65 stores at the end of fiscal year 2010 and an additional 55 to 60 stores at the end of 2011, Cerny said.

Abercrombie & Fitch also has a store at The Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks.

Based in New Albany, Ohio, the international retailer on Thursday reported that its overall comparable store sales were flat in its fourth quarter compared to the previous year and "below expectations, primarily due to lower-than-expected sales in U.S. stores."

Total U.S. sales, including direct-to-consumer sales, rose only 4 percent to $962.2 million for the fourth quarter, while international sales soared 62 percent to $366.6 million.

In the third quarter, international sales jumped 56 percent compared to the 14 percent increase in domestic sales.

As a result, the company has begun closing underperforming U.S. stores while expanding in Europe and Singapore.

Simi Valley Town Center, a 612,000-square-foot open-air shopping center, sits north of Highway 118 between First Street and Erringer Road.

Formerly owned by Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises, the center was sold to a limited-liability company set up by Chicago-based Walton Street Capital LLC, a private equity real estate investment firm, in December 2010.

The property had more than $112 million in debt at the time.

Anchor tenant Macy's in 2005 acquired anchor tenant Robinsons-May, resulting in two Macy's rather than two different department stores.

In 2008, Thousand Oaks competitor The Oaks mall secured a Nordstrom department store.

"It's sad to see them close at the Town Center and sad to see employee opportunities going away and local residents being affected," said Brian Gabler, director of economic development and assistant city manager for Simi Valley. "But the center will survive this and move forward."

He said the city will continue to talk with the mall's new owners on repositioning and redeveloping the center. He said he wasn't aware of any more pending vacancies.

"The good news is there is lots of tenant interest in opening stores there," Gabler said.

Source: VC Star

AstraZeneca to close Quebec facility, 132 jobs lost

2012-02-03T08:01:00.004+05:30

Montreal's pharmaceutical research cluster is under further threat as global giants adjust to the loss of patent protection for blockbuster drugs and challenges in developing replacements.

British drug maker AstraZeneca announced Thursday plans to cut costs by closing its Quebec research and development facility, eliminating 132 jobs.

It's just the latest to make such a move. French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis laid off 100 workers last month at its R&D centre in Laval. Johnson & Johnson also announced the closure of its research centre and the layoff of 126 workers.

The shutdown announcement comes some 18 months after Merck & Co. cut 200 jobs by closing its Montreal lab, which was once the largest research facility in Canada.

"Unfortunately, Montreal is caught up in these global shifts in the pharmaceutical industry," said Robert David, associate professor of strategy at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management.

He said Montreal is being caught in a storm because pharmaceutical multinationals that bulked up through acquisitions decades ago now have to prepare for the loss of billions of dollars in revenue as drugs lose patent protection.

Pfizer faced that problem with Lipidor last year. AstraZeneca's revenues have continued to decline. It faces a big hit beginning later this year with the gradual loss of protection of Crestor, Seroquel and Nexium.

Each of the three blockbuster drugs has netted around US$5-billion in annual global revenues.

AstraZeneca's Montreal closure will cut nearly 17 per cent of its Canadian workforce of 800 and leave a few marketing and sales people in the St. Laurent borough of Montreal.

The facility is one of the company's main neuroscience sites focused on the discovery and development of new medicines to treat neuropathic pain.

"Sadly we have to wonder whether Montreal will on an ongoing basis have a very strong pharmaceutical research cluster," said David.

London-based AstraZeneca is reducing its global workforce by 7,300, including 1,800 at 14 research and development sites around the world.

It will also stop R&D activities at its sites in Sodertalje, Sweden, where there is a focus on neuroscience research.

The company is creating a new virtual Neuroscience Innovative Medicines organization in Boston and Cambridge, U.K.

Communications director Jennifer Robinson said the R&D changes are designed to reduce costs and improve productivity.

"The thinking is what we will do going forward is to manage this portfolio of projects with external partners," she said in an interview.

In addition to lost revenues from patented drugs, companies face challenges in finding new medicines to treat complex ailments such as cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

"Our ability to find new medicines has not been as great as we would have hoped, so the number of new medicines coming onto the market is in decline and has been for years."

Regulators are also raising the hurdles to approve drugs in light of failures such as Vioxx while insurers and government are reducing how much they pay for drugs.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest said his economic development minister has been given a mandate to develop a plan to address the shift from internal research to pharma partnerships with academia and small companies.

"What I plan to do is adjust and work with the pharmaceutical sector to adjust the intervention and presence of the Quebec government in this sector of research," he told reporters in Ottawa.

David said the shift to personalized medicine based on genetics will require governments to target investments to university medical labs and small startup biotech firms with 10 to 20 workers.

"The problem with that is that doesn't happen in the short-term," the academic said.

"That's something that really takes a decade to foster and in the meantime I think it's going to be really rough but now's the time to start."

Montreal InVivo general manager Michelle Savoie said the latest closure announcement is disappointing, but the life sciences and health technologies cluster has been undergoing deep changes for about three years.

"The large pharma companies are not leaving Montreal. There are some activities that are leaving but the sector will survive," she said.

The non-profit represents some 620 organizations, including 150 research organizations, and 80 subsidiaries of foreign companies. In 2010, it employed 41,000 people in the greater Montreal area, including 31,000 in the private sector.

While layoffs have resulted in a brain drain, many skilled employees have joined small local firms, where they increasingly need both scientific skills the ability to manage the research process.

Savoie said the federal government needs to ensure the regulatory environment is competitive by adopting intellectual property measure to protect companies internationally.

Source: CBC

American Airlines plans to cut 13,000 jobs, terminate pension plans

2012-02-02T08:09:00.000+05:30

Details of the American Airlines bankruptcy are emerging. And the details are that AMR wants all of its creditors to take a deep haircut, especially the workers:

The company aims to cut labor costs 20% under bankruptcy protection, and will soon begin negotiations with its three major unions. Some management jobs would also be cut.

AMR also proposes to end its traditional pension plans. The move has been strongly opposed by the airline's unions and the U.S. pension-insurance agency.

CEO Thomas Horton said the company hopes to return to profitability by cutting spending more than $2 billion per year and raising revenue by $1 billion per year.

Horton said cost-cutting will include restructuring debt and aircraft leases, grounding older planes, and changing labor contracts.

This is just the opening salvo in what promises to be a bruising negotiation with the unions. It's not clear that the company actually expects to be allowed to terminate the pension plan. But the threat certainly gives them leverage with the unions, especially the pilots, because if the plan is terminated and taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, the payouts will be capped at around $50,000 a year--far less than pilots get from the current plan.

However, the PBGC is going to fight hard to keep this from happening. Our government-chartered pension insurer is severely underfunded, thanks to congressmen who showed their appreciation for local firms by keeping pension insurance premiums low. And to be fair, it's hard to set these premiums, because what you'd really like to do is risk-rate the premiums--force firms to pay more when their firms look especially shaky. Unfortunately, pensions look especially shaky when the firms that sponsor them look especially shaky, and the PBGC does not really want to be in the business of tipping shaky firms over the edge of bankruptcy and then . . . will you look at that! . . . assuming responsibility for their underfunded pensions. Nor do they exactly want solvent firms to have to pay extra-high premiums in order to compensate for their idiot competitors who poured the pension fund into jackalope ranches and fur-bearing trout farms.

And so the agency is badly underfunded, and very much opposed to taking on the burden of large, underfunded pensions, which would hasten the day when the PBGC itself is forced to apply to Congress for a bailout. They'll fight it all the way through the bankruptcy process.

As I understand it, the judge is likely to listen, too. Bankruptcy courts are not in the business of giving firms a "get out of expensive pension promises free" card; they exist to allocate inevitable losses among creditors. American cannot just apply to have its plan terminated because they'd rather not pay the bill; they have to prove that they actually can't return to profitability without terminating the plan.

I have no idea how that will shake out, of course. Hopefully the company and the union will come to some sort of reasonable accommodation, and we won't have to find out.

Source: The Atlantic

Rumor: IBM plans to cut 8,000 jobs in Germany

2012-02-02T08:07:00.001+05:30

A new report coming out of Germany says that International Business Machines Corp. is planning to cut 8,000 jobs out of its 20,000-plus workforce in Germany, according to sources from the company's management.

Hours after IBM Corporation purchased smartphone and tablet application developer Worklight Ltd. for reportedly between $50 and $60 million, a news media outlet in Germany is reporting that the technology company is planning to lay off 20,000 workers.

According to Handselblatt, management sources say that IBM is working on its medium to long-term efforts to restructure its workforce. At the present time, IBM maintains a workforce of 20,000 in Germany – 427,000 worldwide.

“We constantly focus on innovation and competition. Transformation is part of our business model and our workforce adapts accordingly,” said Peter Gerdemann, a spokesman for IBM based in Ehningen, Germany. “Given the competitive nature of our business, we don't openly discuss the details of plans.”

Bert Stach, a representative of the labor union Ver.di, who is in negotiations with IBM, told Bloomberg News that he thinks the company will not conduct mass layoffs but rather offer severance packages to its employees.

“In Germany, if you’re doing mass layoffs you have to go through negotiations with unions, and I think IBM will do anything to avoid that.” He added that it’s pure speculation as to how many will lose their jobs.

Last month, IBM stated that its earnings will increase to at least $14.85 per share sometime this year. Virginia Rometty, IBM CEO, said the company is meeting its goals to reach the projected target of at least $20 per share in 2015.

This is part of a project called the Liquid Challenge Program, an aim to transform the company into a new and flexible organization that includes reducing production costs and finding the world’s best talent to design software applications from home.

Source: Digital Journal

Credit Suisse plans to layoff 109 employees in New York

2012-02-02T08:06:00.004+05:30

Swiss bank Credit Suisse plans to lay off 109 employees in New York City, according to the New York State Department of Labor website.

The Zurich-based company cited economic reasons when it filed with the department on Monday.

The posts are scheduled to go between early March and May this year.

Victoria Harmon, a Credit Suisse spokeswoman, told Bloomberg that the figures were part of dismissals announced last year.

The bank said in November that it would be shedding 1,500 jobs in addition to the 2,000 cuts announced in July.

Credit Suisse has 50,700 employees worldwide, according to its website.

Source: Swiss Info

Networking equipment maker Tellabs cuts 530 jobs in US and Asia

2012-02-02T08:04:00.002+05:30

In a major move, networking equipment maker Tellabs, who recorded a net loss of $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to that of last year's, announced that it will cut 530 people, and stop new development work on its LTE product. The company will however continue to support its WiMax customers.

”In a climate of economic uncertainty, Tellabs needs to align expenses with revenue,” said Rob Pullen, Tellabs CEO and president. “Unfortunately, our restructuring will affect about 530 people. We will reduce expense and stop new development work on the Tellabs SmartCore 9100 LTE product, while continuing to support Tellabs SmartCore 9100 WiMax customers.

Tellabs said it will shut down its facilities in Petaluma, California; Vancouver, Canada; Bangalore, India and Karachi, Pakistan, reports Reuters.

This is seen as a part of the company's plans to restructure its business and recognize a pretax charge, substantially all of which is expected to be incurred in the first quarter of 2012, currently estimated at $107 million. Tellabs reported fourth-quarter revenue of $317 million.

“We’ll address customers’ needs through our next-generation portfolio of products and services for the smart mobile Internet, including Tellabs Mobile Backhaul Solution, Tellabs Packet Optical Solution and professional services such as Tellabs Insight Analytics Services.”

Source: CIOL

Microsoft cuts 200 jobs

2012-02-02T08:01:00.004+05:30

About 200 Microsoft employees are being notified today that they're being laid off as part of a marketing restructuring within the company, sources close to the company are saying.

The layoffs - the majority of them in the local area - are part of a restructuring of the company's marketing department aimed at reducing duplication of job responsibilities, clarifying the roles of central marketing versus product-group marketing, and improving the impact of the company's marketing as a whole.

The approximately 200 layoffs come from the company's worldwide marketing force of about 6,000 employees. The positions affected apparently cut across a broad range of groups including Windows, Office, Server & Tools, Online Services and Windows Phone as well as the central marketing group.

Microsoft employs about 92,000 employees worldwide, 40,600 of whom work in the Puget Sound area.

Microsoft said in statement, "Given the rapid changes in technology and the shifts in how our customers connect with Microsoft, great marketing is more important than ever to Microsoft's future success. We're taking steps to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing, and to strengthen career paths for marketers at Microsoft. Some of these changes involved the reduction of a small percentage of marketing positions, to better align our resources with our business needs and clarify roles across the marketing function."

Source: Vancouver Sun

UTi Integrated Logistics to layoff 76 employees in Lancaster

2012-02-02T08:00:00.004+05:30

South Carolina-based UTi Integrated Logistics, a subsidiary of California-based global logistics company UTi Worldwide, will lay off 76 employees at its New Holland facility, according to a letter sent to the state Department of Labor and Industry.

The mass layoff will take effect March 31. The employees are not represented by a union, Diane Lowman, director of human resources, said in the letter to the state.

The facility is not being closed, but will be operated by an employer other than UTi, Lowman said. Company representatives at UTi Integrated Logistics and UTi Worldwide were not immediately available for comment.

Federal labor law requires companies to give notice to certain governmental entities of a facility shutdown or mass layoff.

Source: Central Penn Business

World's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal to cut 1,000 jobs in Poland

2012-02-02T07:59:00.002+05:30

The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal will lay off more than 1,000 workers in Poland by the end of 2012, the company said Wednesday, amid a Europe-wide down-sizing drive.

"ArcelorMittal Poland plans to reduce its workforce across seven plants to 11,300 by December 2012 from its 12,300 employees at the end of 2011," company press officer Sylwia Winiarek told AFP.

The Polish branch of the company will also let go approximately 300 so-called interim employees, or workers hired from external firms, over the course of the year, Winiarek said.

Union officials at ArcelorMittal Poland have suggested that overall, nearly 1,500 jobs could be lost at the company this year.

The cuts in Poland come on the heels of ArcelorMittal reductions across Europe.

Last month, the global steel giant confirmed it was cutting 630 of the 6,000 jobs at its Czech plant in the western city of Ostrava to boost competitiveness under a voluntary redundancy programme offering employees the equivalent of 11 to 24 months' salary depending on seniority.

In Spain, where ArcelorMittal employs 11,000 people, protests were sparked last month over the closure a steel factory in Madrid employing more than 300.

It has also announced closures in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Source: India Times

Pfizer plans to layoff 71 employees at its Pearl River plant

2012-02-02T07:58:00.000+05:30

In the latest cut to its work force, Pfizer plans to lay off 71 employees at its Pearl River plant, according to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor.

The layoffs include 47 union and 24 non-union employees and will stretch through June 29 of this year. The company cites “restructuring” as the cause of the layoffs.

In May 2010, the pharmaceutical giant announced that it would close all but one division by 2014, cutting 1,250 employees.

In related news, Orangetown Town officials toured the North Middletown Road plant earlier today with members of the Nanuet School Board.

Pfizer is reportedly hiring a real estate brokerage firm to attract a tenant for the plant, according to town officials.

Source: Lohud

John Crane layoffs 70 workers

2012-02-02T07:56:00.004+05:30

Rapid reponse teams out of the Department of Labor and Training's workforce development office will be counseling workers at the John Crane plant on Sharpe Drive after the company announced it will close the plant and lay off 70 workers.

