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The long-running news show formerly helmed by Jim Lehrer will make its first major layoffs in nearly 20 years, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The company will close its offices in San Francisco and Denver, and eliminate some of its production positions at its Washington, D.C. headquarters. "The PBS Newshour's" executive producer said that the program hoped to "build new relationships with a variety of locally based freelance video journalists around the country." "A steady drop in corporate revenue" contributed to the program's decision to cut back.

Every Assistant Principal In Philadelphia Is Getting Laid Off Today Pamela Engel Jun. 7, 2013, 11:55 AM Philadelphia schools are suffering the latest casualties in the ongoing education crisis in the U.S. ABC 6 News in Philadelphia is reporting that all 160 assistant principals in the city's school district will lose their jobs as part of thousands of layoffs that will go into effect at the end of the month. The Philadelphia School District is trying to close a $304 million budget gap. Art, music, and athletic programs will be hit hard by what some are calling the "Doomsday Budget."...

The U.S. Payroll to Population employment rate (P2P), as measured by Gallup, worsened in May, dropping to 43.9%, from 44.5% in April. P2P is also down from May 2012, when it was 44.4%. ... Gallup's P2P metric is an estimate of the percentage of the U.S. adult population aged 18 and older who are employed full time by an employer for at least 30 hours per week. P2P is not seasonally adjusted.

The recent spate of job cuts in the past several months is proving to be pretty painful to the medical device industry—and a band-aid isn't going to help heal this wound. This month, medical device industry giant Medtronic was the latest to land on the layoff list in light of workforce reductions in its Memphis-based spinal division as well as across its global operations. But the medtech powerhouse, sadly, is not alone in reducing headcount as a means of cutting operating costs. Citing factors ranging from the need to offset the costs of the polarizing medical device excise tax and struggling...

Being Treated Like Absolute Trash Under The Obama Administration By Michael Snyder May 30th, 2013 Why does the Obama administration treat our military veterans like human garbage? Every year on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, Barack Obama and our other politicians make very nice speeches, but the truth about how they feel about our veterans can be seen in how they are treated every single day. In the United States today, there are well over half a million veterans that have been waiting for at least 125 days to have their benefit claims processed. Many of them will ultimately have...

Cessna lays off salaried workers; numbers unclear By Molly McMillin Posted on Thu, May. 23, 2013 The Wichita Eagle Cessna Aircraft laid off an undisclosed number of salaried workers Thursday, a month after it offered a voluntary retirement program for hourly and salaried workers. The company is working to align its workforce with a reduced forecast for sales and production. “On April 29, Cessna announced as part of the Voluntary Retirement Plan offering that the company would also proceed with involuntary separations based on performance and scope of work,” a Cessna spokesman said in a statement. “The communication at that...

A tipster told Deadspin that ESPN is planning to lay off more than 400 employees today. A source at ESPN confirmed to Deadspin that layoffs were planned, and while 400 seemed high, the number of layoffs will be "in the hundreds." As Deadspin also points out, ESPN may need to cut costs because they have recently gotten rights to several live events (like the US Open Finals) which are very expensive. ESPN gave us the following statement: We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs. While difficult, we are confident that it...

"Warsaw-based Zimmer Holdings Inc. has laid off between 40 and 50 employees in the wake of “transformation initiatives,” the global medical-device manufacturer said Thursday."

First-time jobless claims continued their descent last week, falling to their lowest level in more than five years and providing another sign that the labor market is healing. The number dropped by 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, the best showing since November 2007, a signal that employers are laying off fewer workers, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The four-week moving average, a figure that provides a better trajectory of where the labor market is headed, dropped 6,250 to 336,750. This week's figure reflects a healthier labor market. Economists say the market is in better shape when...

State and university employees may see a temporary 2.5 percent salary reduction solidified into a permanent pay cut. Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget director Jeff Mohlenkamp told a legislative committee Saturday that the administration may amend a bill to make those salary reductions permanent. As written now, Senate Bill 483 extends current 2.5 percent salary reductions until June 30, 2015, at which time they’d go away and employees would get 2.5 percent of their salaries back. “We would seek to modify that bill to make the pay cut permanent, and then we would make the affirmative decision to restore the pay...

Start with people who have individual and small-group health insurance. These policies are most affected by ObamaCare's community-rating regulations, which require insurers to accept everyone but limit or ban them from varying premiums based on age or health. The law also mandates "essential" benefits that are far more generous than those currently offered. According to consultants from Oliver Wyman (who wrote on the issue in the January issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries), around six million of the 19 million people with individual health policies are going to have to pay more—and this even after...

