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"

Firing Fodder

I've been working a minimum-wage part-time job for over a year and an opportunity to work at a university recently presented itself.

I applied for the opportunity to take the civil service exam and qualified, that is, to take the test.

If I pass the test, I must still go through the interview process. There are probably still more stages of qualification that increase the chances of employment disqualification.

But this time may be different. There may be a glimmer of hope for living-wage employment, but something seems wrong. In this economy, with the state so deep in debt and borrowing money to pay its bills, why is the university hiring again?

The same position was open two years ago. What happened to that employee? There are any number of positive as well as negative reasons why the position reopened, but there is one that is particularly heinous called "firing fodder."

Most places of employment have a first-in-first-out hiring policy. Usually these shops are union organized, but it's fast becoming popular with non-union employers as well.

In March of 2008 I was working a minimum wage temp job when I jumped at an opportunity to work for $11 per hour as an Audiovisual Services technician, what I was professionally trained to do.

I changed jobs and was laid-off eight months later. I was out of work for over a year during the recession. If I kept my minimum-wage job, I would have been working steadily as a temp in the health field.

So now I have this seemingly golden opportunity that under better economic circumstances would lead me down the path of prosperity, home ownership and comfortable retirement.

But chances are this time I will be picked up after quitting another job, then dumped again so it will look on paper like "sacrifices" were made, when really the whole point of hiring fodder is to preserve the next few people up on the totem pole.

I'm not sure I should follow through this time because the economy is getting worse again and I need at least the job I have.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Did Staples Clean House?

It looks like suddenly a large number of positions have opened up at Staples in Springfield, including the General Manager!

I might be interested in working at Staples if there was a guarantee that the company does not periodically replace long term employees that got raises for cheaper entry level employees.

Unfortunately it appears to be a common practice with large national franchises that have no real interest in the quality of life of its employees away from corporate headquarters.

Or, perhaps companies hire students who must return to school in the fall. If that's the case, what are the odds of getting good customer service?

But seriously, would Staples really hire a seasonal General Manager?

http://www.jobcentral.com/results.asp?si=105472612&pi=1&ri=1&so=relevance&as=crep&bu=3118

Please let me know what happened!
Email me at safeworkspace@gmail.com