Businesses Quietly Laying Off Workers Ahead of Anticipated Recession

Don't be fooled by the small numbers because many of them are layoffs at corporate headquarters.
Here's a list of the latest layoffs:

• Boston Business Journal 09/13/2019: State Street lays off 250 IT workers in latest job cuts 
• Variety 09/12/2019: WarnerMedia’s Rooster Teeth Cuts 13% of Staff, Laying Off About 50 
• ARS Technica 09/11/2019: Uber lays off another 435 people to stem big losses 
• Splinter 09/12/2019: Newspaper Owned by Richest Man in the World Lays Off Non-Union Workers 
• SJ-R 09/13/2019: Whole Foods ending health benefits for part-time workers 
• Journal Sentinel 09/11/2019: Harley-Davidson lays off 40 workers in Milwaukee 
• NBC5 09/13/2019: Intrapac lays off more than 90 employees without notice 
• Silicon Valley Business Journal 09/12/2019: Symantec lays off hundreds in California, including at Mountain View HQ, amid buyout talks 
• Channel Partners 08/16/2019: Oracle Lays Off Hundreds More Workers 
• Trib Live 09/10/2019: EQT Corp. lays off nearly 25% of its workforce 
• GeekWire 08/28/2019 Cloud services company Skytap lays off 25 workers in first major change under new CEO 
• Inside Higher Ed 09/06/2019: Marquette Lays Off 2.5% of Faculty, Staff 
• Promo Marketing Magazine 09/13/2019: Staples Names New Head of Promotional Products, Lays Off 175 From HQ 
• The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register 09/14/2019: Gas Producer EQT Lays Off Nearly 200 Employees 
• Multichannel News 09/11/2019: AXS TV Lays Off at Least 40 in Wake of Anthem Deal 
• USA Today 09/04/2019: Sears and Kmart corporate workforce is shrinking with around 250 layoffs 
• CNN Business 08/20/2019: US Steel temporarily lays off 200 workers in Michigan 
• WRAL TechWire 08/23/2019: Cisco lays off ‘whole teams’ at RTP campus, confirms employee 
• CMS Wire 08/29/2019: Sitecore Lays Off a Reported 70 Employees 
• Reuters 09/05/2019: Bunge lays off grain traders in Geneva as company seeks to minimize risk: sources 
• Richmond Times Dispatch 09/12/2019: Manufacturer of store fixtures abruptly closed three plants in Henrico, lays off 190 employees 
• SJ-R 09/10/2019: GameStop lays off 14% of workers, closing up to 200 stores 
• Deadline 08/22/2019: Exhibition Giant AMC Lays Off 35 Workers As “Profit Improvement Plan” Begins 
• Plastics Recycling Update 09/11/2019: Revolve Recycling closes and lays off employees 
• Burbank Leader 08/30/2019: Disney lays off nearly 60 employees in media distribution units following Fox purchase 
• Altoona Mirror 09/03/2019: Norfolk Southern lays off approximately 100 workers 
• MediaPost 08/29/2019: Gatehouse Media Lays Off 24+ Newsroom Staffers 
• Decrypt 09/10/2019: Substratum burns through $13 million in ICO funds in two years, lays off staff 
• BC Local News (Canada) 09/13/2019 (Weak Timber Market): Shut down lays off dozens of forestry workers at Honeymoon Bay 
• Argus Leader 08/30/2019: Poet laid off workers, limited biofuel production in August. Then, it was honored in Fortune magazine 
• ABC13 News 09/03/2019: Northern Southern lays off 130 Roanoke employees 
• Animation Magazine 08/22/2019: Netflix Lays Off Five Top Kids & Family Execs 
• 6WBRC 08/15/2019: Goodyear Gadsden lays off 175; Union president blames NAFTA 
• Business Standard (India) 09/05/2019: Economic slowdown fallout: Realty major Lodha group lays off 400 employees 
• WHYY 08/20/2019: PES refinery lays off all but select few union workers, despite safety concerns 

This was just a partial list from the first page of a Google search using the key words "lays off"

Job losses in 2019

Money just posted the article The Retail Apocalypse Is Heating Up in 2019. Here Are the Major Stores Currently on Deathwatch. The list is getting long and some of the stores are already gone, but I thought I would do a little research into how many jobs will be gone after all is said and done:

• Sears
• 1,575 stores closed. 425 remain for the time being.
• Chicago Tribune 03/23/2018: Sears slashed more than 50,000 jobs last year.
• Payless Shoes
• 16,000 Workers to Lose Their Jobs as Payless Plans to Close All 2,500 U.S., Canadian Stores 
• JC Penny
• Money 02/28/2019 J.C. Penney Just Announced It Will Close 24 More Stores This Year (2,200 jobs)
• Victoria's Secret
• Business Insider 04/07/2016: Victoria's Secret is laying off hundreds of workers 
• USA Tuday 02/28/2019: Victoria's Secret says it is shuttering 53 more stores (plus the 30 stores closed in 2018)
• Gymboree
• CNN 01/17/2019: Gymboree's second bankruptcy will kill the brand. 
• Gap
• CNBC 02/28/2019: Gap says it will shut 230 stores over the next two years, posts mixed holiday results 
• Fashionista 06/15/2015: GAP to close 175 Stores, Lay Off 250 Corporate Employees. 
• NPR 02/28/2019: Gap To Split Into Two Companies, With Old Navy As Separate Firm. 
• Ann Taylor
• Dayton Daily News 06/13/2017: Parent company of Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant to close 667 locations. 
• Dollar Tree
• The State Journal-Register 03/06/2019: Dollar Tree Inc. to close up to 390 Family Dollar stores 
• Newspaper Journalists
• Illinois Times 03/07/2019 Don't let the door hit you - SJ-R employees offered buyouts 
• Illinois Times 03/11/2019 SJ-R cuts sports editor 
• NPR 03/??/2019: WATCH - LISTEN : As Goes Journalism, So Goes the Community 
• Rural Hospitals Closing
• Hospital Closings Likely to Increase 

Markets Insider just posted at 3:00 PM (03/04/2019): The retail apocalypse will claim 4,300 stores this year. Here's why mall giants aren't freaking out. 

The trouble I'm having is discovering precisely how many total jobs are at stake. Fit Small Business explains "Top 10 Retail Analytics Every Store Needs to Measure." Number 10 is the Payroll Percentage, It says that "Businesses with low margins have to spend less on payroll," but following this advice may have had dire consequences according to Forbes which posted an article on 12/16/2017 complaining that "Too Few Retail Workers On The Floor, Too Few Retail Sales And Profits On P&L Statement"

Businesses couldn't lower wages, so what other choice did they have? Cutting hours for part-time workers, cutting store hours to peak traffic times only, or layoffs.

Unfortunately nobody seems to be able to think outside the balance sheet to the larger economy and consider that all these retail employees losing their jobs might have been good customers if they were paid enough to have disposable income.

XIIID Research explains the shift of service infrastructure from a middle class into a form of poverty class. But the worst is yet to come, according to Michael Hudson we are currently in an "Extraction Economy" which is permanently siphoning money from the Working Class into the pockets of the Financial Class.

Businesses Decry Illinois Minimum Wage Increase

Rip Van Winkle (artist unknown) composited with
JonasDeRo's Ruined New York 

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law recently a state minimum wage increase to $15 per hour over a period of several years, during which inflation will keep up, rendering this action nothing more than just a political ploy.

Ideally for Springfield, Illinois alone this is alleged to affect the wages of over 36,610 people who currently earn less than $15 per hour.

If the minimum wage was pegged to inflation since it's inception, in today's dollars it would be over $23 per hour anyway. If the minimum wage was pegged to productivity we probably wouldn't have so much inflation.

So businesses trot out their pundits with the stale threats that they would do the following which have consequences:

• Leave the state of Illinois
• Start over from scratch somewhere else with build-out expenses and zero regular customers in an area potentially already occupied by competitors? Not likely.
• Close their businesses
• And do what? Find a Job? Not likely.
• Lay off their employees
• And sacrifice customer service, quality production and morale? Not likely.
• Cut their employees hours
• Already working with a bare-minimum staff, just how much more efficient can you get beyond replacing your full-time workers with only part-time workers?