This is an example of one kind of fallout from the coming new Obamacare rules. My brother-in-law manages a grocery store. His part-time employees do not have healthcare benefits, but he could give them almost full-time hours. He is now being forced to cut their hours to 28. Not only do they not have healthcare, now their wages have been cut back considerably. One employee told him that due to the cut in hours, she is now eligible for rent assistance. So, under the new rules, not only will the working middle class be paying for her healthcare, we will...

SoloPower plans to halt operations at its Portland solar panel plant on June 17, company officials alerted the state today. The California-based startup plans to layoff 29 workers, including 10 engineers, as part of the move. It received millions in incentives to build the Portland panel plant, but its launch fell months behind its promised benchmarks. Julian Biggs, the company's chief legal officer, said the decision came as a result of "a significant downturn in business and the need for a major reorganization." The company sent the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act Wednesday to the state. It's unclear when...

PHOENIX - A company that runs Fresh & Easy stores says it's pulling out of the United States because the stores aren't making any money. The announcement came overnight from Fresh & Easy's parent company, British "Tesco". But the 24 stores in the Valley will remain open for now, according to a Fresh & Easy spokeswoman. Officials say after a five-year run in the states, Tesco's abandoning all of its nearly 200 U.S. stores....

Monday, Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie theatre chain in the country, announced that thousands of employees will have their work hours cut -- as a direct result of the added cost of the new ObamaCare mandates that become effective later this year. In a memo to employees, management was blunt: “To comply with the Affordable Care Act, Regal had to increase our health care budget to cover those newly deemed eligible based on the law's definition of a full-time employee.” Fox News reports that, as a result of cutting employees' work hours (which is, of course, the same as...

There's a real stigma associated with people who have been out of work for more than six months or those who are prone to job hopping. To find out how hiring managers view these candidates, economist Rand Ghayad conducted an experiment where he sent out 4,800 fictitious résumés for 600 job openings. Ghayad found that managers would rather hire people with no relevant job experience than someone who's been unemployed for a long time or has had several jobs in a short period of time. The resumes sent out described candidates looking work for different reasons across several industries, but...

The nation's largest movie theater chain has cut the hours of thousands of employees, saying in a company memo that ObamaCare requirements are to blame. Regal Entertainment Group, which operates more than 500 theaters in 38 states, last month rolled back shifts for non-salaried workers to 30 hours per week,putting them under the threshold at which employers are required to provide health insurance. The Nashville-based company said in a letter to managers that the move was a direct result of ObamaCare. “In addition, some managers have requested guidance on what they should tell those employees negatively impacted and, at your...

Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital is sliding the chief executive of Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW), which it currently controls, into the same role at H.J. Heinz Co. (HNZ) once 3G and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) complete their $23 billion buyout of the ketchup maker. Bernardo Hees will replace Heinz CEO William Johnson, who has led the ketchup-maker for 15 years and turned it into more of a global food company by selling ketchup and other Heinz's products all across the world. 3G and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in February teamed up to buy Heinz for $72.50 a share...

Consumer confidence is growing, but employees still aren't sold on the stability of the job market. A Glassdoor survey of more than 2,000 full-time workers found one in five feared being laid off in the next six months. The survey, which was released today, also found one in four self-employed workers are uncertain about finding work in the next six months. "The job market is still trepid," said Rusty Rueff, a Glassdoor workplace expert. "The market is in recovery, but it is not boiling over like we thought it would be now." Rueff said those doubts are likely being caused...

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) plans to lay off more than 460 workers at a central Illinois plant that produces big mining trucks. The layoffs will shrink the work force at the Decatur plant by about 11%. The company said the reduction is needed to bring production at the plant in line with lower demand for mining equipment caused by falling prices for mined commodities and decisions by mining companies to shelve expansion projects. "While some cost-reduction measures such as temporary layoffs, shutdowns and shortened work weeks have already been implemented, more permanent measures must be taken in the near term," the...

The Walt Disney Co. is expected to begin layoffs in the coming weeks, with the cuts centering on the company's movie studio, a source with knowledge of the matter has confirmed. The cuts, first reported by trade publication Variety, are said to be the result of an internal corporate review. Layoffs are expected to affect the studio's marketing and home entertainment divisions, and possibly other areas, according to a source. Variety reported that the cuts would also be made in the production department. It's not clear how many reductions there will be at the company. Reuters reported Thursday that cuts...