DLT spokeswoman Laura Hart said the company filed a notification with the state labor department that they would shut down the plant in a staggered fashion, beginning in the near future and wrapping up in June.

Seventy employees at the plant will lose their jobs.

Hart said the employees will be counseled and provided assistance finding new jobs. They will also be offered unemployment insurance.

John Crane Inc. is a subsidiary of global conglomerate Smiths Group. The company manufactures performance and industrial mechanical seals.

Source: Cranston Patch

Microsoft confirms marketing layoffs

2012-02-02T07:55:00.005+05:30

A statement from Microsoft first published in a a GeekWire story on Wednesday indicates the company is cutting marketing positions.

Microsoft's statement to GeekWire does not specify the number of cuts or when they will occur. However, author Todd Bishop suggested it might be around 200 positions and start Wednesday. A Twitter post from Microsoft marketing team member Maher Al-Khaiyat stating that the job cuts would be announced Wednesday was deleted.

According to Microsoft's released statement, a "small percentage of marketing positions" will be cut.

"Given the rapid changes in technology and the shifts in how our customers connect with Microsoft, great marketing is more important than ever to Microsoft's future success," the statement reads. "We're taking steps to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing, and to strengthen career paths for marketers at Microsoft. Some of these changes involved the reduction of a small percentage of marketing positions, to better align our resources with our business needs and clarify roles across the marketing function."

Microsoft provided no details in response to a press inquiry, except to send the statement above. The Mini-Microsoft blog, which purports to be written by a Microsoft employee who advocates cutting jobs at the company, offered no information at press time. Microsoft had its first major mass layoff in the company's history back in 2009, when around 5,000 employees were let go, but it has cut positions since that time. The company estimated it employed 92,303 employees worldwide as of Dec. 31, 2011.

The latest announced job cuts were somewhat expected, having been reported as a rumor in January. Back then, it was thought that the Central Marketing Group was targeted for layoffs. That group has around 2,600 personal, consisting of 600 full-time employees and 2,000 independent contractors. It was rumored that Chris Capossela, Microsoft's chief marketing officer, had planned the personnel cuts to eliminate overlapping job responsibilities. None of these details were confirmed by Microsoft.

So far, Microsoft's sales and marketing expenses for its 2012 fiscal year have amounted to $6.66 billion, as reported for its second fiscal quarter, which ended on Dec. 31, 2011. That figure represents a 1 percent increase compared with the $6.63 billion reported for the same period in 2010. The company currently has entered its third fiscal quarter. It recently described fiscal 2Q 2012 financial results.

Even though Microsoft's sales and marketing expenses have stayed relatively flat this fiscal year, the company had some cost increases due to "head-count related expenses," according to the company's latest 10-Q report (.DOCX).

"For the six months ended December 31, 2011, sales and marketing expenses increased primarily reflecting a 7% increase in headcount-related expenses, offset in part by decreased marketing spend" (p. 36).

Those headcount expenses aren't described. However, a look at Microsoft's latest 10-Q report suggests the expenses may have been located in the Entertainment and Devices Division, which produces Windows Phone, the Skype acquisition and the Xbox gaming console.

"Sales and marketing expenses increased $94 million or 27%, primarily reflecting higher headcount-related expenses, including Skype headcount, and amortization of acquired Skype intangibles," the 10-Q report states on p. 34.

Microsoft announced its acquisition plans for Skype, a provider of voice-over-IP telephony services, in May 2011 for $8.5 billion. Skype likely was Microsoft's biggest acquisition yet, based on purchase price.

Source: RCP Mag

San Diego Unified School District plans for 1,100 job cuts

2012-02-02T07:54:00.003+05:30

The San Diego Unified School District is preparing Wednesday to lay off more than 1,100 employees and and increase class sizes to try to close a potential $124 million budget gap.

The board accepted Superintendent Bill Kowba's recommendation on Tuesday.

The budget will be planned with certain factors in mind, Kowba said. The district may be able to negotiate with employees to help the district save money.

The plan calls for nearly 800 teachers to be eliminated, because their service would no longer be necessary due to the increase in class size. The plan would also require the district to sell off $21.5 million in real estate

Kowba is basing the budget cuts on the failure of Governor Jerry Brown's new initiative which would raise income tax on individuals who earn more than $250,000 per year and a half-cent sales tax increase.

"This year, the governor's budget proposal for education is dependent upon the November election which means it's very likely that we're not going to see much change," said board member Richard Barrera."If that ballot measure, or some ballot measure passes, all it means is that we don't have additional cuts, it doesn't mean additional revenue coming
into the district."

The initiative is headed to the ballot in June.

Source: San Diego 6

THQ Incs cuts 240 jobs

2012-02-02T07:53:00.001+05:30

THQ Inc. will lay off 240 workers, or more than 17% of its workforce, in the coming months as part of a previously announced restructuring plan to remain viable by radically scaling back the Agoura Hills game publisher's operations.

The company also temporarily halved the base annual salary of its chief executive, Brian Farrell, to $359,250, for one year starting Feb. 13. Additionally, it reduced Farrell's potential termination pay from three times the amount of his highest annual bonus to one, should he resign or be fired without cause, according to documents THQ filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The beleaguered game company, once one of the industry's top three players, fell prey to a string of poorly performing releases in recent years as well as a shift among consumers away from the types of console-based children's games on which THQ excelled to free or inexpensive games played on Apple Inc.'s iPhones and iPads.

Consequently, THQ in December announced it would exit the kids console games market and focus instead on hard-core games, such as Saints Row: The Third and its fighting games, based on its licenses with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and WWE Inc.

As a result of the layoffs, THQ said it expects to take an $11-million charge for severance costs, much of it in the quarter ending March 31. The company expects to report its December quarter financial results Thursday afternoon after the stock market closes.

THQ's shares, which fell below $1 on Dec. 8, gained 5 cents to 72 cents a share Wednesday. The company on Tuesday disclosed that it had received a delisting notice from the SEC because its stock has traded below the $1 minimum listing price for 30 consecutive days. THQ has until July 23 to pull its shares above the $1 threshold, according to SEC rules.

Source: LA Times

UMass Memorial Health Care to layoff 150 in Worcester

2012-02-02T07:52:00.000+05:30

UMass Memorial Health Care is laying off about 150 people and selling two units that employ up to 750.

The moves are an effort to find $50 million in budget cuts and new revenue in the face of increasing competitive pressures.

UMass Memorial chief executive John G. O'Brien told the Telegram & Gazette that most of the layoffs will come at the University, Memorial and Hahnemann campuses in Worcester.

UMass Memorial chief executive John G. O'Brien tells the Telegram & Gazette Wednesday most of the layoffs will come at the University, Memorial and Hahnemann campuses in Worcester .

The company is selling a laboratory operation employing 400 to 600 that serves doctors outside the UMass Memorial hospitals. It's also marketing a home health and hospice business employing about 150.

The $2.5 billion health system employs about 13,500 and includes five other hospitals in central Massachusetts.

Source: The Republic

Pelco planning to cut 170 jobs

2012-01-31T19:37:00.002+05:30

Pelco by Schneider Electric has indicated it could layoff as many as 170 employees soon.

The Clovis manufacture recently sent the city of Clovis a letter, letting officials know they planned a workforce reduction. According to the Clovis city manager, the layoffs could impact anywhere from four to 172 employees.

"Clovis is struggling to find jobs," said Clovis city manager, Robert Woolley. "This is a very critical matter for us."

Our attempts to reach Pelco by Schneider Electric were unsuccessful. But the letter said the layoffs would go into effect on March 13th.

According to city officials, this would be the company's third round of layoffs. About 150 people lost manufacturing positions last year.

Source: ABC Local

NEC to cuts 10,000 jobs

2012-01-31T19:34:00.003+05:30

The axe is set to fall over at NEC Corp in Japan with just about one in 10 of its workers to be cut. NEC has announced that is set to lay off 10,000 workers as it attempts to claw its way out of the red and back into the black. One reason cited for the job losses is stiff competition posed from rivals from foreign countries such as Apple. NEC blames the poor performance and the job cuts on soft demand for its mobile phones.

Another reason cited for the job cuts and the poor performance of the company is that foreign companies are pressing in on NEC’s traditional turf in the IT infrastructure realm inside Japan. Along with the significant job cuts, NEC is also warning that it is set to post a massive net loss of 100 billion yen or about $1.3 billion. That loss would be posted for the year ending March 31. That massive loss certainly caught analysts by surprise with expectations being a profit of 15 billion yen.

Along with reports of job cuts and the giant loss, NEC is also slashing what it expected to ship in the mobile phone side of its business down to 5 million phones. That is a reduction of about 25% in mobile phone shipments reports Reuters. The job cuts will be finished by the end of September with about 7,000 of the jobs slashed to be in Japan and the remainder to be cut abroad. NEC’s Nobuhiro Endo says that the cost of layoffs will result in a charge of ¥40 billion for the current financial year, but in the next financial year, the restructuring will result in an additional ¥40 billion in income for the company.

Source: Slash Gear

Fortis Plastics LLC to close Wilmington facility, 119 jobs lost

2012-01-31T19:31:00.000+05:30

Fortis Plastics LLC will shutter a Wilmington facility and layoff 119 workers.

The company said the closing will occur by the second week of April, according to a filing with with state of Ohio.

The plant is located at 185 Park Drive.

The news comes on the heels of a tough economic period for Wilmington, situated just 35 miles southeast of Dayton. The city lost about 8,000 jobs after shipping giant DHL in 2008 decided to close its freight hub at the Wilmington Air Park.

Source: WDTN

UBS AG to cut 10% of workforce in Germany

2012-01-31T19:29:00.003+05:30

UBS AG will lay off around 10% of its employees in Germany as part of cost-cutting measures, the head of the company's German operations, Axel Hoerger, said, according to a preview of an article in Die Welt to be published Tuesday.

"Of 1,200 employees, we'll have to lay off about 10%," Hoerger told Die Welt, saying the layoffs would be completed by the end of the year.

In expectation of continued growth, UBS has put together an operation that was too big for the current climate, especially in the area of asset management, Hoerger said.

In its core business of advising wealthy clients, UBS has made losses for years in Germany, the article said. Hoerger said that situation isn't going to change any time soon.

"For asset management, we are envisioning a return to profit in the medium term," he said. In addition to the cost-cutting measures, UBS will also charge higher banking fees.

"Customers who ask for additional services have to expect higher costs," Hoerger told the paper, adding he expects many private banks to follow a similar path.

"Given the immense pressure on margins, they hardly have a choice," he said.

Source: Market Watch

Eaton Corp to layoff 47 employees in Memphis

2012-01-31T19:28:00.003+05:30

Eaton Corp. will lay off 47 employees in Memphis and close its 180,000-square-foot warehouse at 4500 Shelby Drive, a company executive said Monday.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based power management company will consolidate activities at the airport-area warehouse to a facility in Spartanburg, S.C., and other facilities across the country, said Mark Horner, senior manager of global communications for Eaton's electrical sector.

Eaton management came to Memphis on Jan. 18 to tell employees here that "operations here would cease and that the facility will close effective March 31," Horner said. Eaton is providing transition benefits and outplacement services to the affected employees.

A number of factors led to the closing of the facility, which ships residential electrical components like circuit breakers and transformers, but it came down to "operational logistics," Horner said.

"The idea is that we wanted to consolidate facilities and better utilize our existing resources and improve efficiencies and shipping inventory and cost structure and the whole gamut of things related to that," he said. "Basically, it comes down to logistics and the footprint in Spartanburg is where we're moving."

The facility was opened here in 1994, Horner said, and its closing will mark the end of Eaton's presence in Memphis, he said.

Eaton had a record year of sales and profits in 2011, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company reported 2011 sales of $16 billion and reported profits of $1.35 billion.

Source: Commercial Appeal

Procter & Gamble to layoff 1,600 workers

2012-01-31T19:27:00.001+05:30

Reality appears to have finally arrived at Procter & Gamble, the world's largest marketer, whose $10 billion annual ad budget has hurt the company's margins.

P&G said it would lay off 1,600 staffers, including marketers, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. More interestingly, CEO Robert McDonald finally seems to have woken up to the fact that he cannot keep increasing P&G's ad budget forever, regardless of what happens to its sales.

He told Wall Street analysts that he would have to "moderate" his ad budget because Facebook and Google can be "more efficient" than the traditional media that usually eats the lion's share of P&G's ad budget.

This is coming from the man who increased P&G's adspend by a staggering 24 percent over the two years through October 2011, even though sales rose only 6 percent in the same period.

Note that P&G's revenues were up 4 percent to $22 billion in the quarter but the company's costs for sales, general and administrative work were flat.

P&G's staggering ad budget has become a bit of an issue among analysts. On the call, McDonald and his crew were asked about ad costs three different times. McDonald eventually said:

As we've said historically, the 9% to 11% range [for advertising as a percentage of sales] has been what we have spent. Actually, I believe that over time, we will see the increase in the cost of advertising moderate. There are just so many different media available today and we're quickly moving more and more of our businesses into digital. And in that space, there are lots of different avenues available.

In the digital space, with things like Facebook and Google and others, we find that the return on investment of the advertising, when properly designed, when the big idea is there, can be much more efficient. One example is our Old Spice campaign, where we had 1.8 billion free impressions and there are many other examples I can cite from all over the world. So while there may be pressure on advertising, particularly in the United States, for example, during the year of a presidential election, there are mitigating factors like the plethora of media available.

P&G's Old Spice campaign is a textbook example of what the entire company should be doing. The problem is that the entire company isn't doing it. Check out Mr. Clean's Twitter stream, for instance. Oh, right—he doesn't have one.

McDonald's recent discovery that digital media is free comes after the long-delayed launch of Tide Pods, now scheduled for a month from now but with only a limited supply. It was originally planned for July 2011. The ad budget for that campaign is estimated at $150 million and will come from agency Saatchi & Saatchi.

The problem is that while P&G has struggled to get a single U.S. pod out the factory door, several of its competitors have already launched competing laundry pod products.

Source: Business Insider

Abbott Laboratories cuts 700 jobs in US and Puerto Rica

2012-01-31T19:25:00.003+05:30

Abbott Laboratories has said it will cut 700 jobs across its US and Puerto Rican operations, including hundreds of manufacturing posts, despite posting sales and earnings growth in 2011.

The announcement comes as Abbott gears up for a major reorganisation of its businesses, including a separation of its biologics and pharmaceuticals from generics, medical devices, diagnostics and consumer healthcare products which is due to complete by the end of this year.

The US-headquarter drugmaker has said it plans to lay off around 300 workers at its vascular-stent manufacturing plant in Temecula, California, as well as another 200 diagnostics positions from its main site in Lake County, Illinois. Most of the remaining 200 cuts will be applied in Puerto Rico, according to the company.

One of the main reasons for the layoffs at the Temecula plant is the upcoming expiry of Abbott's contract to manufacture and supply the Promus everolimus-eluting cardiovascular stent, to Boston Scientific Corp.

The latter is introducing a new-generation version of Promus - called the Promus Element Plus - which it will manufacture in-house. The new version of Promus was approved by the FDA in November 2011, and the phase out of the older version is a double blow to Abbott as it receives a 40% share of the profits under a co-marketing alliance.