Another stale argument is that minimum wage jobs are meant only for young students getting entry level experiences. Well I have news for you Rip Van Winkle, those jobs are not as upwardly mobile as they once were after World War II up through the 1970's. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Food prep and retail workers represent the largest group of employees earning less than $15 per hour and the median age is 37.

So for businesses planning on leaving the state I recommend the following GIF:

via GIPHY

More New Jobs Created is Fakenomics

The media is reporting new jobs created. I don't believe it. I believe that more of the same jobs are split into part-time jobs and divided up among desperate unemployed people willing to work below their means and go further into debt. The more part-time jobs are created, the more the hours dwindle until finally the capitalist system collapses in on itself because nobody will have enough money to buy what the market has to offer.

Blog Identifies Fake Staffing Companies Phishing For Your Data

Called Fake Staffing, http://fakestaffing.blogspot.com/ just saved me from clicking on a link sent by someone claiming to work for forusajobs.com. I hovered over the link and it looked way too long to be anything remotely safe. So I googled forusajobs.com and Fake Staffing came up as one of the top ten Google search results, so Fake Staffing, congratulations for a job well done and getting near the top of Google's search results!
👍

What's really going on.

Here is what has happened since 2001 in Sangamon County, regarding the workforce:

Applying for work online can be troublesome

I went to Lowe's for some replacement parts. While I was checking out I casually mentioned I previously worked there and was wondering if there was a position open in the Building Materials department.

One of the Customer Service Associates said that someone had transferred from there to the flooring department so a position might be available.

I came home to go online and fill out an application for that position, but it wasn't posted on Lowe's website. I figured 'well it won't hurt to just submit an application' but they make it impossible because they would be flooded with and endless stream of online applications.

I walked into the Capital City Center on Mason Street with my CMS-100 form filled out, just to submit my information, but you can't proactively submit any information without a specific position. There was a time when you could submit your CMS-100 online, but they've since turned that off.

No. I live in Springfield, Illinois.

Last year I also signed up at Kelly Services online, went in and took their tests and performed moderately well on their Microsoft Office tests. I get regular updates from Kelly Services via email, but all the jobs they list on their updates are from every state except Illinois. Are they being funny?

Then recently the Illinois Department of Employment Services has been sending me notifications about hiring events not in Springfield, but in Decatur. Their system must be automated but they need to work on their algorithms.

I couldn't figure out what was going on. I thought it was me, but then just the other day Fox Illinois 55/27, the television station posted a news story on their website: Report: Springfield 9th slowest-growing city in U.S.

Aha! That must be why I never hear from local employment agencies. But get this: According to the report, the city with the lowest overall ranking for growth in the United States is... That's right, Decatur, Illinois.

Express Pros I Don't Know What to Think.

I started working for them again last year and after months and months they finally had someone who could use my skills.

I had the job interview and I really liked the boss at HPR Marketing Group and he hired me to start a few days later.

The day I was supposed to start, I caught a severe cold. What was I supposed to do, call them and tell them I'm sick on the first day of work?

I struggled through that first day and everyone knew I had a cold. By lunch there was a bottle of hand-sanitizer on my desk. That night I got a call from Express telling me I just wasn't a good fit. The boss liked me, but his partner who I never met did not.

The cold was so bad it lasted for five weeks. I don't remember if I ever bothered to go pick up my paycheck for that one day of work, but I sure got a W2 for my taxes. I never heard from Express again about any other work.

What's with Hy-Vee?

A job search engine to which I subscribe sends me a flurry of notifications about jobs opening at Hy-Vee, but over the last few months many of the same positions keep reappearing.

The increased frequency of turnover suggests an increase of intolerable stress, especially for a company that's supposed to be "employee owned."

I applied for a job there as a night stocker. At the interview they looked at my aging obese body and said "we like to people to hustle." Then they fast-walked me back to the service desk.

I've seen how the employees hustle, some employees are much heavier and slower than me, but they were younger. Despite the fact they would have received a tax credit for hiring a veteran, they sent me a rejection email.

No, I'm not going to tell you which store.

Blog Layout Update and New Help

I updated the blog with some Reddit links and a warning page about signing up at one of those websites that are supposed to help you find a job. It includes a video at the end of one experience.

I was inspired by r/Unemployed at Reddit because I keep seeing posts about people on their last thread. I want you to know that you are not alone, so  I included links to some Reddit communities where you can connect with people in your situation.