Clothing maker The Warnaco Group, recently acquired by New York City-based PVH Corp., is closing its operations at 470 Wheeler's Farms Road in Milford in early June and is laying off 208 people in the process. The layoffs are part of 1,000 that PVH is making as it closes former Warnaco's offices in Florence, Italy; Duncansville, Pa.; Huntingdon, Pa.; New York City, and Hong Kong, in addition to Milford. PVH, which owns and markets the Tommy Hilfiger brand, announced in October it was acquiring Warnaco, whose brands included Calvin Klein and Speedo swimwear, and completed the $2.8 billion cash and...

The gloomy headlines for Caterpillar Inc. continue. The Peoria, Ill.-based equipment manufacturer (NYSE: CAT) said Friday it’s laying off 460 workers at its plant in Decatur, Ill., or 11 percent of the work force there, according to various media reports.The announcement comes a week after Caterpillar said it would temporarily cut up to 300 production jobs in South Milwaukee, or about 40 percent of the unionized work force there.But the Decatur cuts are permanent, Reuters reported.The company has cited a need to “bring production in line with demand” in both decisions.The series of actions include “some short-term temporary layoffs and...

Bank of America said today it’s cutting 469 jobs from its mortgage servicing center in Newark as the number of homeowners delinquent on mortgage payments dwindles. Employees at the offices on the corner of Market Street and University Avenue were given the news last week. “We previously announced intentions to reduce the size of our mortgage servicing operations in line with the successful reduction of our portfolio of delinquent mortgage customers,” the bank said in an e-mailed statement last night. “Compared to peak levels in 2011, today we have fewer than half the number of customers who need the specialized...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose to a four-month high last week, although the increase partly reflects seasonal distortions around the spring holidays. The Labor Department says weekly applications increased 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000. That is the highest level since late November. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 354,250.

here were 385,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, up by 28,000 from the week before, the Employment and Training Administration says. The news follows Wednesday's report of slower-than-expected job growth in the private sector: The ADP National Employment Report estimated there were just 158,000 jobs added at businesses last month. And the word that jobless claims have touched a four-month high comes just before Friday's anxiously anticipated report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It will release data on the March unemployment rate and job growth in both the public and private sectors. According to Reuters, economists expect...

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) is laying off 1,320 employees in upstate New York as it will exit a mortgage-servicing facility there at the end of May, according to a filing with the New York State Department of Labor. M&T Bank Corp. (MTB) is taking over Bank of America's Getzville, N.Y., mortgage-servicing facility and hiring about 600 Bank of America employees, a spokesman for the Buffalo, N.Y., bank said. He added M&T has about 400 openings in Buffalo and Bank of America employees can apply for those positions. Bank of America, the nation's second-largest bank by assets behind J.P. Morgan...

<p>NORTH HAVEN — A half-dozen workers were in otherwise empty offices Friday at The Marlin Firearms Co. as the company wound down 141 years of manufacturing in Connecticut.</p> <p>A security phone at the visitor's gate was unattended next to a large barren parking lot off Bailey Road near I-91. A reception room that resembles a ski lodge, complete with a fireplace, was dark. The few people left working Friday declined to comment, but one employee said there were six people inside and that Friday was their last day of work.</p>

A spokesman for the Roanoke County company said the 70 job losses have nothing to do with sequestration. About 70 hourly employees at the ITT Exelis night vision facility in Roanoke County learned Friday that their jobs will end as of April 7. Tim White, a company spokesman, said ITT Exelis is responding to the realities of the defense industry market. He said the job losses have nothing to do with sequestration — the automatic, across-the-board federal spending cuts that took effect this month. “It’s a difficult time,” White said. He said ITT Exelis night vision increased employment in recent years...

A Boeing spokesperson confirmed on Friday that the company will lay off 800 workers, as well as reduce its overall workforce by 2,000 or more in 2013. According to a company spokesperson, the layoffs will be primarily of workers in the 787 and 747 post-assembly facilities, all machinists, in Everett. The additional 2,000 to 2,300 positions will be elimated through attrition and transfers. No employees have been notified of layoffs yet.

However you’re counting the numbers, they hurt. JCPenney revealed in a regulatory filing yesterday that it finished its fiscal year ended Feb. 2 with 116,000 employees — a whopping 43,000 less than a year earlier. That’s a slashing of 27 percent — even steeper than the company’s disastrous revenue decline of 24.8 percent for the same period. It’s also more than twice the figure of 19,000 job cuts that Chief Executive Ron Johnson testified to under oath earlier this month, when asked during the company’s trial with Macy’s and Martha Stewart how many Penney employees had lost their jobs on...