Local news reports suggest that several hundred additional layoffs could hit Temecula over the course of the year.

This is the third round of job losses to be announced by Abbott in 12 months. In January 2011 the drugmaker said it would reduce its workforce by around 2% - or 1,900 positions - after a period of lacklustre growth at its pharmaceuticals division. It followed that in September 2011 with a decision to cut its diagnostics workforce by 160 staff.

Source: In Pharm

US steel pulls out of Serbia, 5,400 jobs lost

2012-01-31T19:23:00.003+05:30

Serbia's government has bought back from U.S. Steel its loss-making plant in the Balkan country for a symbolic $1, with a goal to avoid its closure and the layoff of 5,400 of its workers.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic signed the sale agreement with U.S. Steel Vice President of European Operations David J. Rintoul. He says the deal was a "forced move" that was the result of the global economic crisis.

Rintoul says that "it is indeed with a heavy heart that we leave Serbia today."

Pittsburgh-based giant bought the plant in Smederevo, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Belgrade, for $33 million (€25 million) in 2003.

Cvetkovic says the government wants to resell the plant as soon as possible to avoid further strain on the budget.

Source: AJC

Nokia Siemens reportedly cuts 4,100 jobs in Germany and Finland

2012-01-31T19:22:00.002+05:30

Nokia Siemens, a joint venture between Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia Corp. (NOK) and German telecom company Siemens AG (SI), plans to cut 2,900 jobs in Germany and 1,200 in Finland, according to several media reports.

The Finland-based joint venture, which is one of the largest telecommunications equipment suppliers in the world, has been a financial burden for both the groups for much of the time since its inception in April 2007.

In November 2011, Nokia Siemens had said that it plans to reduce its global workforce by 23 percent or about 17,000 over the next two years. The company noted that the restructuring program targeted a 1 billion euro or $1.35 billion reduction in operating expense and production overheads by the end of 2013.

Source: Nasdaq

Abbott Laboratories layoffs 700 employees

2012-01-27T07:53:00.004+05:30

Abbott Laboratories notified 700 employees Wednesday that they will be out of work.

Most of those employees work on company's vascular business, particularly the Xience stent that the company will no longer make – it was part of a partnership agreement with Boston Scientific that dates to 2006 and was set to expire this year. Boston Scientific produces and sells its own stent, the Promus.

The layoffs were announced the same day Abbot Laboratories announced that fourth quarter earnings jumped 12.3 percent, to $1.6 billion, compared with $1.4 billion for the same period in 2010.

This latest round of cuts is not entirely unexpected. Spokesperson Adelle Infante says that the 200 jobs eliminated in Illinois are part of an efficiency program that was announced four years ago. Infante says California will lose 300 jobs and Puerto Rico 100, with the remainder to be spread across Abbott locations.

Abbott Labs announced a year ago that it would cut 1,900 jobs globally due to economic weakness and health reform, among other causes. This was preceded by their 2010 announcement that they would slash 3,000 jobs by 2012.

The company's top-earning drug, Humira, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn's disease, had $3.4 billion in domestic fourth-quarter sales and $4.5 billion in international sales.

Deutsche Bank research analyst Barbara Ryan writes in a January research note that Abbott's pipeline is sluggish and that its $7.9 billion in sales for 2011 is not enough to insulate the company, which she predicts will see its next strong seller “later in the decade.” Ryan also writes that competitors and expiring patents are eating away at the company's generics business as Tricor/Triplix go off patent in 2012 and 2014, Niaspan loses its protection in 2013, Androgel in 2015, and Kaletra in 2016.

Source: MMM Online

Amonix cuts 200 jobs

2012-01-27T07:52:00.003+05:30

As President Barack Obama's message of clean energy still resonates in the Las Vegas valley, a solar plant in North Las Vegas is laying off several hundred workers.

The employees of an Amonix contractor say they just got the word on Monday and pink slips Tuesday.

The contractor says they're re-tooling to produce new technology, and that is the reason for the layoff. Amonix says it's cycling out its old systems and doesn't need as many employees. They went from about 300 workers down to 100.

Just seven months ago, Governor Brian Sandoval, Representative Shelley Berkley and North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck talked about the hundreds of clean energy jobs that would boost the economy.

Some employees say the announcement came out of nowhere.

"(I'm) praying that we get called back to work," said laid off worker Louis Cattuah. "(I) filed for unemployment -- take whatever that is and just keep praying and look forward."

Cattuah has worked at the plant since last April. He has a wife but no kids. He says he's concerned about some of his co-workers who did have younger mouths to feed.

Amonix says the cuts are temporary and they plan to re-hire in the second half of the year. They say former employees like Cattuah will have top priority.

Source: News Now

600 layoffs at ConocoPhillips Refinery

2012-01-27T07:50:00.002+05:30

Layoff notices went out for Thursday and Friday at the ConocoPhillips Refinery in nearby Trainer.

“Officially we are finished work by the 31st of January,” said Dennis Stephano, President of the Steelworkers Local Union. He says not only are 190 union members at the refinery losing their jobs, but management and contractors too. He says the total comes to about 600 layoffs.

Joe Hastings says his brother-in-law is one of them.

“They have a mortgage payment, they have car payments, they have medical bills just like everyone else,” said Hastings about his brother-in-law and his wife. They have two children.

It’s likely he and others laid off won’t be spending much locally. The trickle down effect begins.

“If they’re not there, nobody’s going to come,” says George Kolionis, owner of New English Style Pizza. He is trying to stay positive.

“The consumers in the U.S. are going to be impacted by this, this summer. In the winter, heating oil is going to go up, gasoline, jet fuel,” said Stephano.

Conoco Phillips announced on January 25th earnings of $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to $2 billion in the same quarter in 2010. Stephano questions the closing despite the company’s announcement in September that it would close this March if a buyer for the site wasn’t found. Workers knew then layoffs would come now says Stephano. He says they will be paid through March according to the union contract and given one weeks pay per year of service capped at 16 weeks.

With Sunoco closing refineries in Marcus Hook and potentially Philadelphia, US Senator Bob Casey is pressing both companies for more information.

“We’re asking them to do what they should do, be concerned about the region, energy markets, and consumers, not only about some bottom line,” said Casey.

Source: CBC Philly

Mabe to close Quebec factory, layoff 700 by 2014

2012-01-27T07:49:00.001+05:30

Quebec’s ailing employment picture has suffered yet another blow with the announcement by Mexican home appliance maker Controlodora Mabe S.A. de C.V. that it is shutting down a dryer manufacturing factory in Montreal’s east end.

Some 700 workers will lose their jobs as production winds down gradually toward a scheduled close by the end of 2014, Mabe said Thursday. The company blamed the high value of the Canadian dollar and soft consumer demand for the move. It said producing dryers in Quebec is unsustainable given that 90% of the plant’s output is exported to the United States.

Mabe is the manufacturer, distributor and marketer of General Electric appliance brands throughout Canada. It also owns the Moffat brand.

“There is no path to profitability for the plant, not even with significant government subsidies coupled with wage concessions from the union – the gap is simply far too large,” Michael McCrea, vice president of operations for Mabe Canada said in a statement. “The decision to close the plant was deemed necessary and is final.”

The strength of the Canadian dollar against other currencies, and the U.S. dollar in particular, has been a drag for Canadian-based exporters as the cost of making their goods in Canada increases relative to sales. The loonie has risen 25% in value against the greenback in the past two years alone. It is now trading roughly at par with the U.S. dollar.

Canada tallies about half of its export revenue from the sale of raw materials, including crude oil.

Mabe’s announcement comes almost one year after Swedish appliance giant AB Electrolux confirmed it would shut down a manufacturing plant, also in Montreal’s east end, that makes cooking appliances. It said at the time the Montreal plant was “not a viable site.” The work was transferred to Memphis, Tenn., costing 1,300 jobs. In this case, the work will also be shifted to other Mabe plants in Mexico and the United States.
Analysts speculate that the unionization of the workforce of both companies was a factor in the decisions.

They say it’s no accident that manufacturers such as Kia, Boeing Co. and Volkswagen AG have chosen to locate new facilities in southern U.S. states that have right-to-work laws, by which workers can’t be forced to join a union or pay union dues to get a job. Wages are typically lower in states with such laws.

Quebec has lost nearly 70,000 jobs over the past three months, including 8,000 in manufacturing. It’s a bloodletting that has not been seen since the 15-month recession of 1981-1982. The unemployment rate now stands at 8.7%, higher than that of the United States.

Economists are somewhat puzzled over the numbers, questioning whether they are merely a blip or whether Quebec is experiencing trouble that will hit other provinces in the months ahead.

Quebec weathered the 2008 recession better than most other jurisdictions, in part because its government initiated a $41.8-billion, five-year infrastructure spending renewal program that was well underway during the worst of the downturn.

But the province has been losing manufacturing jobs for years. The last time Quebec experienced a creation of manufacturing employment was in 2004. Since then, the number of people employed in the sector has dropped 25%, to 474,000 from 633,000, according to National Bank.

“We’re used to this” kind of job loss in manufacutring, said Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist with the bank. “But it’s the larger number, the 70,000 in three months, that’s not normal.”

Mabe said it took “all reasonable options” to try to make the Montreal plant financially viable and that it has worked closely with employees to try to boost productivity. Almost half of the factory’s staff will remain in their jobs until the facility closes, Gabe said.

One union leader said his members were “in shock” at the closure announcement. But company officials insist they have clearly communicated the plant’s financial difficulties with workers. The plant is currently operating at less than half capacity, the company said, and has generated extensive negative cash flow over the past six years.

Source: Financial Post

PerkinElmer reportedly cuts 75 jobs at Shelton facility

2012-01-25T07:58:00.000+05:30

Global manufacturer PerkinElmer is reportedly issuing pink slips to about 75 workers at its Shelton facility, located at 710 Bridgeport Avenue, after deciding to send most of those positions overseas.

According to a report in the Hartford Courant, the company is sending the jobs to existing manufacturing sites in Singapore and Llantrisant, U.K.

PerkinElmer reportedly had about 500 employees at its Shelton facility.

Company officials told the Courant the layoffs would begin in the second half of 2012 and continue into the early part of 2013.

Source: Shelton Patch

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to cut 33% of workforce

2012-01-25T07:55:00.004+05:30

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced a restructuring plan which included the layoff of almost one third of its workforce. Alylam arrived at this difficult decision because it wanted to focus on its pipeline candidates with the maximum potential.

The proposed restructuring is expected to slash cash operating expenses by $20 million in 2012 as against a one-time restructuring cost of $4 million which will be recorded in the first quarter of this year.

Alnylam, which currently has no product on the market, develops novel therapeutics based on a biological breakthrough technology known as RNA (Ribo Nucleic Acid) interference (RNAi). The company wants to focus its resources on its core product strategy, Alnylam 5x15, which is aimed at developing five RNAi therapeutic products for the treatment of genetically defined diseases addressing major unmet medical needs.

The five programs under the strategy include ALN-PCS (for hypercholesterolemia), ALN-TTR (transthyretin (TTR) mediated amyloidosis or ATTR), ALN-HPN (refractory anemia), ALN-APC (hemophilia) and ALN-TMP (hemoglobinopathies). Among these, Alnylam aims to accelerate development of ALN-TTR and ALN-APC which it believes holds the most promise.

Under the ALN-TTR program, Alnylam is currently conducting a phase I study of ALN-TTR01, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic that employs a first-generation lipid nanoparticles (LNP) formulation to treat ATTR. ATTR is an orphan disease which is difficult to be addressed by currently available therapeutic approaches. In late November 2011, Alnylam presented encouraging data on ALN-TTR01 which showed that it led to statistically significant reductions in serum TTR protein levels for the treatment of ATTR. Overall, the candidate was well tolerated with no serious adverse events observed in the study. This is the first time an RNAi has silenced a disease-causing gene in clinical trials, thus highlighting the potential of RNAi as a new class of therapeutics.

Alnylam however intends to accelerate development of ALN-TTR02 which is a second generation delivery formulation for the treatment of ATTR. Alnylam has chosen ALN-TTR02 as its go-to market product over ALN-TTR01. Alnylam filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ALN-TTR02 in early January 2012 and expects to initiate a phase I study in the UK in the first half of 2012. Data from the trial is expected in the third quarter of 2012 with phase II studies scheduled to begin in the second half.

Further, ALN-APC is in preclinical development and is expected to move into clinical stages in the first half of 2013.

Source: Zacks

Toyota Australia to layoff 350 workers

2012-01-25T07:54:00.001+05:30

Toyota Motors in Australia said Monday it was laying off 350 workers due to declining sales, the Japanese automaker's top executive in Australia said.

"Toyota Australia is facing severe operating conditions resulting in unsustainable financial returns due to factors including the strong Australian currency, reduced cost competitiveness and volume decline, especially in export markets," Toyota Australia President and Chief Executive Officer Max Yasuda said.

Yasuda said a decline in production the company considered temporary had become permanent, The Australian reported.

"The reality is that our volumes are down. What we assumed was a temporary circumstance has turned into a permanent situation. This drop of 36 percent in just four years shows the scale of our challenges," he said.

Production has dropped from 149,000 vehicles in 2007 to 94,000 in 2011, he said.

This year, Toyota Australia expects to make 95,000 vehicles.

The plant employs 3,350 workers, The Australian said.

Source: UPI

Fashion retailer SuperGroup announces 60 job cuts

2012-01-25T07:53:00.001+05:30

Fast-growing fashion retailer SuperGroup has announced a shock decision to lay off up to 60 staff at its Gloucester distribution centre.

The Cheltenham-based business behind Cult Clothing and Superdy famously begun on a market stall by founder and chief executive officer Julian Dunkerton has entered in consultation with staff over redundancy.

Ironically the grim announcement accompanies the firm’s decision to invest £1.5 million in moving its distribution operation from Barnwood to a Wincanton-owned quarter of a million square foot warehouse on the Gloucester Business Park at Brockworth.

“The new site will require fewer people and it is anticipated that approximately 50 to 60 employees may be at risk of redundancy,” said a statement from the company, which currently employs 186 staff currently in its Barnwood distribution centre.

“SuperGroup is therefore announcing its intension to consult with affected employees about its proposals and this process will commence on Friday January 27, running for 30 days until Monday, February 27.”

While the Cheltenham-headquartered company continues to expand both national and globally even through the recession, issues with its UK distribution arm caused it major headaches in the second half of last year, costing it to the tune of £8.8 million.

Under the proposal being put to staff those affected would in future work out of the new location off Hurrican Road at what is described as a “managed service” site, run by Wincanton under contract to Supergroup. The majority of roles at the new site will remain with Supergroup.

The company said: “At present this does not involve SuperGroup’s other Barnwood-based wholesale or e-Commerce operations.”

Tim Owrid (corr) is head of logistics at Supergroup and the man in charge of reshaping the firm’s distribution operations since September last year. He has previously worked for major retail chains including House of Frazer and Selfridges.

“The site at Barnwood is old and not designed as a distribution centre. Clearly we do not want to detract from the 50 or 60 people facing redundancy, but there is a positive side to this story as well in that we are investing heavily in the new site.