Live Internet Town Hall March 19 7PM

Coming to the Internet on 3/19/2018
Live Internet Town Hall
Featuring Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Michael Moore

Information Sources:

• The Hill (03/08/2018): Sanders to host town hall on economic inequality
• Huffington Post (03/08/2019): Sanders to host town hall on economic inequality 

Where to watch

• Buzzfeed
• Now This
• The Young Turks
• act.tv
• The Guardian
• Facebook pages for
• Bernie Sanders
• Elizabeth Warren
• Michael Moore 

Why finding work is hard for me

The simple answer most people around me don't want to hear is that I'm over 50 years old.

• CNN Money: Workers over 50 are the new 'unemployables'

I uploaded my resume and applied for work at these sites for years, but I think 35 is the new cutoff point where employees are less and less desirable as they get older.

• Apply Now - HRCenter
• Express Employment Professionals
• CareerBuilder
• USAJOBS - The Federal Government's official employment site
• IDES - Home
• Jobcase
• Illinois Job Department - Your Source For Illinois Job Information
• Career Opportunities: Home
• https://memorialmedical-openhire.silkroad.com/epostings/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.res_login&jobid=10715&CFID=9051069&CFTOKEN=35953ecf4e3c9d8a-374DFDE5-F243-AAB3-6EA0F1E4C1CA0088
• US.jobs - National Labor Exchange - USA Jobs Search Engine
• Food Jobs and Careers in the Food Industry | CareersInFood.com
• Job Search - Millions of Jobs Hiring Near You | ZipRecruiter
• CareerBliss - Search Jobs, Salaries and Company Reviews | CareerBliss
• Beyond.com | The Career Network | A better way to manage your career.
• Alice Campbell Staffing - Springfield, Illinois
• Thumbtack - Consider it done
• ZipRecruiter

Despite my stellar qualifications, exemplary military service record and grade point average and my not having any kind of criminal record, Nobody wants me. I even applied for a dish washing job at MCL and never heard back.

If I didn't have the support of my family I would be dead by now, but thing may be looking up now. No wait, the following article was from June of 2016:

• CNN Money (again): The Suddenly Hot Job Market for Workers Over 50
• The Week: How to get a job when you're over 50
• Huffington Post: Over 50 And Unemployed: I Know, You’re Invisible
• Net-Temps: Over 50 and Unemployed. There is Hope!
• Daily Plate of Crazy: Over 50, Unemployed, Depressed and Powerless
• Washington Free Beacon: Labor Force Participation Has Not Returned to Pre-Recession Levels for Americans With No Degree

Are H-1B workers taking minimum wage jobs in the U.S. for less?

Photo by Steve Rhodes

Guess What! The employment numbers in the United States are looking great! Care to wager why?

I walked into a Panda Express the other day and I saw not a single American worker. It was completely clear that English was their second language. There was a sign on the door that said "We're Hiring" too. This was Springfield, Illinois.

American students are still in school until the last week of May, what are they going to find when they get out? What will happen to the H1B visa workers who were temporarily hired? Well I think there are some differences in the pay work H1B visa workers and American workers.

If the State of Illinois passes a $15 per hour minimum wage hike, will business owners simply jump through the H1B loophole and hire outside workers at a lower rate, leaving Americans out of work?

It doesn't sound very patriotic, but since lawmakers seem willing to pass this law, it seems obvious that a huge loophole exists for business owners which they will execute and then laugh their asses off at unemployed Americans.

How much of the employment report put out by the DOL actually consists of foreign workers and are unemployed Americans even counted anymore? I wish I had time to find this out just now but I have to run off to a Lobby Day for Moms Demand Action this morning.

I'll just have to leave this here for now:

• DOL: H-1B program 
• H-1B Employer Map 
• Trump takes first step toward H-1B reform 
• Trump to sign executive order to reform H-1B visas
• Employers struggle to make H-1B visas work 
• Large Companies Game H-1B Visa Program, Costing the U.S. Jobs 

Robot Minimum Wage Workers

Business who happily replace minimum wage workers with robots probably won't need to worry about local tax increases needed to subsidize unemployment, low-income nutrition and housing programs. That comes out of the pockets of the franchise owners.