The layoff bug that Lincoln had avoided for more than two years has finally bitten. QBE North America, a subsidiary of Australia-based QBE Insurance Group Limited, on Monday confirmed that it plans to close a Lincoln office that employs more than 100 people. The employees work at a call center at 50th and R streets under the business name Sterling National Corp. Paula Symons, a QBE North America spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement that closing the Lincoln office was an "extremely difficult" decision. "With the Lincoln facility lease expiring in a few months and the size of the Lincoln...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee gathered on Wednesday at a hearing of the health subcommittee to discuss the effects of the Affordable Care Act on jobs. As a witness at the hearing, chaired by Pennsylvania Republican Joe Pitts, I testified that the new law will reduce employment in America, particularly for low-skill workers, because employers face a higher cost of labor. Whenever possible, firms will substitute high-skill for low-skill labor, part-time for full-time workers, machinery for people, and refrain from hiring a 50th worker, which can make them liable for penalties. Full-time hiring will...

Will the CR Delay ObamaCare? Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) fears it will:Lowey Statement on 2013 Continuing ResolutionCongresswoman Nita Lowey, Ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, today delivered the following statement on the House floor regarding the FY2013 Continuing Resolution and Defense and Military Construction/VA Appropriations bills:Mr. Speaker, the bill before us contains a defense bill and a military construction/Veterans Affairs bill adjusting the FY 2012 funding levels to meet FY 2013 needs. It is unacceptable that federal agencies and departments covered by the 10 remaining bills would be forced to operate under full-year continuing resolutions based on plans and spending...

As Wendy’s Co. continues its effort to modernize restaurants, up to 130 U.S. restaurants could be closed in the coming year because they are not making enough money to be worthy of being remodeled or rebuilt. The news came yesterday as the Dublin-based company announced earnings for the fourth quarter and full year. Wendy’s is beginning the third year of its Image Activation program to raze, rebuild or remodel nearly half of its 600 company-owned stores by the end of 2015. So far, the Dublin-based fast-food restaurant has rebuilt 58 company-owned stores since 2011, and it plans to rebuild or...

Late Friday afternoon, The Scooter Store's chief executive notified employees that — effective immediately, but “with certain exceptions” — they'd been placed on unpaid furlough. In an email, CEO Martin “Marty” Landon told employees not to return to work unless they receive notice from the company's human resources department. The Scooter Store, one of the nation's largest suppliers of power wheelchairs and scooters, had about 1,800 workers as of last month. That's following the announcement in February that it had cut 150 positions. About 1,200 employees worked out of its New Braunfels headquarters. The furloughs came a little more than...

Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins has suggested that up to 40,000 jobs could be cut at the bank as customers switch to automated banking, according to reports. In meetings with shareholders of the bank, Mr Jenkins has said that he saw a future in which the bank employed 100,000 staff, Sky News has reported. Barclays currently hires roughly 140,000 people. It is understood that Mr Jenkins has discussed with investors the possibility of Barclays will become a self-service-oriented company, thereby allowing the remaining staff to focus on delivering "added value" to its customers. However, one insider at the bank told...

The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence is offering its hourly workers voluntary layoffs, with the possibility of involuntary layoffs to follow. A spokesman for Alliant Techsystems, which operates the U.S. Army plant in Independence, said modernization at the plant is the main reason for the job reductions. Spokesman Bryan Kidder said the number of expected job cuts and their timing is not known. He said it's likely involuntary layoffs will follow the voluntary departures, in an effort to reduce the workforce of about 2,600. The Kansas City Star reported that the plant has undergone $400 million in renovations...

Today's story has to be at least on the borderline of pettiness. The White House announced Tuesday that it would be canceling all tours after this coming Saturday. This announcement came because of the sequester spending cuts that began to take effect on March 1. A lot of people visit the White House every year, so I have no doubt it is being done to shape public opinion. President Obama and his administration is doing their best to let the spending cuts do damage where they will do the most good. That's plain to see for anyone who is paying...

Heads are rolling again at JCPenney. The flailing retailer — whose CEO, Ron Johnson, is now fighting for his own job — has fired 1,500 store-level department managers and merchandising positions across its chain, The Post has learned. The layoffs this week are the latest carnage at Penney, which last month eliminated 300 positions at its headquarters in Plano, Texas, according to sources. Last April, in the first of two major rounds of layoffs, Johnson canned 8,000 store-level positions, including managers and assistant managers, sources said. -snip- In January, the 1,100-store chain laid off 1,000 receptionists at its salons.

The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book report, which provides anecdotal data on economic conditions around the United States, paints a mixed picture. One of the things that came up a few times in the report was the Affordable Care Act. In the release, the Fed noted: "Many District contacts commented on the expired payroll tax holiday and the Affordable Care Act as having restrained sales growth...Employers in several Districts cited the unknown effects of the Affordable Care Act as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff." Below is an excerpt from the Richmond Fed's section of the...