“It is a commitment to our future in the Gloucester area, but we also have an emotional commitment here.”

During the Christmas period just gone the company was sending out 70,000 items a day from its Gloucester base, 20 per cent up on the same period last year. The new building, said Mr Owrid, had the capacity to cope with the company expanding its operations twice over. SuperGroup has signed a two-year lease on the building.

Source: This Is Gloucestershire

Peacocks Group sells Bonmarche stores, 1,400 layoffs planned

2012-01-25T07:51:00.005+05:30

A private equity firm has bought Britain's Bonmarche stores, part of the Peacocks Group which collapsed last week.

The buyers, Sun European Partners, said Monday that they planed to close 160 of Bonmarche's 390 stores and lay off 1,400 of the 3,800 staff.

The sale was arranged in a pre-pack deal before Peacocks was placed in administration. The sale price was not disclosed.

KPMG, the administrator of Peacocks, last week fired 249 of the company's head office staff while keeping 266 to work with administrators while seeking new owners for the remaining operations.

The collapse of Peacocks was the biggest retail failure in Britain since Woolworths Group went under in January 2009.

Source: 1340 WGAU

Standard Register plans to layoff 12-15% of workforce

2012-01-25T07:50:00.001+05:30

Business data management firm Standard Register Co. said it plans to lay off 12% to 15% of its work force as part of a restructuring effort that will create savings of about $45 million a year.

The company suspended its quarterly dividend in keeping with Ohio law, which requires cash dividends be paid only out of a corporation's surplus. The suspension is expected to save the company about $6 million annually, it said. The fiscal first-quarter dividend, which was declared in December, will be paid.

The changes will "assist us in achieving positive cash flow and in making investments in talent, technology and operational infrastructure, as well as sales and marketing optimization, to drive growth," Chief Executive Joseph P. Morgan said.

Standard Register said it has realigned its business to focus on four markets where it has deep industry knowledge and strong relationships: health-care, financial services, commercials markets and industrial. It said the changes were needed to help lower costs amid revenue declines in its legacy operations.

It expects to post a fourth-quarter loss of $9.6 million to $10.1 million on revenue of $160 million to $162 million. Adjusted earnings, which excludes restructuring and other costs, should be $1.3 million to $1.8 million.

Costs associated with the restructuring should be $5.5 million in the fourth quarter and another $1.5 million in the 2012 fiscal year. The company will record a non-cash charge to tax expense of $70 million to $90 million in the fourth quarter and a non-cash actuarial loss of about $80 million later on.

In October, Standard Register said its third-quarter earnings surged to $8.4 million on higher revenue from its core business.

Source: Market Watch

Kruger Inc to layoff 100 workers

2012-01-25T07:47:00.002+05:30

Kruger Inc., the Montreal-based producer of newsprint, glossy and coated papers, lumber, packaging and tissue products, is preparing to lay off almost 100 mill, forest and administrative workers at its Corner Brook Pulp and Paper unit in Newfoundland and Labrador, local reports said Monday.

Government sources confirmed that another cutback at the province’s only surviving newsprint mill is widely expected. The province has recently provided about $20 million to help the mill control its fibre and energy costs and fight the rising Canadian dollar.

Paper prices were generally weak through 2011 as demand continued to slip with the North American economy. Newsprint was listing at $640 a tonne though contract buyers paid less.

Source: Montreal Gazette

Thousands of layoffs in the offing at JC Penney

2012-01-25T07:46:00.001+05:30

Yesterday’s NY Post report stated that JC Penney planned to lay off thousands of workers. The layoffs are targeted at workers who typically retag and re-price merchandise.

The retailer hopes to develop a new “everyday low” price campaign, moving away from frequent price cuts and sales.

CEO Ron Johnson emphasized that the layoffs primarily targeted seasonal workers, and not full-time regular employees. A JC Penney spokeswoman was quoted in the Post as stating, “As planned, we held over some seasonal holiday hires to help us with the re-ticketing of merchandise.”

The report also stated that two of JC Penney’s largest investors, William Ackman and Steve Roth, have pushed Johnson to cut costs throughout the company. The retailer has closed several warehouses, outlets, and call centers, and shuttered its historically popular catalog business. Sources have also indicated that Johnson will announce further cuts this week, with advertising and company divisions first on the chopping block.

The company made a surprise acquisition last month, by taking a 16.6% stake in Martha Stewart Living (NYSE: MSO) and announcing that it would open small MSL kiosks throughout its stores. The acquisition was especially surprising given that Johnson had failed to consult Penney’s home furnishings designer Chris Madden before the announcement.

However, many analysts take to Johnson’s turnaround strategy and believe that his success at developing Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) retail stores could lead to some success with JC Penney. “The stake in Martha Stewart is one of the first cards played in what will be a full hand of moves to change the perception of JC Penney,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Jeff Klinefelter in a previous interview with CNBC.

While JC Penney is a far different kind of company than Apple, Johnson hopes to expand on that company’s philosophy of offering exclusive products at prices than most customers can afford. Johnson is also considering the shift to online sales within the marketplace, and could shutter some retail locations to focus on sales from the company’s website. The company in addition plans on shuffling its product offerings to appeal to a younger consumer.

JC Penney is an interesting trade. The stock has run up nearly 25% since Johnson’s arrival, and analysts believe that the company could have additional upside if Johnson can continue his retail magic. The company has been left for dead by many customers thanks to its outdated stores and boring product offerings.

Source: Forbes

Gilt Groupe cuts 90 jobs

2012-01-25T07:45:00.001+05:30

Gilt Groupe, the high-end online flash sales site has reportedly laid off 10 percent of its approximately 900 employees. The cuts come as no surprise since Gilt openly admitted to the potential for layoffs almost two weeks ago. Initially sources said that those layoffs could affect as many as 170 employees but the total ended up being approximately 80 to 90 people and included some management staff. John Auerbach, head of Park & Bond, Gilt’s full priced men’s clothing site and Nathan Richardson, Gilt City president, will both be leaving the company, though Gilt says that Richardson is leaving of his own accord and not due to a layoff.

The company’s daily deal site, Gilt City, experienced most of the cutbacks. It was suggested by some that this may be a result of the stiff competition within the industry from sites like Groupon and LivingSocial.

The company will be closing its offices in Seattle, Dallas and Atlanta along with those obtained in its recent acquisition of BuyWithMe, including Philadelphia, Houston and San Diego. Gilt will continue to maintain offices in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

On Friday, an anonymous source told BetaBeat, “People leaving. Sadness. Super uncomfortable work environment. General atmosphere is terrifying.” Gilt said they do not expect any more layoffs at this time.

Last May Gilt Group raised $138 million in series E funding led by Japan’s Softbank Group and Goldman Sachs Group and went on to acquire BuyWithMe in October.

Daily Deal Media’s CEO, Boyan Josic, has reached out to Gilt Groupe for comment and is awaiting a response. We will bring you updates as they become available.

Source: Daily Deal Media

Texas Instruments to close factories in Japan and Houston, 1000 jobs lost

2012-01-25T07:43:00.001+05:30

Texas Instruments Inc. said it will close two of its older semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Hiji, Japan, and Houston, Texas and lay off over 1000 workers over the next 18 months.

On Monday, TI announced its fourth quarter revenue; costs associated the company's acquisition of National Semiconductor; and restructuring charges associated with the closure of the two facilities.

The company disclosed that its fourth quarter profit fell 68 per cent from last year. Commenting on the financial result, Rich Templeton, chairman, president and chief executive officer, TI, said, "Revenue in the fourth quarter was higher than expected across all our major product lines, reinforcing our belief that we're at the bottom of this downturn."

Combined, these factories supported about 4 per cent of TI's revenue in 2011. Closing these factories, Texas Instruments is expected to save about Rs.510.20 crore ($100 million) annually.

However, production from these sites will be moved to other more advanced TI facilities, the company added.

"The total charge for these closures is estimated at about Rs.1,096.94 crore ($215 million), of which Rs.571.43 crore ($112 million) was incurred in the fourth quarter and the remainder will occur over the next seven quarters."

"These sites have made strong, high-quality contributions over the 30-plus years each has operated," said Templeton. "They demonstrate the tremendous cash flow potential associated with analogue products, where factory lives are literally measured in decades. However, we're now at the point where each of these sites requires significant upgrades, and it makes financial sense to shift production to larger, more advanced facilities."

In addition, TI , which closed its acquisition of National Semiconductor on September 23, 2011, announced that the total acquisition-related charges in the fourth quarter are Rs.1,306.12 crore ($256 million).

Templeton stated, "I'm pleased to say that despite the downturn and the lower factory utilisation that came with it, cash flow from operations was strong and well above levels as compared with similar points in prior downturns. Our strategic focus on our core businesses and efficient investment in capacity are key to our strong generation of cash."

"As we move into 2012, we enter the final phase of our planned exit from the base band market, and thus further tighten our focus on analogue, embedded processing and Wireless."

Source: EE Times

Aerospace firm AAI announces 200 layoffs

2012-01-25T07:40:00.004+05:30

AAI, an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm, has announced nearly 200 layoffs.

A spokeswoman for the Hunt Valley-based company told 11 News that 184 employees learned Tuesday that they no longer have a job, effective immediately.

11 News reporter Lowell Melser said it's a sign of the economic times, at least when it comes to defense spending. He said employees were keeping to themselves and not offering comment Tuesday.

A company email from the president of Textron, which owns AAI, said the company had to be more cost-efficient given recent project delays and cancellations.

"These changes are a part of ongoing improvements we have been making over the past 18 months. As we become even more cost competitive, we see continued opportunity for AAI to support the U.S. and its allies -- even in light of a declining U.S. Defense budget."

AAI designs and builds unmanned aircraft for the military.

"These changes are a part of ongoing improvements we have been making over the past 18 months," the email said. "As we become even more cost competitive, we see continued opportunity for AAI to support the U.S. and its allies -- even in light of a declining U.S. Defense budget."

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said he was disappointed by the layoffs. He said he has been in contact with AAI, which he said is providing laid-off employees with unemployment benefits and job search information. He said the county would assist the employees any way it can.

"We (as a country) have shut down our activities in Iraq, and will probably soon in Afghanistan, so it's not a shock to hear that AAI is going to do some downsizing," Kamenetz said. "We know they have begun an outreach center for their employees with a professional staff to help deal with the layoff, and we have offered our professional services as well."

AAI will be laying off a total of 217 company-wide employees at other facilities around the country, a number that includes the 184 at Hunt Valley.

Earlier this month, another defense-related contractor, Northrop Grumman, announced 90 layoffs at its Timonium site.

Source: WBAL TV

Iberdrola Renewables to cut 50 jobs in US

2012-01-25T07:38:00.004+05:30

Officials at Iberdrola Renewables said Tuesday that the company would lay off 50 employees in the U.S., including 25 at its headquarters in Portland.

Citing a weak market driven by low energy prices, a poor economy and regulatory uncertainty, the company said in a statement that it will focus on operations rather than any new renewable energy projects in 2012.

"We're a strong company with a solid balance sheet, positive cash flow and no real debt – we’re here for the long-term," said Jan Johnson, communications director, in a prepared statement. "Energy has historically been a cyclical business and we’re in a down cycle now."

In October, Iberdrola announced it would halt construction of a biomass plant in Lakeview, citing a weak market and no interest among utilities in a power purchase agreement for energy generated at the plant. In December, the company pulled the plug on a wind farm planned in North Carolina.

Iberdrola is being buffeted by the same winds that are causing an uncertain future for wind turbine maker Vestas, which also keeps its North American headquarters in Portland. The expiration of the federal Production Tax Credit, scheduled for the end of the year, will drastically reduce the number of wind energy developments.

Iberdrola is the second-largest wind developer in the U.S. with 11 wind farms in Oregon and two natural gas generation plants near Klamath Falls.

Iberdrola employes about 900 people in the U.S.

Source: Sustainable Business Oregon

Pearson International layoffs to cause delay sin Toronto airport

2012-01-25T07:37:00.004+05:30

With nearly 300 security screeners at Pearson International facing layoffs Wednesday, opponents of the move claim Canada’s busiest airport can expect longer checkpoint lineups and compromised safety standards.

Earlier this month, the Star reported that privately held Garda Security Solutions, which supplies screeners at Pearson, planned “temporary” layoffs of 299 junior employees.

On Tuesday, Denis Ellickson, a lawyer and spokesperson for the Canadian Airport Workers’ Union, which represents Pearson screeners, said 63 will be laid off permanently. A further 236 will be handed reduced hours.

The cuts, which reflect a 20 per cent staff reduction, arrive as passenger traffic continues to swell at Pearson. Traffic increased nearly 11 per cent between October 2009 and October 2011.

“It’s really counterintuitive,” Ellickson said. “The reduction in staff is going to create increased burden on existing staff, who are working to the limit. I don’t think there’s any doubt there’s going to be increased lineups and wait times for the traveling public.”

Both Garda and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, the federal agency in charge of airport security, would not discuss whether operations will be affected by the layoffs.

“It is not CATSA’s role to advise or direct the way screening contractors (Garda) manage their workforce,” spokesperson Mathieu Larocque said.

Trinity-Spadina MP Oliva Chow said the layoffs will almost certainly affect airport security. Screeners monitor X-ray scanners and metal detectors and, in Canadian airports, shoulder much of the security responsibility.

“There’s absolutely no excuse to lay off airport screeners,” she said.

But Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto professor and national security expert, said Pearson’s screener surplus — roughly 1,700 were employed before the layoffs — reflects a gross mismanagement of security expenditures and is largely unnecessary. The risk of a terrorist act at a Canadian airport, he said, is “relatively low.”

“A system that makes sure everyone is checked as potential carriers of explosive materials? That is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

Pearson has not set a contingency plan should the staff decrease result in delays, but spokesperson Patricia Krale expects Wednesday flyers to experience business as usual.

“We’re not anticipating any impact to passengers,” she said. “If there is an impact, we’ll deal with it at the time.”

Ellickson said employees have been advised not to take job action, and no petition or protest is planned.

Source: The Star

Citigroup to layoff 100 employees in India

2012-01-25T07:36:00.004+05:30

Citigroup said on Tuesday it will lay off 100 staff in India as part of a global restructuring exercise.

"Citigroup continuously reviews its internal processes and organisational structure to right size the organisation for efficient growth. Citi India has identified approximately 100 positions that will be impacted," the bank said.

Source: Times of India

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to layoff 33% of workforce

2012-01-21T10:23:00.000+05:30

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc, an RNAi therapeutics company, intends to implement a strategic corporate restructuring, including an approximate 33 percent reduction in its workforce, as it aligns its resources to focus on what it believes to be the company's highest value opportunities with accelerated clinical development plans. These include a previously announced company focus on its "Alnylam 5x15" RNAi therapeutic product strategy with ALN-TTR for the treatment of transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR) and ALN-APC for the treatment of hemophilia as lead programs and advancement of other pipeline programs with existing alliances and new partnerships.

"We have made remarkable progress in advancing RNAi therapeutics as a new class of innovative medicines, including recent results demonstrating human proof of concept in our ALN-TTR program and clinical efficacy for RNAi therapeutics in our ALN-PCS program. As we effect our ongoing transformation from a platform company to a product company, now is the time to focus our near-term efforts and resources on what we believe to be our highest value opportunities; specifically, accelerated clinical development plans for our programs in transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis and hemophilia, while advancing other pipeline programs through existing alliances and new partnerships that we aim to form in the future.