Businesses really have two choices: They can know to whom their money goes when they pay a living wage, or they can not know to whom their money goes by paying higher taxes.

They complain about government regulation and taxation, but they can't understand that they and their predecessors earned it through their avarice.

Now about Wendy's:

• Tech Insider: Wendy's is replacing its lowest-paid workers with robots
• RedState: The Minimum Wage for Robots is Zero so Wendy’s Hires a Bunch
• Government Slaves: Wendy’s To Switch To Self Ordering And Automation To Avoid $15/hr Wage hike
• The Wall Street Journal: Another Minimum Wage Backfire Wendy’s explains what mandated wage hikes do to jobs at burger joints.
• MarketWatch (June 2015): Wendy's shares surge on news of $1.4 billion buyback, long-term outlook
• Current MarketWatch data on Wendy's: http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/wen

Gun Violence is Gun Violence No Matter How You Define the Word 'Mass!'

MASS SHOOTINGS OR NOT, GUN VIOLENCE IS STILL GUN VIOLENCE

The Patriot Post

The Truth About Mass Shootings

Now keep in mind the difference in population between the countries listed.

Reason.com

Choose Your Own Mass Shooting Statistics

A comparison between sources with different definitions of what is considered a mass shooting. Finally, without directly mentioning a correllation, the article alludes to economic conditions as a major driver of violence.

Washington Examiner

Press distorts with inflated 'mass shooting' statistics

Same Talking Points as Reason.com

NBC News

Staggering Stats: There Have Been More Mass Shootings Than Days This Year

The Washington Examiner claims the press is citing ShootingTracker.com but NBC is citing the F.B.I.

Gun Violence Archive

The Gun Violence Archive Website

While the Right and the Left Quibble over the definition of 'mass shooting' and blame each-other for distorting facts, it just doesn't matter because gun violence is still gun violence.

Washington Post

We’ve had a massive decline in gun violence in the United States. Here’s why.

Note

Live Science

Federal Gun Research Still Stalled

The CDC and NIH are banned from conducting research into gun violence.

The Left and the Right are accusing each-other of distorting the facts when it comes to mass shootings or mass murder, but it's still gun violence, so stop deliberately distracting us.

Mass shootings can be divided into five basic classes; foreign political agents, naturalized citizen sympathizers of foreign causes, religious zealots, revolutionaries and the mentally ill, I don't know where Ted Nugent fits in, but it's definitely one or both of the last two categories.

Why I'm Incredulous of Polls and Union Endorsements

Fortune

Why the Bernie Sanders Campaign May Have Peaked

Article cites Bloomberg politics polls, not the rate of campaign cash donations.

Los Angeles Timmes

Bernie Sanders' momentum stalls in an unlikely place: union halls

Union leaders seem to be ignoring their members cries for supporting Bernie Sanders

In These Times

Labor For Bernie Sanders Activists Say They Are Undeterred By Union Endorsements of Hillary Clinton

Examples of grass-roots union support for Bernie Sanders

U.S. News

Will Labor Feel the Bern?

A Union President chose Hillary over Bernie because "we need to win."

Forbes

Campaign Donation Limits Are Irrelevant, Just Look At Bernie Sanders And Ben Carson's Small Donor Cash-In

Small donors are far from reaching their contribution limits, and they can donate again.

Open Secrets

Candidate Summary, 2016 Cycle

Look how much cash Bernie Sanders has raised so far.

When I saw the headline at Fortune, I had to do some digging and sure enough, the media is relying on polling data, because after all, polls can tell you what you want to hear if you know who to ask.

Other media outlets are glomming onto the the counter-intuitive union endorsement of Hillary Clinton, who hasn't really been fighting for labor as much as Bernie Sanders.

One union leader said he personally loved Bernie but endorsed Hillary because he thought she had a better chance of winning, but the media and the union leadership cannot see the groundswell of support for Bernie coming from the rank-and-file.

It appears the media are presupposing a Clinton advantage based on the assumption that union leaders held a vote among the members. I couldn't find the rules for endorsing candidates, but The Daily Caller reported that Bernie and Hillary met with union leaders in a private meeting. which suggests that the rank-and-file union members don't have much of a voice in the matter.