With the White House closing its doors to public tour groups in order to save money for the sequester, it's worth remembering some of the other costs the White House incurs annually.Like the "Chief Calligrapher," Patricia A. Blair, who has an annual salary of $96,725, and her two deputies, Debra S. Brown, who gets paid $85,953 per year, and Richard T. Muffler, who gets paid $94,372 every year.In all, the White House appears to employ 3 calligraphers for a yearly total of $277,050.Despite sequestration, there's been no announcement of the White House scaling back on calligraphers. 

Layoffs are often a sign of failure by top executives to properly manage a business and forecast needs -- and failure of board members to ensure that the right management is in place. Probably every worker today has experienced -- or known someone who has experienced -- at least one layoff. Layoffs are an abomination -- for the pain they cause innocent victims -- and the lack of accountability they often represent. Before the great recession, in 2006, Lou Uchitelle sent out a warning about the terrible costs of layoffs in his book The Disposable American: Layoffs and their Consequences....

High gasoline prices coupled with 2% payroll tax hikes is going to take a bite out of restaurant sales this year. For some chains the slump has already started. Consider Darden Restaurants, the owner of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, LongHorn Steak House. Darden Restaurant Traffic is down an average 4.5, with Red Lobster leading the pack down 7.5%. Smaller Plates, Cheaper Items at Olive Garden At Olive Garden, Smaller, Cheaper Plates are on the way, along with new uniforms including a more contemporary black button-down shirt and black slacks. Don't worry, endless breadsticks remain. Olive Garden is also creating a...

It’s one thing for President Obama to attack Wall Street as the place fat cats roam free as proof, a class warrior justifying all the mainly useless banking regulations he’s imposed since the 2008 financial crisis. It’s quite another thing for New York’s elected officials to let him get away with the big lie that’s costing New Yorkers jobs and squeezing our finances. In other words, where’s Chuck Schumer when you need him? MIA, it turns out. Ditto for our other senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. As new banking regs continue to take effect, Wall Street keeps shrinking,...

Newark Public Schools has laid off more than 100 employees across the district who oversee departments such as mathematics, world language and athletics, a district spokeswoman said yesterday. The decision to eliminate 129 supervisory positions comes as the district aims to create small schools within the 40,000-student district—a shift that would make many of the administrative positions redundant, spokeswoman Renee Harper said. “When department chairs were first introduced in Newark, they oversaw operations at huge schools,” Harper said. “Now that we’re moving to smaller school models—which are safer and produce better student achievement results— department chairs will no longer be...

The Illinois Department of Employment Security is closing seven offices across the state. The move will leave 192 people without jobs. But state officials say those employees will have the chance to fill open jobs elsewhere in state government. The Friday closures include offices in Centralia, DeKalb, East St. Louis, Galesburg, Jacksonville, Mattoon and Murphysboro. The department says the closures are due to federal budget reductions and falling unemployment insurance claims...

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) announced it will cut 4,000 part-time jobs and another 13,000 contract positions in its mortgage business. The bank blamed weaknesses in the mortgage market and new federal regulation for the action. Other banks face similar problems, so cuts across the industry are likely not over. Some of the big cuts in the industry already have happened. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) announced in September 2011 it would eliminate 30,000 jobs between then and 2015. The savings, the bank said, would total $5 billion. Rumors are persistent that other large U.S. financial firms...

The Wall Street Journal of Feb. 27 tells the story in its own headlines. On page C1, the story was, "JPMorgan Pulls Belt Tight," while on C3 the headline read, "Wall Street's Bonus Pool Hits $20 Billion." If that doesn't describe this crazy false recovery we are allegedly undergoing, nothing does. Of course, the picky can point out that JPMorgan Chase is tightening its belt on its banking side and the Wall Street bonus increases are paid to traders, investment bankers and other employees of securities firms. But to the average Joe, it's hard to understand, if the JPMorgan Chase...

US President Barack Obama warned warring politicians Monday it was time to start governing as Washington headed into another manufactured crisis threatening the fragile economy. Obama told an annual meeting of state governors at the White House that huge budget cuts due to hit on March 1 would "slow our economy, eliminate good jobs" and leave Americans with "thinly stretched" budgets wondering what to do, AFP reported. The president is demanding that congressional Republicans stave off a set of arbitrary, automatic spending cuts known as the sequester by closing tax loopholes that benefit the rich and corporations. "We can't just...