As a result of this increased focus, we are making a business decision to implement an organizational restructuring that will include an approximate 33% reduction in our workforce," said John Maraganore, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam. "At a personal level, this was a very difficult decision to make, but we are convinced that it is an important step in continuing to build our company for the long term. As we implement this change, we are grateful to all our employees for their dedication, passion, and commitment in advancing RNAi therapeutics to patients."

Alnylam expects the reduction in personnel costs, along with other external costs, to result in a savings of approximately $20 million in 2012 cash operating expenses. Alnylam estimates that it will incur one-time restructuring costs of approximately $4 million including employee severance, benefits, and related costs, which it expects to incur in the first quarter of 2012. The company recently increased its year-end 2011 cash guidance to approximately $260 million, and will provide financial guidance for 2012 in connection with its 2011 financial results announcement in February.

Source: Boston Citybiz List

Toledo health care provider Mercy cuts 55 jobs

2012-01-21T10:21:00.004+05:30

A confluence of economic problems is forcing a Toledo health care provider to lay off 55 employees, some of which will be cut as early as this week, the Toledo Blade reports.

Mercy is cutting mostly management and back-office positions, the newspaper reports, as it contends with lowered reimbursement rates and more uninsured patients. Laid-off workers will receive severance packages, the newspaper reports.

The northwest Ohio hospital chain laid off 71 workers in 2009 as it dealt with an increasing need for free patient care, the newspaper reports.

Source: Biz Journals

North Dakota State University to layoff 14 employees

2012-01-21T10:20:00.001+05:30

A loss in federal funding has forced North Dakota State University to lay off 14 employees of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

Vice president Phil Boudjouk tells The Forum that those affected are being notified Thursday that their jobs are being eliminated.

Boudjouk says the departure dates for the employees varies from two weeks to three months, depending on their jobs and transition of projects.

More than 40 researchers will continue working for the center.

He says the staff reduction was necessary due to a loss of congressional earmark funding for research.

NDSU has been awarded about $20 million to $30 million in annual earmarks in recent years. The center is working to replace those federal dollars with private funding.

Source: Crookston Times

Avery Dennison Corp to shut down Greensboro, 59 jobs lost

2012-01-21T10:19:00.000+05:30

Avery Dennison Corp. is planning to permanently shut down its Greensboro manufacturing facility and lay off 59 employees beginning in March.

The company, based in Pasadena, Calif., filed a notice with the N.C. Department of Commerce as part of a requirement by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
Avery Dennison’s letter to the state said the company expects to permanently eliminate job positions ranging from customer service representatives and machine operators to material handlers and managers.

The company said it will close its facility located at 2100 Summit Ave. and relocate remaining operations to 2025 16th St. in Greensboro.

Company officials could not be immediately be reached about the reasoning behind the closure or what the company’s plans are for the location on 16th Street.

Avery Dennison makes a variety of products including pressure-sensitive labeling materials, graphics imaging media and retail apparel ticketing and branding systems.

Source: Biz Journals

Air Canada layoffs 51 in Winnipeg

2012-01-20T08:06:00.001+05:30

Fifty-one Air Canada employees in Winnipeg are losing their jobs over the next month as part of the lingering after-effects of the airline's 2007 decision to spin off its technical services division.

Six of the layoffs will take effect Friday and the other 45 on Feb. 19, Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said Wednesday. The affected employees include sheet-metal workers, electricians and aircraft mechanics.

The employees work at the former Air Canada Technical Services division's St. James aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, which now operates under the name Aveos Fleet Performance Inc.

Air Canada converted the division into a stand-alone operation in 2007. Most of those workers are former Air Canada employees who decided to transfer to Aveos.

Fitzpatrick said the workers who didn't make the jump had been given until last July to decide whether to leave Air Canada, retire, or remain with the airline in hopes of landing a job elsewhere within its Canadian operations by bumping a less senior employee. The International Machinists and Aerospace Workers union challenged the company's moves in court, but lost the case last year.

The remaining Air Canada workers opted to stay with the company, but had remained on loan to Aveos since July because there was still enough work at the Winnipeg plant to keep them busy.

But an Aveos spokeswoman said Wednesday that's no longer the case. She said the facility will have a staff of about 309 after the 51 leave.

Fitzpatrick said Air Canada has no place for the last 51 workers within its remaining aircraft maintenance operations, which is why they're being laid off.

He said they can go onto the company's employee-recall list, but there's no way of knowing if they'll ever be recalled.

Or they can apply for a different type of job within Air Canada.

One of the workers, who asked not to be identified, said in an interview he didn't take a job with Aveos last summer because he's just a few years away from retiring. If he had taken early retirement from Air Canada to join Aveos, he would have taken a big hit on his pension.

He said it made more sense for him to stay in hopes he could find another job within Air Canada's operations.

Now he hopes he can use his seniority to land a different type of job elsewhere within the airline's Winnipeg operations, possibly as a baggage handler.

The worker said he also didn't want to take a job with Aveos because its aircraft maintenance contract with Air Canada expires next year.

The Winnipeg facility performs maintenance and repair work on Air Canada's fleet of narrow-bodied Airbus plane, and that's all it does.

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

Bank of America plans for more layoffs this year

2012-01-20T08:04:00.004+05:30

Bank of America plans to continue cutting jobs after reporting in its year-end earnings statement that employment fell by 5,874 in the fourth quarter and 3,836 over the year in 2011.

The bank didn't say how many more jobs would go. Employment reductions are part of its plan to achieve $5 billion in savings by the end of 2014, under an initiative dubbed "Project New BAC." The firm is currently engaged in Phase 1 of the cost-reduction initiative, which began at the end of 2011.

Implementation of Phase 2 of New BAC is expected to begin this spring, focused on cost reductions in commercial banking, global wealth and investment management, global corporate banking, global markets and support areas. As it executes Phase 2, the firm expects to have a lower headcount base than seen through the implementation of Phase 1. The bank's total staff numbered 284,635 at the end of the fourth quarter and year.

Despite the overall reductions, the firm added staff in select areas. The bank added 1,700 financial advisers over the year, and also bolstered its ranks of small business bankers. In the fourth quarter, the firm added 214 financial advisers, bringing the total number of FAs to 17,300. Bruce Thompson, the firm's chief financial officer, noted that the hiring of FAs will likely slow through the coming year.

"Looking forward, we would expect muted adviser growth in 2012, based on economic conditions," Thompson said.

Bank of America will also continue closing retail branches. It ended the year with 5,702 branches, a reduction of 13 branches from the end of the third quarter, and a total of 154 for the fiscal year.

The bank posted an annual profit of $1.99 billion, or $0.15 per share, compared to a loss of $1.24 billion, or $0.16 a share, in 2010. Analysts anticipated a $0.15 per-share profit. The bank's revenue exceeded analyst expectations, rising by 11% to $24.89 billion.

Source: Fins

KFC layoffs at corporate offices and restaurants

2012-01-20T08:02:00.004+05:30

KFC says it has made layoffs both at its corporate offices and at restaurants. The company cites the need to reduce costs and become more efficient.

A statement from KFC Senior Director of Public Relations Karen Sherman says the company wants to improve business with new products that are marketed well.

"We are doing everything possible to help support those affected by the reorganization in their transition," Sherman said in a news release.

The company is not revealing how many people have been laid off or exactly what positions they hold.

KFC's parent company, Louisville-based Yum Brands, has concentrated on expanding KFC's business along with its other restaurant chains, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Yum sold Long John Silvers and A&W last month to concentrate on those other brands.

Increasingly, much of Yum's expansion takes place overseas, and KFC has aimed itself at the Chinese market. The Bloomberg financial news service reported Thursday that the company has seen success with breakfast food as well as with a delivery service and keeping its restaurants open 24 hours.

Source: WDRB

Luxury item site Lot18 cuts 15% of staff

2012-01-20T08:01:00.002+05:30

Lot18, the membership-based luxury item site that raised a whopping $45 million over the last year, just laid off 14 people, or 15 percent of the staff.

“A lot of this is a natural part of the way a business grows and evolves,” Lot18 founder Philip James told Betabeat. “Some positions aren’t needed. At the same time, we’re hiring heavily in areas that do make sense for us. This puts us back to October’s level, so just a couple months ago.”

The company was planning to slash a significant part of its workforce tomorrow morning, followed by a company-wide meeting. After Betabeat began inquiring, the company confirmed the layoffs and pushed them up to this afternoon.

Lot18 specializes in wine and gourmet food, as well as cultural activities and amusements, similar to Gilt Taste. The site was growing explosively, most recently with its $30 million series C in November, with backing from big names like Accel Partners, FirstMark Capital and the founders of Diapers.com. Lot18 also recently acquired Paris based-Vinobest and made some high-profile hires, including venture vet Mark Pinney as CFO and Gilt VP of marketing Andrew Koch as VP of product.

Source: Beta Beat

RR Donnelley & Sons to close Windsor location, 117 jobs lost

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000+05:30

RR Donnelley & Sons is closing its Windsor (CT) location in March, putting 117 people out of work. The company is required by law to let the state Department of Labor know about its plans two months ahead of the layoffs, and it did so on Monday.

In Windsor, 69 production employees, 12 managers and 36 administrative employees, from accountants to database coordinators to operations clerks, will lose their jobs when the printing plant closes.

Jim Burke, economic development director for the town of Windsor, said the building once housed Aetna’s in-house printing division. At that time, there were 400 employees.

Source: PI World

Mayville Products Corp to close Mayville factory, 130 jobs lost

2012-01-20T07:57:00.001+05:30

Mayville Products Corp. plans to close its factory in Mayville in Dodge County, leaving 130 workers without jobs.

The layoffs are expected to occur between March 19 and March 30, according to a plant closing notice filed Thursday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

The sheet metal fabricating plant, 403 Degner Ave., is expected to permanently close on March 30.

“We are very sorry that business conditions have forced us to take this action,” the notice states.

The Department of Workforce Development will work with the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin to outplacement services to affected employees.

Source: Biz Journals

Carson-Newman College eliminates academic programs, jobs

2012-01-20T07:55:00.004+05:30

Carson-Newman College has eliminated three academic programs, top cabinet positions and other jobs as part of restructuring at the college, according to an email administrators sent to members of the campus community last week.

The athletic training, computer information systems and French programs will be discontinued at the Jefferson City college, and deans and program coordinators "are working to ensure that students invested in their majors have a graduation plan," according to the notice sent to faculty and staff by President Randall O'Brien.

School officials would not comment on "ongoing personnel matters," said Parker Leake, senior director for marketing and communications for the Baptist college.

Faculty in the athletic training program either declined to comment or did not return calls seeking comment. The other programs already have been removed from the school's website.

The school has also eliminated top administrative positions, including executive vice president, vice president of church relations, associate vice president for finance and vice president for marketing and communication. It's unclear how many of those positions were vacant, though former Executive Vice President Dan Hollingsworth left last year to become president of Piedmont College in Georgia. The school has also eliminated two positions in the Office of Advancement and one position in alumni affairs.

A professor still under contract at the school, who did not want to be named for fear of retaliation, said most faculty were caught off guard by the layoffs and eliminated programs. At least six faculty members and an unknown number of staff members lost their jobs, he said. The News Sentinel reached a professor earlier this week who had been laid off but declined to comment.

O'Brien told reporters in early December he had no plans for layoffs. The comments came within days of receiving word that Carson-Newman's full accreditation had been reinstated following a yearlong warning for a low profit margin.

The school, which has a $35-million budget, has been battling financial troubles in recent years, including landing on a federal list of schools that failed a financial responsibility test, though the school contends it received a letter from the Department of Education clearing its finances.

Source: Knox News

Rheem layoffs 60 employees in Fort Smith

2012-01-20T07:54:00.004+05:30

A spokesperson for Rheem in Fort Smith said 60 hourly employees will be laid off tomorrow, Jan. 20th.

John Anthony said the layoffs are part of normal seasonal adjustments.

Currently the plant employees 1,195 people. Some 906 are hourly and 289 are salaried.

Rheem in Fort Smith builds residential and commercial HVAC products.

The layoffs are seasonal and the company hopes to recall all employees in the future.

Source: 4029 TV

Motricity to cut 135 jobs in Asia

2012-01-20T07:53:00.002+05:30

Motricity stock closed up 5.5 percent today after the company said it's withdrawing from Asia, a move that will cut 135 jobs in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia by April.

The Bellevue-based mobile marketing services company has been reorganizing for months and finalized the Asia decision after losing a major customer, Kuala Lumpur-based carrier Axiata, on Jan. 5. Motricity expects the shift will cost around $2.5 million, including severance costs of $1.5 million.

Overall the company now employs between 320 and 350, down from 522 at the end of June.

It's a sharp reversal. In 2010 Motricity was aggressively expanding overseas, making deals that pushed its stock above $15. Today the stock settled at 87 cents, after rising to more $1 during the day's trading.

Interim Chief Executive Jim Smith said in a statement that the company's "had to make some difficult choices, including streamlining and exiting areas of our business that were no longer strategic or profitable. I believe the strategy that we've since adopted now aligns with the strong market opportunity that exists in mobile enterprise and advertising."

Motricity continues to have offices Europe but they're being evaluated as the company turns its focus to North America, where its operations are more profitable.

Smith explained that in North America, the company runs a broader set of businesses, serving large enterprises in addition to wireless carriers. Those businesses share capabilities, enabling it to deliver services at a lower cost, he said.

A more streamlined company could be a more attractive acquisition target but the company's trying to grow and not pursue a merger or acquisition, Smith said.

"Anything's possible with M&A but it's certainly not something we're focused on," he said. "We've got to go build the business."

Motricity's also trying to raise more capital, which could lead to more hiring in Bellevue. Smith said the company will provide an updated outlook when it reports 2011 earnings; the report hasn't been scheduled but will happen before March 15.

Source: Seattle Times

Yahoo freezes hiring, layoffs planned

2012-01-20T07:52:00.003+05:30

Yahoo has frozen its hiring process and may even consider layoffs according to a new report. The news was revealed by AllThingsD on Thursday, which wrote that the choices were made ahead of expected weak fourth quarter earnings.

Yahoo isn’t considering mass layoffs, however; instead, AllThingsD said they are likely to be “small and selective” if they happen at all. Yahoo experienced a bit of turmoil earlier this week when co-founder, former CEO and board member Jerry Yang resigned from the company. AllThingsD said other board members may be considering leaving the company, too.

Source: BGR

Japanese pharma company Takeda Pharmaceutical to cut 2,800 jobs in US and Europe

2012-01-19T07:33:00.000+05:30

Brace yourselves for another round of pharma layoffs. This time, it's Takeda Pharmaceutical wielding the ax, and the Japanese company is targeting 2,800 job cuts, mostly in Europe, by 2016. The aim: saving $2.6 billion.

The European cutbacks stem directly from last year's €9.6 billion buyout of the Swiss drugmaker Nycomed. That deal left Nycomed's U.S. business intact and independent. But that doesn't mean the U.S. will go unscathed in Takeda's layoff blitz; about 700 positions are targeted in the U.S.