Raising the Minimum Wage

AlJazeera

Seattle restaurant workers report 'serious problems' despite $15 wage law

PJ Media

Seattle $15 an Hour Phased-In Minimum Wage Law Has Cost 700 jobs

Western Journalism

Seattle Raised Minimum Wage To $15- What Immediately Happened Will Have Them Regretting It

Independent Journal

Seattle’s Minimum Wage Hike Is Underway. A Damning Chart Shows How That’s Working Out…

Economic Policy Instutite

Employment and the Minimum Wage—Evidence from Recent State Labor Market Trends AND What Families Need to Get By

Civic Skunk Works

YOU SHOULD READ THIS STORY ABOUT SEATTLE’S “MINIMUM WAGE MELTDOWN THAT NEVER HAPPENED”

The Stranger

How a $15 Minimum Wage Would Make Everyone Richer

One Seattle Coalition

OneSeattle Coalition is a growing and diverse coalition of local businesses, non-profits, manufacturers and restaurants.

I recently started a poll at Google+ asking "what if every minimum wage worker had an extra $7 per hour to spend?" It sparked a discussion about costs of doing business, inflation and potential reduction in employment.

I decided to collect some articles about it and I was not really surprised where the line was drawn on opinions and research "findings."

If you ever wanted to know which media source was liberal or conservative, looking up their opinions about raising the minimum wage is a glaring test.

INVENTORY FULL

Reuters

GE to move U.S. jobs overseas in fight over export credits

Yahoo Finance

Hewlett-Packard expects to cut up to 30,000 workers, save $2 billion in restructuring

Recode.net

Nine of the World’s Biggest Banks Form Blockchain Partnership

Daily Press

Newport News Shipbuilding lays off 480, more to come in 2016

Aljazeera

US Virgin Islands sues Hess over shuttered refinery

Poynter

Big cuts coming to L.A. Times, likely other Tribune papers amid tumult

Reuters

Exclusive: Deutsche Bank to cut workforce by a quarter - sources

Bethesda

Lockheed Martin to Lay Off 500 Workers - Update

SiliconeBeat

Seagate to lay off 1,050 workers – 100 in valley

Daily Times

QVC will lay off 147 at Chesco distribution center

San Diego Reader

Layoff czar takes over Union-Tribune

The Hawk Eye

CNH's Burlington plant faces 4Q layoffs

Cedar Valley Business

UPDATE: Shell Rock manufacturer announces layoffs

Computerworld

California delays the backlash over IT layoffs

Source

Furloughs grow as Union Pacific battles drop in demand

Independent Record

Deer Lodge sawmill lays off 50 workers

Oak Ridger

145 layoffs reported

According to many of the stories collected here, things aren't selling so well. I finally had to stop collecting. There were even layoffs in Canada.

Many of the stories list "market conditions" as the primary reason for their cutbacks.

Newspapers are facing a more permanent evolution as they lose their readers to death by natural causes from old age, and migration to the Internet.

The price of cut lumber is dropping due to a surplus of construction materials. This indicates a potential slow-down in construction.

Even QVC is cutting workers at a distribution center in Pennsylvania, which may be an economic indicator of what's going in within the distribution range of that center.

http://dpfireworks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_3250.jpg

Strange Business Logic

Mother Jones

I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave

Salon

Jeff Bezos, Orwellian overlord: Why his defense of Amazon’s “bruising” workplace culture is so hard to swallow

The New York Times

Why Amazon May Take a Page From Walmart's Labor Playbook

Economic Policy Institute

Manufacturing Job Loss

Chicago Tribune

Amazon to open distribution center in Joliet

Vox

The real Amazon scandal has nothing to do with its white-collar workers

When manufacturing was moved to far away lands out-of-sight and out-of-mind of American business owners and consumers, it eased their consciences.

American didn't have to confront the worker abuse, safety hazards, and child-labor issues common overseas. Now they discovered a way to isolate the abuse closer to home.

When retail operations arrived on the Internet, customers and even some retail stores that ordered their supplies online no longer crossed paths with disgruntled employees.

Distribution centers are typically located in rural areas at major intersections of interstate highways, railroads, or by airports. With great distances and long hours, there's not much chance that a warehouse worker will have the energy or time to complain,