LayoffBlog.com

The U.S. Postal Service is considering ways to save money on mail delivery as Americans send less mail and the service loses more money. Among the options under consideration are reducing post office hours, closing some post offices, consolidating processing centers and ending Saturday delivery.

Source: CNN

Unemployment in the 16 countries using the euro rose to a 10-year high of 9.4 percent in June, according to data released Friday. The increase was less than expected, however, following measures by some governments to combat the economic crisis.

Source: NYTimes

Philadelphia Mayor Nutter this afternoon said the consequences of inaction in Harrisburg[regarding Pennsylvania budget] could be up to 3,000 job cuts in City Hall, the bulk of them layoffs. And the steps needed to take those actions could begin as soon as mid-August.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Adopting the robot janitor character from the Disney/Pixar movie “WALL-E” as their poster child, a group of janitors laid off from Pixar Animation Studios protested today outside Pixar’s Emeryville headquarters.

Nine out of a staff of 21 janitors were laid off in January when Pixar entered into contract with a new janitorial firm, Preferred Building Services Inc., which has offices in San Francisco.

Source: MercuryNews

The Labor Department said Thursday that the initial claims for unemployment aid rose by 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 584,000, above analysts’ estimates. But the figure is below the 617,000 new claims filed in late June, before the numbers began to be distorted by a shift in the timing of temporary auto shutdowns.

Source: GoogleNews, AP

Jaguar Land Rover, the luxury unit Indian truckmaker Tata Motors Ltd. bought from Ford Motor Co. last year, needs “major cost reduction” as the global recession hammers demand for its vehicles.

Jaguar Land Rover plans to eliminate 300 jobs and end production of the Jaguar X-Type model sooner than planned as demand slumps, the automaker said July 15. The job reductions at a plant in Halewood, northwest England, are in addition to 2,200 cuts already made throughout the company since September.

Source: Bloomberg

Unions have condemned the British Council’s announcement that it intends to cut up to 500 jobs over the next two years and consider offshoring work to India.

In a message to staff issued today, the British Council, which promotes the UK overseas, announced that it intended to reduce its staff by between 400-500 jobs – about one-third of the organisation – over the next two years.

Source: The Sikh Times

The Los Angeles Times will deliver the Orange County Register to homes and vending machines beginning in September, the two newspapers said Wednesday.
55 full-time and 143 part-time Register circulation and distribution workers would be laid off, and 721 independent contractors who deliver the Register would be affected.

Source: LATimes

~News submitted by upthecreek

One of the world’s major steel makers is seeing early signs of a pickup in demand in key areas, a glimmer of hope for a battered sector whose fortunes rise and fall with products ranging from autos to appliances.
United States Steel Corp. said Tuesday it is recalling 800 workers to a mill in Illinois to boost production.

Source: TheGlobeAndMail

~News submitted by upthecreek

A part of the U.S. production capacity and labor market will have to be permanently laid off if nominal gross domestic product growth can’t be kept around 5%, bond-fund king Bill Gross says.

Source: MorningStar

~News submitted by upthecreek

Mississippi furniture makers have shed about 1,000 jobs since Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed a tax incentive bill in April and industry leaders want a meeting with the governor to address their troubles.

Source: CBNC, AP

~News submitted by upthecreek

So much for the “boatload of money” Carol Bartz wanted from Microsoft in return for a search deal with Yahoo. Instead, Yahoo’s chief executive settled for a deal that wouldn’t fill a bathtub. The transaction involves no cash upfront and gives Microsoft what it has always wanted: effective control over Yahoo’s search business.

Source: WSJ

Reuters: “Yahoo investors disappointed, but hold out hope” [..] “Bartz said on the earnings call the company is now hiring more engineers and sales and marketing staff as it invests in new products and branding.”

Thousands of people took to the streets to protest a decision by Diageo, the drinks giant, to shuts its Johnnie Walker bottling plant. The firm has announced that it will close the plant in the town, which has been linked with Johnnie Walker since 1820, with the loss of 700 jobs.

A further 200 jobs are to go with the closure of its distillery in Port Dundas, Glasgow, although 400 new jobs would be created at a packaging plant in Fife.

Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Machinists union at Boeing announced Tuesday a deal to ease the sting of the plane maker’s continuing layoffs. The company has agreed to offer a voluntary layoff package that could be attractive to older workers.

Source: Seattle Times

Some 21,000 positions across Europe may be eliminated if Opel is sold to Magna International Inc., the Canadian car-parts maker that was picked by Germany as its preferred bidder, Bild Zeitung reported, citing a letter from Opel’s works council based in Ruesselsheim, Germany.

Source: Bloomberg

Russia: About 27,700 workers of AutoVAZ will be laid off by the end of the year as the automaker continues to downsize, russian news agency InterFax.ru reports today.

Verizon Communications Inc. said Monday it will cut more than 8,000 employee and contractor jobs before the end of the year in the wireline business, speeding up its efforts to keep costs in line, according to chief financial officer John Killian.

Verizon ended the quarter with 235,000 employees, up from 229,000 a year ago, despite already cutting 8,000 jobs during the year. Contractor jobs are not included in those totals.

Source: GoogleNews, AP

~News submitted by upthecreek

In the last decade, GE has closed over 15 factories in Ohio and downsized numerous others. Since 1980, employment in GE Lighting has dropped by 68 percent.

A large chunk of that manufacturing has gone to China, and now GE plans to send even more to China in the wake of new clean energy policies.

Source: HuffingtonPost

~News submitted by David

Toyota’s dreaded moment is finally here: The Japanese automaker is set to shutter a major factory for the first time in its 73-year history, pulling the plug on a joint venture with General Motors and marking a new era of more aggressive cuts at the Japanese automaker.
Toyota will soon enter discussions to dissolve New United Motor Manufacturing, a 50-50 venture based in Fremont, California, that employs about 4,550 people.

Source: NYTimes

~News submitted by upthecreek

(Newport, UK) Workers were last night occupying a wind turbine factory for the sixth day in protest at the imminent closure of the plant.
The Danish owners of Vestas Wind Systems factory say the plant will close ‘within days’, with the loss of 525 jobs, because the UK market for turbines is too small.

Source: DailyMail

~News submitted by upthecreek