Nor will the cuts leave many operations untouched. The company says it will be laying off workers across the board, in research, administration, operations and commercial functions. Some European subsidiaries may be sold off as Takeda works to integrate Nycomed, and other cuts will be focused on redundant functions. R&D sites will be consolidated.

"The combination of Takeda and Nycomed brought together Takeda's strong presence in the Japanese and U.S. markets with the legacy Nycomed business infrastructure in Europe and high-growth emerging markets," Takeda CEO Yasuchika Hasegawa said in a statement. "There are a number of areas where we will need to make changes to ensure efficient and flexible operations moving forward."

Takeda's announcement comes a week after Novartis ($NVS) said it would cut another 2,000 or so jobs in the U.S., on top of 2,000 positions in Europe and the U.S. that the company previously said it would eliminate. Will the job cuts continue as 2012 advances? As drugmakers continue to integrate recent buyouts—think Sanofi ($SNY) and Genzyme—and lose sales to newly off-patent drugs, our bet is yes.

Source: Fierce Pharma

500 layoffs planned at Anniston Army Depot

2012-01-19T07:31:00.002+05:30

More than 500 people learned today their jobs could end this spring and summer as the as the Anniston Army Depot’s commander, Col. Timothy Sullivan, announced impending layoffs to employees first thing this morning on closed-circuit television.

“The work load is what the work load is,” Sullivan said on the broadcast. “It comes down to numbers, and the numbers are just not good for 2013.”

A release from the depot’s public affairs office later Wednesday said the base’s temporary and “term” workers are the ones facing potential unemployment. Temporary workers are hired for short-term periods based on the Army’s needs, usually for a year or less, according to Clester Burdell, an Army public affairs officer. Term workers are hired for between one and four years. Those contracts are renewable if there’s a need for the workers, Burdell said. She said there are slightly more than 500 term and temporary workers at the depot now.

Shrene Funderburg, acting president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1945, said she’d been told that 568 workers’ jobs are at stake. Funderburg said she was informed about the layoffs Tuesday afternoon in a meeting with Sullivan. Another 300 may lose their jobs by January 2013, she added.

The layoffs would begin after March 30, Burdell said, as each worker’s contract expires, continuing to the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30.

About 4,000 people work at the depot in permanent positions under a variety of commands, Burdell said. That includes workers who last September finished moving and destroying the Army’s stockpile of Cold War-era chemical weapons stored at the depot. That work force once totaled around 1,000, jobs that all will be gone when the Anniston Chemical Disposal Facility is dismantled.

For the temporary and term workers, what’s costing them their jobs is a transition to peacetime, Sullivan said on the morning broadcast. He declined to be interviewed later.

The problem was evident on a tour of one of the newer facilities at the depot Wednesday morning.

James McKinney is chief of the depot’s reciprocating power train division, which rebuilds engines for vehicles such as the Army personnel carrier used in Afghanistan. The division is operating at about 10 percent capacity, McKinney said. The 142,000-square-foot facility, which opened in July 2009, has the capacity to rebuild 1,865 engines in a year. For 2012, it received enough money to rebuild 40, McKinney said.

Row upon row of shelves installed to hold engine parts rose empty or nearly empty toward the warehouse ceiling. Unused machines lay silent among others that were running. It’s an inefficient use of a state-of-the-art building that cost taxpayers $85 million just a few years ago, said Ray VanSchoubroek, a consultant for the union and a retired crane operator for the depot.

Less work hinders the facility’s efficiency, McKinney confirmed.

“If we were at full capacity, it would start bringing costs down,” he said. “They have a process they have to go through, whether you put one part in or you put 30 parts in.”

Nathan Hill, military liaison for the Calhoun Chamber of Commerce, said the depot has been dealt double blows because of a decrease in work and a decrease in funding for man-hours.

The Anniston depot specializes in maintaining equipment such as tanks, self-propelled howitzers, mobile bridges, small arms and tank-recovery systems, Hill said.

“There has been a lot of work in those areas over the past 10 years,” he said. “But now, as we’ve moved out of Iraq, a lot of those systems or most of those systems aren’t being used in Afghanistan.”

VanSchoubroek said the depot has a core number of man-hours it needs to complete the work it has to do each year and to maintain the skill level it needs to stay in operation. Union officials estimate it needs 3.2 million man-hours to do that work. In 2013, though, the depot is in line to receive funding for 2.1 million man-hours, the officials said.

Hill acknowledged the wide gulf between what the depot says it needs and what it is slated to receive, but noted that the allotted hours change almost on a daily basis. He said the decrease in workload at the depot has probably affected the funding it is slated to receive in 2013.

VanSchoubroek said the union had expected a drawdown as the nation’s armed forces disengage from Iraq and Afghanistan, but it had not expected such deep cuts.

Funderburg, the union president, said the union had hoped 450 employees from the chemical weapons disposal plant and stockpiling area would be added to the depot’s payroll. Since 2010, the depot has cut 632 positions through early retirements and other incentives — the right way, Funderburg said.

Now, instead of preventing layoffs, the depot will be adding to them.

The problem is lack of funding, Funderburg said.

“We don’t have the work here at Anniston to maintain them,” she said. “They’re canceling programs that they had originally said we’d be doing.”

That’s not true of other depots across the country, she said. The Red River Depot in Texas has asked 300 Anniston employees to volunteer to work there. So far, about 60 employees have taken the Texas depot up on its offer.

Hill also noted the discrepancy between depots, but said it is driven by the requirements of the military. The Red River Depot maintains tactical-wheeled vehicles such as Humvees, which are currently being used in Afghanistan more than the heavy equipment of Anniston’s specialties, and therefore require more maintenance.

“It doesn’t appear fair from a union standpoint or from my standpoint,” Hill said. “But it’s just a matter of fact that it’s related to the commodities that those depots have been designated to repair.”

Anniston Mayor Gene Robinson said Wednesday afternoon he had only just heard of the layoffs, but he noted it’s a cycle that has repeated itself each time the country has entered and exited a war.

“When there’s a war, there’s ramping up; there’s big hires and lots of activity,” he said. “Then when the wars are over, there’s a ramping down.”

Robinson wasn’t sure how the city would respond to the impending layoffs, but like the April 27 tornadoes, it will require community support to pull through this, he said.

Source: The Anniston Star

Jay-Z’s New York City Rocawear office undergoes 28 layoffs

2012-01-19T07:30:00.000+05:30

Everything is not sunny in the land of Jay-Z, as the rapper forced to lay off 28 Rocawear employees in these tough economic times.

Rocawear is a brand that had become synonymous with hip hop and rap culture over the years, and it looks like the brand may be facing some tough times. The clothing line has recently had to lay off 28 employees from the New York City Rocawear offices earlier this month on January 6th, 2012.

The listed reasoning for the layoffs was none other than “economic” problems. This comes as no surprise seeing the state of the current economy along with the fact that Rocawear has been on a slow decline over the years as hip hop fashion evolves and becomes more diversified.

If you recall, Jay-Z sold the Rocawear clothing line for a staggering $204 million back in 2007, but did keep interest in the company. Towards the end of 2011, Jay-Z rustled quite a few feathers when he released his controversial ‘Occupy All Streets‘ t-shirts to support the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The t-shirts were created for support, but Jay-Z was heavily criticized for attempting to capitalize on the situation.

Source: This Beat Goes

Scandinavian airline group SAS AB cuts 300 jobs

2012-01-19T07:28:00.004+05:30

Scandinavian airline group SAS AB says it will lay off 300 administrative workers as part of its efforts to reduce costs.

SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson said Wednesday the plans to cut costs by 3 to 5% are critical for the company to strengthen its competitive position.

The company said the staff layoffs and other measures will help it cut costs by around 2 billion kronor ($288 million) in 2012.

It said the implementation of the cost-cutting program has become even more crucial this year, "due to increased economic uncertainty, increased pressure on yields in the airline industry and continued high fuel prices."

Source: USA Today

ITT Exelis layoffs 76 employees

2012-01-19T07:27:00.004+05:30

A manufacturing company in West Springfield laid off 76 employees on Wednesday.

ITT Exelis spokesperson Irene Lockwood told 22News the company was forced to lay off the workers because of cuts in defense spending. Lockwood told 22News some of the layoffs were voluntary, but others were involuntary.

As of December, the company had 370 people working at its West Springfield location.

ITT Exelis manufactures night vision goggles and other products used by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Source: WWLP

BMO Harris Bank to cut 350 jobs

2012-01-19T07:25:00.004+05:30

BMO Harris Bank announced today it is eliminating 350 jobs over the next three months, including about 157 in the greater Milwaukee area.

In total, about 200 Wisconsin employees of the company will lose their jobs.

Most of the jobs to be eliminated are administrative and back-office positions. The company is contracting with outside vendors to perform many of those functions and hopes that some of the affected employees will find jobs with the vendors, according to Jim Kappel, vice president of BMO Harris Bank.

Kappel said the total layoffs account for about 2 percent of the company’s 16,000 employees in the United States.

BMO Harris currently has about 365 open positions, including about 95 in Wisconsin, and hopes that some of the affected employees also can be considered for those jobs.

“This is not a decision we take lightly. We understand these changes will result in the loss of positions; however, we are doing our best to support employees in impacted positions. For some people, they are being offered positions by our vendors; for others, they can apply for our open positions,” Kappel said. “All employees whose positions are affected are also eligible for a severance plan and an outplacement program that includes help with developing resumes, interviewing skills, career counseling and access to job search resources.”

BMO Harris acquired Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp., the parent company of M&I Bank, last July.

Since the completion of the merger, BMO Harris has hired close to 120 people in the greater Milwaukee area, mostly in the roles hired of personal bankers, customer service representatives and credit analysts, Kappel said

Source: Biz Times

Oakland layoffs 2,500 workers

2012-01-19T07:23:00.004+05:30

Oakland officials are sending layoff notices to nearly 2,500 employees as the city moves to cut costs to try to make up for the loss of redevelopment money.

The city announced Wednesday that with the state cutting redevelopment funds across California, it won't have the money to pay the salaries of 1,464 full-time and more than 1,000 part-time or temporary employees.

City spokeswoman Karen Boyd says because the city is required to give a 10-day notice if a job is eliminated by the Jan. 31, not every employee who receives a layoff notice will be out a job.

Police and fire staff are exempt from layoffs due to a clause in their contracts.

The city says the loss of the redevelopment funds creates a potential annual budget gap ranging from $25 to $30 million, although the exact size of the deficit has not yet been fully determined.

Source: Mercury News

Kraft Foods to layoff 1,600 workers in North America

2012-01-18T07:57:00.001+05:30

Kraft Foods said Tuesday it would lay off 1,600 workers in North America in 2012 to position the company for splitting up its grocery and snack operations.

The layoffs are scheduled "to help ensure its North America-based snacks and grocery businesses are well-positioned to become two independent public companies before the end of 2012," the company said in a statement.

"When we announced our decision to create two world-class companies in late August, we said both would be leaner, more competitive organizations," Kraft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Irene Rosenfeld said in a statement.

"We're confident that this transformational work will improve effectiveness and fuel future growth of both companies," she said.

As part of the new strategy, after the spin off, Kraft said it would eliminate two and keep two of its four U.S. management centers.

The firm's Beverages business unit will move from Tarrytown, N.Y. and the Planters brand will move from East Hanover, N.J., the firm said. Both are headed to the metropolitan Chicago area by the end of the year.

Most employees affected by the move will be offered a chance to relocate and stay with the company, the statement said.

In addition, Kraft said it would close its Glenview, Ill., management center by the end of the year.

Source: UPI

Steelwork specialist Billington to layoff 30 staff

2012-01-18T07:56:00.002+05:30

Constructional steelwork specialist Billington is cutting 30 production jobs due to falling workloads.

The Barnsley steelwork firm is moving from double to single shift working at its factories at Wombwell and Yate in Bristol.

Steve Fareham, managing director of Billington, told the Enquirer: “The general problems of the steelwork sector are well known. Supply and demand are still out of kilter in the industry.

“We’re basically reverting to the shift pattern of four years ago. We still retain the capacity to meet our clients’ needs but we must adjust working patterns to suit orders levels.”

He added: “We are seeing more opportunities ahead but they are taking longer to come to fruition, so we haven’t been able to fully occupy our factories.”

The new shift patterns came into force yesterday at the two main works. Last October around 11 mainly office staff were laid off at its Bristol site.

At the end of last year Billington formed a joint venture with southern steelwork specialist Bourne Steel to chase £10m-plus office and shopping centre jobs in London and other big cities.

The partners behind the new company BS2 have just completed a small tester job and are hopeful of landing further work despite signs of a slowdown in new commercial work.

Source: Construction Enquirer

French company Fnac cuts 510 jobs

2012-01-18T07:55:00.001+05:30

Fnac, the leading French cultural products chain, will lay off 510 of its 17,000 staff and may pull out of Italy as part of a cost-cutting plan to save €80m a year against a backdrop of shrinking sales.

"The worsening of the economic crisis in the last six months has led to a sharp fall in household consumption, which is affecting Fnac's markets in all the countries where it operates," the chain said in a release on Friday (13th January).

In 2011, the group's sales declined 3.2% overall and 5.4% in its stores following a slump in demand for electronic and other technical products in the last nine months.

Of the job cuts, 310 will be in France and will involve head office and instore support staff. Sales and fnac.com, which are at the centre of the chain's strategic development, will not be affected. The other 200 layoffs across the seven other countries will be through non-replacement of staff leaving. The countries are Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

A decision will be taken during the year on whether to withdraw from Italy, where Fnac has "not achieved a critical mass" though its 17 stores, c.e.o. Alexandre Bompard told the French daily le Figaro.

The group will start managing the four stores in Switzerland from France at the end of 2012, will renegotiate rents in its 158 outlets and will revise all technical services to help "drastically reduce" operating expenses.

But the cutbacks will have no impact on the five-year plan Fnac 2015, which was unveiled last July and includes opening 30 new outlets in France, mainly on town outskirts and countries where it is already present.

Several projects have already been initiated, and about 10 openings are planned for this year, including in eastern Paris, railway stations, airports and selected neighbourhoods, the group said. It will also launch new concepts for children and families and internet access in stores.

Fnac parent company PPR has wanted to sell the chain for some time, but has not yet found a buyer.

Source: The Book Seller

Wood-Mode to layoff 90 workers

2012-01-18T07:53:00.002+05:30

Wood-Mode will lay off 90 of its 1,100-person workforce "over the next four weeks to accommodate the overall reduction in its cabinet sales volume, " said Tom Morgensen, the company's vice president of human resources.

"It's unfortunate," Morgensen said late Monday afternoon after the announcement. "It's sad, and we regret having to take the action, but it's a business decision."

The layoffs are due to the extended length of the recession in the housing industry and its effect on an already fragile cabinet and remodeling market, he said.

Company executives remain optimistic that orders will gradually increase when the economics of the housing industry and its customer base improve in 2012, Morgensen added.

"We certainly hope that some employees will be reinstated if things pick up," he said.

State Rep. Fred Keller, R-85 of Kreamer, said: "My heart goes out to the people who will be laid off. You know, I have friends and some family who work at Wood-Mode."

Keller said that when he was a manager at Conestoga Wood Specialties in Beavertown, "I had to look people in the eye and say that I had to lay them off, even though they were doing a good job. It had nothing to do with their job performance. And it was hard."

Keller said there is no easy answer to reversing the economic trends in the housing industry. "I'm thinking that prevailing wage reform will help," he said. "Taxing people less so that they have more money on hand to spend as they see fit. We need to be more responsive in that way at the state level."

Wood-Mode has shed about 50 percent of its workforce during the economic downturn. The company -- the largest employer in Snyder County -- employed almost 2,000 workers in 2007.

Wood-Mode manufactures custom kitchen cabinets and counter tops with hardware, laminates and moldings.

Source: Daily Item

British Army layoffs 400 Gurkhas

2012-01-18T07:51:00.001+05:30

The British Army on Tuesday announced to lay off around 400 Gurkha soldiers from the Brigade of Gurkhas. The British Army will offer a comprehensive program for resettlement into civilian life to all the laid-off Gurkha soldiers, according to a press statement issued by the British Embassy in Kathmandu.

The statement further said the British Army will help all the laid-off Gurkha soldiers to find jobs in future. All the Gurkha soldiers chosen for lay-off will be given one year´s notice, reads the statement.

The downsizing of the Brigade of Gurkhas is part of restructuring of the British Army, said the statement. In 2010, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the UK had announced the Strategic Defence and Security Review to downsize the whole British Army.

Last year, around 140 Gurkhas were laid off from the 3,500-strong Brigade of Gurkhas. The MoD of the UK is reportedly planning to downsize the strength of the Brigade of Gurkhas to less than 3,000 personnel.

This year, the MoD has reportedly decided to discharge a total of 2,900 members of the British Army including 400 Gurkha soldiers.

Around 1,000 members of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and 300 members of the Royal Navy are among the 2,900 British soldiers to be discharged by the MoD this year, according to British news agencies.

Ex-British Gurkha soldiers have questioned the rationale of such a big cut in the Brigade of Gurkhas. They said they are ´saddened´ with the new announcement of the British Army.

What we do not understand is why we have lost around 140 men in the first tranche and now we are losing another 400 men when we have just 3,500. But the infantry, which has tens of thousands of personnel, are losing only 500 personnel, Major Tikendra Dal Dewan, chairman of the British Welfare Society, told the Daily Mail, a British newspaper.

The Gurkha soldiers have loyally and bravely fought for the British all over the world. They have served in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 50 years.

The British Army started recruiting Gurkha soldiers following a peace deal with Nepal in 1815. Altogether, 13 Gurkha soldiers have won Victoria Crosses (VCs) for their bravery so far.

Source: My Republica

UK's Premier Foods announces 600 job cuts

2012-01-18T07:50:00.002+05:30

A major UK food supplier has announced it is to lay off around 600 workers as it prepares to face a tough 2012.

Publishing its growth plan for the coming year, Premier Foods said it would be doubling its savings projections, attempting to cut £40 million of spend by 2013 by creating a "stronger and more efficient business".

A spokesman for the company said: "To achieve this target, every aspect of the company’s costs is being reviewed and it is expected that a series of cost saving programmes will be initiated throughout the year that will result in reductions in the workforce, mainly from overhead functions."

Meanwhile, the company also said that its new leadership team was to focus investment behind growing the eight "power brands" owned by the supplier, including Hovis, Ambrosia, Mr. Kipling, Sharwood’s, Loyd Grossman, Bisto, Oxo and Batchelors.

The Group said it was planning to double marketing spend behind the brands in 2012 and six of the Power Brands will be back on TV with advertising in the first quarter.

Commenting on the plan, Chief Executive Officer Michael Clarke said: “We continue to deliver on our plans to stabilise the business and invest in our recovery and future growth.

While decisions to reduce the workforce are always difficult, I’m convinced we are taking the right steps in the long term interests of the business, employees and our stakeholders.”

Source: 4rfv

Sperry Marine cuts 50 jobs in Charlottesville

2012-01-18T07:49:00.002+05:30

According to a Sperry Marine spokesperson, about 50 people will lose their jobs in Charlottesville.

The spokesman said, Sperry needed to eliminate 800 positions, and announced the layoffs back in October.

More than 300 employees chose to participate in a voluntary reduction program. About 400 layoffs are being announced company-wide Tuesday. That includes the 50 at Sperry's Maritime Systems Business Unit in Charlottesville that will find out Tuesday.

Thirty people lost jobs there last month. These employees will work through January 31, and receive separation benefits and out- placement assistance.

Source: NBC29

Macy's to close Texas city store, 97 jobs cut

2012-01-18T07:48:00.001+05:30

Macy’s Inc. is laying off 97 employees as it closes its Texas City location.

The Cincinnati-based retailer is closing the store as part of the company’s process to prune underperforming stores.

The layoffs will occur between March 9 and March 22, according to documents from the Texas Workforce Commission.

The 151,000-square-foot store, located in the Mall of the Mainland, is expected to close in early spring.

A final clearance began on Jan. 8 and will run for approximately 10 weeks.

In conjunction with these store closings, an estimated $25 million to $30 million of costs will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Source: Biz Journals

LSU Health Care Services plans for 100 layoffs

2012-01-18T07:47:00.000+05:30

Employees at University Medical Center have received a notice of impending layoff.

The LSU Health Care Services Division, which oversees UMC, sent out the notices Tuesday to employees at its eight institutions across the state.

The notice is required by state civil service rules, but does not necessarily mean that every employee who received a notice will be laid off.

According to the notice, the UMC layoffs will be effective March 5.

UMC Administrator Larry Dorsey said the hospital employs approximately 900 people. If the proposed layoff plan is implemented, there could be 80 to 100 layoffs at UMC, resulting in four medical services being closed.

Dorsey said he is hopeful that an effort in Baton Rouge to come up with funding from other sources would prevent the layoffs, but that the LSU system is taking action to prepare employees and hospitals for staff reductions.

“This layoff is being proposed due to the inability of the Health Care Services Division to realize the additional federal funding for care delivered to the uninsured and Medicaid population amounting to $29 million during the current fiscal year, FY 2011-2012,” the notice reads.

The LSU system’s layoff plan still must be approved by the state civil service board.

So far, the system has not specified how many employees may be laid off as a result of the state budget cuts.

Source: The Advertiser

Northrop Grumman layoffs 90 employees in Maryland

2012-01-18T07:45:00.004+05:30

Ninety Maryland employees of Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Electronic Systems sector will be laid off, the company announced Tuesday. The cuts are part of a 400 person company-wide reduction.

In October, the Fall Church, Va.-based defense contractor announced plans to cut 800 positions across the country in their Electronic Systems sector by the end of January. While more than 300 employees left the company as a result, “the number of volunteers did not reduce our headcount to the extent required in all of the areas where we have an insufficient amount of work,” said company spokesperson Jack Martin Jr.

All laid-off employees will work through January 31. An additional 20 manufacturing employees at the company’s Linthicum plant will be furloughed for between four and five months due to lack of work during that time, Martin said.

Source: The Daily Record

Wethersfield Health Care Center to cut 145 jobs by March

2012-01-18T07:44:00.004+05:30

There are about 60 fewer patients since the owner of Wethersfield Health Care Center told the state it would like to close the nursing home — and as a result, HealthBridge Management announced Tuesday, it will be laying off 145 of the staffers there in March.

Although the nursing home is obligated to give the state 60 days' notice on the mass layoffs, it's unusual that a company would choose to publicize that layoff.

"Normally a last thing a nursing home operator would do is send out a press release saying they're cutting staff," said Deborah Chernoff, spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union, District 199, which represents 105 of the workers who will be laid off in mid- to late March.

She said the state still has another month before it has to weigh in on HealthBridge's request to shut down the nursing home, which the company says has lost money for years. But she said that by publicizing its downsizing, it makes it more likely that residents will flee, making it less likely the nursing home can find a buyer — the outcome politicians said they wanted at the public hearing on the request in November.

"We are extremely regretful that this step was necessary," Wethersfield Health Care Center spokeswoman Sharon Donaghue was quoted as saying in a press release. "Our employees have provided great health care for many years. … We will do what we can to help those employees who will be affected by these layoffs to find positions with other employers."

In November, the company said it had about 250 employees in Wethersfield.

"Whatever their financial arguments are for closing Wethersfield, this is also part of their negotiating strategy," Chernoff said. The union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board arguing that the push to close the home was an effort to intimidate union members at homes in Wethersfield, Newington, Milford, Danbury, Westport and Stamford. The regulators have not yet weighed in on the charge.

Chernoff said that HealthBridge's actions — including locking out 100 workers in Milford since December — have not caused workers to say the union should agree to more concessions.

HealthBridge has said it would end the lockout if the union would agree that its workers would no longer earn credits toward a pension. The two sides have no negotiations scheduled.

"People are frightened certainly, but they're also angry," Chernoff said. "They have something worth preserving and they're going to fight to preserve it."

Source: Courant

The Hershey Company to layoff 200 workers in March

2012-01-18T07:43:00.001+05:30

Chocolate giant The Hershey Co. will layoff 200 hourly and salaried workers in March as part of its ongoing transition to the expanded Old West Chocolate Avenue facility in Derry Township.

That transition is expected to be mostly complete by the end of March, but the lines at Hershey's traditional factory on East Chocolate Avenue will not stop producing until early April, spokesman Jeff Beckman said.

More than 500 workers will transition to the expanded west plant by the end of March, he said. The older factory still is producing Kisses, Hershey's Syrup, chocolate bars and Rolos. The company began sending notices to workers last week, he said.

The number of layoffs is less than the nearly 400 job cuts the company considered, said Dennis Bomberger, business manager for Chocolate Workers Local 464 of the Bakery Confectionery Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union, which represents Hershey workers.

The union voted for the company to cut the midstate workforce by as many as 600 jobs in 2010 when Hershey first announced its plans to close the older facility. The union was facing a possible move of production to another state without the vote.

Whether all 200 people are laid off permanently is yet to be seen, Bomberger said. The company could meet part of the cuts through voluntary attrition and retirements, and it could put workers on a list of permanent extras who substitute for others during vacations and illnesses, he said.

More than 1,200 people work in Hershey's two Dauphin County plants, Bomberger said.

Source: Central Penn Business

Iran may layoff 200,000 civil servants by 2015

2012-01-17T07:51:00.004+05:30

Iran’s fifth five-year socio-economic development plan, which ends in 2015, has envisaged transferring up to 200,000 employees of the state-run sector to the private sector, the vice president for human resources and management affairs stated.

Speaking to the ISNA news agency, Lotfollah Forouzandeh said that around 2 million employees are working in state-run organizations. If we implement the article 44 of the Constitution toward downsizing the government, 10 percent of the civil servants should be transferred to the private sector by 2015, he noted.

Iran has privatized up to 500 companies during the last six years, said Iran’s minister of economic affairs and finance Shamseddin Hosseini in August 2011.

He announced that the government has gained around 77 billion dollars income by ceding shares of the companies to the private sector during the mentioned period.

In 2007, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei instructed government officials to speed up implementation of the policies outlined in the amendment of Article 44, and move towards economic privatization.

Massive privatization of state-owned enterprises over the past several years, which had hitherto justified the state sponsorship of major economic activities, have been the hallmark of economic reforms in Iran, which was enabled after the reinterpretation of the relevant provisions of Iran’s constitution and following authorization by the highest political decision-making bodies in Iran.

According to the Iran Privatization Organization, over the past five years 589 state-owned companies with nearly 83 billion dollars worth of shares have been privatized, according to Middle East Online.

Source: Tehran Times

Magyar Suzuki, Hungarian unit of Japanese carmaker Suzuki not planning for layoffs

2012-01-17T07:50:00.002+05:30

Magyar Suzuki, the Hungarian unit of Japanese carmaker Suzuki, will not lay off workers at the company’s factory in Esztergom (N Hungary) in spite of GM’s decision to discontinue production of Opel Agila cars at the plant, Magyar Suzuki Communications Director Viktoria Ruska told MTI on Monday.

Ms. Ruska said that Magyar Suzuki would replace production of the Agila with that of another model, noting that the unit expects to assemble 170,000 vehicles in 2012, just as in 2011.

Magyar Suzuki employs 3,400 workers, and suppliers’ headcount is around 50,000. Suzuki accounts for 2% of Hungary’s total annual exports according to the company’s calculations.

Source: BBJ

Mortgage insurer PMI announces 155 job cuts

2012-01-17T07:49:00.001+05:30

Mortgage insurer PMI has announced that it is laying off 155 jobs at its corporate headquarters in Walnut Creek, Calif.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the layoffs follow a rough 2011 fourth quarter for PMI, which filed for bankruptcy in November after its mortgage insurance origination units were seized in October by Arizona state regulators. PMI's bankruptcy filing listed $736 million in debts.

"PMI intends to offer severance benefits and transition programs, including outplacement services, to affected employees," said Charles Broom, senior vice president with PMI Mortgage, in an internal memo obtained by the Mercury News.

The PMI layoffs are the latest bad news for the financial services sector in California's East Bay region, which has already registered 2,200 lost jobs in the past 12 months and 15,600 jobs in the five years ending November 2011.

Source: Mortgage Orb

Batesville Casket Company to layoff 100 employees

2012-01-17T07:48:00.000+05:30

One of southeast Indiana's largest employers will be laying off 100 employees. The city that surrounds Batesville Casket Company will likely feel the impact.

The company's president, Kim Dennis, said workers were notified about the layoffs on Friday.

Dennis said the company isn't at risk of closing, but needs to adapt to changes in the industry.

"We see a continuing shift in consumer trends. We see a shift from metal caskets to wood caskets. We see a shift towards cremation. All of those things make us, as a company, need to respond to those changes," Dennis said.

Dennis said some employees will be offered early retirement, while others will get severance packages.

The company is Batesville's No. 1 employer.

"I'm sure it's gonna have some impact," said Randy Stoneburner, the owner of Randy's Roadhouse. "But we're as curious as anybody else as to what degree that impact is gonna hit us."

Dennis said the company will try to help those that do get laid off find work in Batesville.

People who live in Batesville said the community will come together to help as well.

"It's a small community," Stoneburner said. "People here are real supportive of each other and helpful with each other, and so I think they'll keep it up."

Source: WLWT

Foxconn to layoff 600 in Slovak plant

2012-01-17T07:46:00.004+05:30

Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn will lay off 600 people in its Slovak plant where it makes LCD televisions for Sony due to low demand, Slovak business daily Hospodarske noviny reported on Monday.

"The unfavourable situation in the LCD television sector in the global and European markets has had an impact on our strategic partner, which reflects on our production plans," the spokeswoman for Foxconn in Slovakia, Helena Windisch, told the daily.

The spokeswoman was not available for a direct confirmation when her office was contacted by AFP Monday.

Foxconn said a year ago it planned to boost output by 50 percent in 2011 and add 900 extra staff to the 3,000 employees it had at the beginning of last year.

But slowing demand over 2011 has hit electronics production -- the second biggest driving force of Slovakia's economy behind auto manufacturing.

In November, it fell by fell by 9.3 percent compared to the same month in 2010.

Source: AFP

Discount shoe chain Barratts Priceless Shoes to cut 680 jobs

2012-01-17T07:45:00.000+05:30

Discount shoe chain Barratts Priceless Shoes is to make a further 680 staff redundant after its founder, Michael Ziff, struck a deal with administrators to save the rump of its remaining high street stores.

It is the second time Mr Ziff has bought the struggling chain out of administration in the past three years. The existing management team has bought 89 Barratts Priceless stores from administrator Deloitte for an undisclosed sum, but will close a further 39 shops and 14 concessions. This is in addition to the closure of 18 stores before Christmas.

In a week that has left high street landlords reeling, the closures come on top of 84 stores vacated by lingerie chain La Senza following a pre-pack administration, and the threat of dozens of Blacks Leisure stores closing later this year, after a deal to sell the lossmaking chain to JD Sports.

In December, Barratts Priceless announced 1,600 job losses when no buyer could be found for its concessions business, which operated 374 shoe shops within Arcadia Group and Debenhams stores.

A statement from administrator Deloitte released on Sunday morning said:

“The deal to the existing management team will ensure that the Barratts and Priceless brands and the online business will continue to trade.”

“We are delighted to have negotiated a deal, which will secure the employment of over 1,100 employees and ensure the Barratts and Priceless brands continue, especially given the adversity which has beset the High Street over recent months,” said Daniel Butters, joint administrator and partner in Deloitte’s restructuring services practice.

Deloitte was appointed before Christmas after poor trading and growing competition from discount chains and supermarkets selling cheap shoes threatened Barratt’s ability to pay December’s quarterly rent bill.

“Landlords will count themselves among the losers as once again they find themselves at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to who gets paid when a company fails,” said Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation. “When you consider that many of our pension funds are invested with them, the pain will also be borne out by the general public.

Ms Peace said that while some landlords may manage to relet space, “for those that can’t, the prospect of voids and empty property rates are now a real threat”.

Nearly three years have passed since Stylo, the listed retailer which owned the Barratts and Priceless Shoes brands, put the chain into administration, closing down 220 of its 380 stores. Mr Ziff, who was chairman of Stylo, bought 160 stores from administrators in March 2009 after shop landlords voted down a restructuring involving a creditor’s voluntary arrangement.

Source: FT

Disability job firm Pluss plans for layoffs

2012-01-17T07:43:00.001+05:30

A company that offers employment and training opportunities to people with disabilities has said it is consulting over 25 redundancies.

Pluss, owned by Devon, Plymouth, Torbay and Somerset councils, said it was consulting over eight jobs in Exeter and 17 in Torbay.

It said it wanted to redirect some of its funding to "support disabled people into work".

The organisation said it would help any people affected with finding jobs.

The company said it helped to get about 3,500 people get into work last year.

Source: BBC

Layoff in US banking industry to put more than 80,000 out of work

2012-01-15T18:18:00.000+05:30

While it seems less Americans are on unemployment lines lately the same cannot be said about people in the U.S. Banking industry. The nation's largest financial institutions have announced layoffs in the coming weeks that will put more than 80 thousand men and women - out of work.

Aaron Elstein reports on the banking industry for Crain's New York business magazine. He says banks are still struggling to control costs, while burdened with debt - in an economy that continues to yield little or no growth.

The ongoing US Economic crisis has created an atmosphere of caution in the banking sector. Big deals worth billions of dollars - once a regular occurrence on Wall Street - are now a rarity.

Regulators have also reduced the amount of money banks can make in business transactions. If streamlining measures are unable to keep up with reduced revenue at the nation's large financial institutions - thousands more in the industry could be getting termination notices
after the end of the next quarter.

Among average Americans, there is very little sympathy for the banking industry since many blame it for the current economic crisis. But those same surveys point to another source for the ongoing woes.

Thousands of banking executives who survive this round of layoffs may keep their jobs but will still feel the affects of a meager year. The banking industry along with the rest of corporate America will be handing our some of the smallest company bonuses in a decade.

Analysts predict the slashing of payrolls in 2012 will not help make for more profits immediately but rather could just help them survive.

Source: Press TV

Bemis to close Milprint facility at Newark, 124 jobs lost

2012-01-15T18:15:00.000+05:30

As per an internal memo that we have received, Bemis Company Inc is closing the manufacturing facility of Milprint at Newark, CA by 31st May of this year.

This decision will be costing the jobs of 124 employees. The company further stated that the closure is in line with the ongoing optimization plan which had earlier resulted in the closure of Longview, Texas facility.

The entire memo below:

Garda World Security Corp to cut 300 jobs in Canada

2012-01-15T18:00:00.002+05:30

Almost 300 security screeners at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, employees of Montreal-based Garda World Security Corp., face potential layoff, the Canadian Auto Workers Union said Thursday.

But Garda said it is temporarily laying off 68 security workers at Pearson and reducing the number of hours of 231 others to 20 hours weekly.

The union said Garda notified its airport security staff that 299 layoffs will be effective Jan. 25. It said the layoffs should be delayed to ensure public safety and the federal government should become directly involved in a contract dispute that has lasted several months.

Garda's statement said airport screening operations "have been affected by an adjustment in the number of available hours over the last several months ... on Wednesday we informed our union that we are reducing weekly hours, temporarily laying off 68 employees and reducing the number of hours of 231 employees to 20 hours weekly ... we will minimize the impact on passengers."

Last autumn, Garda won a five-year contract worth $652 million to provide enhanced security at 15 central region (mainly Ontario) airports, including Pearson International, with an option for a five-year extension. Garda previously provided screening at Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton, but gave these up for the Ontario airports.

The company operates cash-handling, risk-management and personal security businesses in North America, Asia, the Mideast and elsewhere.

Source: Montreal Gazette

Pharma major Novartis to layoff 1,960 employees

2012-01-15T17:57:00.004+05:30

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG announced Friday it would lay off 1,960 people and will take $1.22 billion in charges to prepare for generic competition to its blood pressure pill, Diovan, and lower sales potential of the drug Tekturna, Bloomberg reported.

Most of those who will lose their jobs are pharmaceutical salespeople or work at the company's headquarters in New York City.

Novartis is the parent company of Fort Worth-based Alcon Laboratories and none of the cutbacks are expected to affect that operation as the reductions affect only Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

“We recognize that the next two years will be challenging in the Pharmaceuticals Division and we are proactively making these changes to further focus our pipeline on the best opportunities and align our market position on our growth brands,” said David Epstein,

Division Head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, in a news release. “These are difficult but necessary decisions that will free up resources to invest in the future of our business which we view as well suited to bring new valuable therapies to patients and payors.”

In fact, Alcon Laboratories is expanding and will begin moving about 400 workers into 87,000 square feet of space at Wilcox Plaza at Green Oaks in the spring.

The move is needed to accommodate employees moving to Fort Worth from Atlanta, as well as other growth.

Source: Biz Journals

Oakland layoffs 1,500 workers

2012-01-15T17:56:00.003+05:30

Oakland, Calif. officials sent layoff notices to about 1,500 workers as a result of the loss of millions of dollars in California redevelopment funding.

About 200 city workers are expected to lose their jobs, and police officers and firefighters will be exempt from the move, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday.

The jobs expected to be cut are paid for, in part, out of redevelopment funds provided by the state, intended to fight urban blight. Gov. Jerry Brown approved the California Legislature's plan last summer for cities to shut down redevelopment agencies -- although cities could keep the agencies operating if they agree to reimburse money to the state, the newspaper said.

Oakland had to give notice to half of its 3,000 employee force to comply with seniority layoff protocols, forcing a complete revamping of City Hall, said Sue Piper, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jean Quan.

"We had a great, two-year balanced budget, and then the state pulled the rug out from us. This is forcing us to make some very tough decisions," Piper said.

Wendy Johnson, 55, a customer service worker in the Office of Parks and Recreation for 17 years, said the cuts could be overwhelming for her and her family.

"I love Oakland. It's a part of me, my heritage," said Johnson, a lifelong Oakland resident. "But I worry about my grandkids, that they won't have the same great city to grow up in that I did."

Source: UPI

Call center Sykes Enterprises plans to cut 167 jobs

2012-01-15T17:53:00.004+05:30

A Spokane Valley call center intends to lay off 167 employees.

Sykes Enterprises notified state regulators of the action. The layoff date is effective March 12, according to records released Friday afternoon.

Sykes has 43,000 employees, with offices in 24 countries.

In 2010 the company purchased ICT Group Inc., which first set up the call center in Spokane Valley a decade ago inside the former U-City Mall.

Representatives of Sykes could not be reached Friday afternoon. The layoff announcement was made by the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Source: Spokes Man

More than 100 police officers laid off at Miami-Dade

2012-01-15T17:52:00.001+05:30

More than 100 police officers are among the Miami-Dade employees targeted for layoffs, officials say.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Friday night that a total of 118 officers are being laid off and 41 demoted, WTVJ-TV reported. John Rivera, president of the Police Benevolent Association chapter, put the number of layoffs at 98, with eight lieutenants and 33 sergeants moved down a grade.

The layoff notices, which went out Friday, are part of a lengthy battle between Gimenez and the county commission. Gimenez vetoed a commission resolution passed Wednesday that blocked him from requiring police union members to pay 5 percent more toward their health costs.

Gimenez said he was sending out the layoff notices in case his veto is overridden.

The fight began last year when the mayor submitted a budget that demanded concessions from city employees to pay for a cut in property taxes.

While the exact number of layoffs is still in doubt, officials say there is no doubt that scores of employees, including police officers, will eventually lose their jobs.

"In a department with a history of dark and difficult days, this one is unique," Miami-Dade Police Director Jim Loftus said in an e-mail to employees. "Never before have so many of our finest left us under these circumstances. To everyone impacted by this layoff, my heart goes out to you. My family and I will keep you in our prayers."

Source: UPI

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton is cutting 234 civilian jobs

2012-01-13T07:54:00.001+05:30

The U.S. Air Force's 4,500 job cuts have hit Ohio, where the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton is cutting 234 civilian workers, the Dayton Business Journal reports.

In November, the base was expected to add 350 jobs as part of a consolidation of Air Force Material Command, but now the base will see a net reduction of 234 civilian positions, the newspaper reports.

The Air Force is offering voluntary separation incentive pay and early retirement programs as part of the cuts, the newspaper reports.

Source: Biz Journals

Ulster Bank to layoff 950 employees

2012-01-13T07:52:00.001+05:30

Ulster Bank is to slash its workforce by 950, with 600 redundancies in the Republic of Ireland and 350 in Northern Ireland.

The bank's parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland also announced it will be laying off 3,500 staff in its investment wing, to compete with the financial sector.

In a statement the bank said: "As local and global economies continue to deteriorate, these actions are being taken as part of the bank's overall business strategy to ensure the organisation is well placed to compete effectively in the market and continues to serve the needs of its 1.9 million customers across the island of Ireland through its extensive branch and business centre network."

Larry Broderick, General Secretary of the Irish Bank Officials Association, said the sheer magnitude of proposed redundancies is breathtaking.

He said the union is trying to protect as many jobs as possible and he wants answers on how cuts will help the bank's declared commitments.

Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster, has said that the scale of redundancies proposed at the Ulster Bank is deeply disappointing.

The Minister said: “This announcement has come as a huge shock to staff who work for Ulster Bank. Such a significant number of job losses is very worrying.

"I have had discussions with senior representatives of Ulster Bank and assured them that the Executive will work with local management and their owners in the Royal Bank of Scotland to attract any future RBS jobs into Northern Ireland.

"This decision by the RBS is reflective of the state of the financial services sector as many organisations undergo major restructuring. However, with front line staff facing redundancies, it is important that senior management in RBS are seen to be behaving in a responsible manner as the organisation moves forward."

Source: 4NI

Ferry operator Tallink cuts 50 jobs in Finland

2012-01-13T07:50:00.004+05:30

Ferry operator Tallink is planning to lay off over 50 land service employees of its Finnish subsidiary Tallink Silja.

The company has initiated negotiations, which involve around 330 employees in Helsinki, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Pasi Näkki, deputy CEO of Tallink Silja said that redundancy of land services has arisen due to the increasing number of electronic ticket sales channels. The planned layoff should bring the company's operations in line with its needs, Näkki said.

The Tallink Silja passenger ships are operating on Tallinn-Helsinki, Helsinki-Stockholm and Turku-Stockholm routes.

Tallink Grupp, with an estimated value of 530 million euros in 2011, is one of the largest passenger and cargo shipping companies in the Baltic Sea region.

Source: News ERR

Telegram & Gazette shits press to Boston, 60 jobs lost

2012-01-13T07:48:00.001+05:30

The Telegram & Gazette will shift most of its printing operations from its Millbury plant to the Boston Globe's printing facility in Dorchester, a move that will result in the layoff of 64 employees.

Publisher Bruce Gaultney announced the change in a memo to employees this morning. The layoffs cover 48 full-time and 16 part-time employees. All full-time employees will receive severance packages.

T&G management is meeting with the affected employees today.

“This was an extremely difficult decision because we all know the excellent contributions our co-workers have made to the company over the years,” Mr. Gaultney said in the memo. “I sincerely appreciate their dedication to the important task of printing the newspaper every day of the year.”

The Globe will begin printing the Sunday Telegram and all weekday editions of the T&G. The T&G will continue printing its Saturday paper.

Mr. Gaultney said the move will not change the time subscribers receive their newspapers in the morning. Cost savings from the move, he said, will allow the T&G to “invest in our multi-media efforts and to provide the most comprehensive local news coverage in Central Massachusetts.”

The T&G will shut down two Goss Flexoliner presses but will continue to operate the offset press that serves most of its commercial print customers. The offset press will also print the Saturday T&G.

The Millbury printing facility has 175 employees. With this latest wave of layoffs, the facility will have 111 employees.

In an effort to cut costs, other newspapers are also making changes to their printing operations. The Globe and the Boston Herald, longtime rivals, announced an agreement this week that allows the Globe to print and distribute the Herald.

The T&G and the Globe both are owned by the New York Times Co.

Source: Telegram

Belgian supermarket group Delhaize cuts 5,000 jobs in Europe and US

2012-01-13T07:47:00.001+05:30

Brussels-based supermarket group Delhaize, which owns the U.S. grocery chain Food Lion, announced Thursday will will lay off 5,000 employees in the U.S. and Europe and close several locations by March.

Chief Executive of Belgian supermarket group Delhaize Pierre-Olivier Beckers presents the group's 2008 results in Brussels March 12, 2009.

The moves aim to make Delhaize more competitive, especially after disappointing earnings in the last quarter.

"After a thorough review of our store portfolio, we have decided to close or convert a number of stores in the U.S. and in Southeastern Europe during the first quarter of 2012," Pierre-Olivier Beckers, CEO of Delhaize Group said in a statement. "This decision is in line with our New Game Plan which is aimed at accelerating profitable growth."

The Belgian company posted seven percent growth in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2011. For the year, revenue grew 4.6 percent.

The layoffs will mean 146 grocery stores, mostly Food Lion stores, will be closed between the U.S. and Europe. In addition, Delaize will convert 64 facilities, currently operating under various brands, into Food Lion stores. Delhaize expect to spend about $1 billion this year to open at least 200 new stores, remodel 200 more and accelerate the opening of as many as 700 Food Lion groceries.

Source: IB Times