Free Republic

ILLINOIS (WMBD) — EYM Chicken Operations and its parent company, Yum, shut down multiple Illinois KFC fast-food locations earlier this week, implementing mass layoffs of its employees statewide. According to a former maintenance employee who worked at several central Illinois KFC restaurants, his director of operations called him on Aug. 6 to notify him of his termination. The employee said he was vacationing in Tennessee when he received the call. He requested a formal notification via email from his director and received an email that outlined the circumstances surrounding the sudden departure shortly after. He said the company eliminated his...

Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts has fired 10 employees following anti-Israel protests at the school earlier this spring. “College leadership has made the difficult decision to eliminate ten staff positions to help us realize our necessary cost savings,” announced an Aug. 13 email sent by the college’s leadership. “We are grateful for the contributions these dedicated staff members have made to the College, and we have made arrangements to support them in this transition.” School President Jay M. Bernhardt initially announced the plans for the staff reduction on June 18, citing dropping enrollment in the college. Bernhardt attributed the falling...

Computing giant seeks to get 'leaner' as it recognizes the potential of AI to grow faster than its competitors.One of the world’s biggest tech companies is about to become ‘leaner’, after Dell announced to its employees that it would be laying off further staff.Just a few weeks after its workers expressed their dissatisfaction at Dell’s return to office policy, the company sent a memo to staff on Monday to notify them of the impending redundancies and cited the need for “streamlining layers of management”. It’s the second consecutive year that Dell has made significant cuts to its workforce.The memo also...

The CEO of Intel prompted mixed reactions for posting a verse from Proverbs on Sunday after announcing that more than 15% of the tech company's workforce will be laid off amid its plummeting share price. "Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways," Pat Gelsinger posted to X, quoting Proverbs 4:25-26. Gelsinger drew criticism from some X users who mocked him for "praying" and accused him of "resorting to religion to save the company." "Have you even asked yourself how...

(KRON) — Intel has announced plans to lay off 15 percent of its global workforce. On Thursday, the semiconductor chip manufacturing giant posted its second-quarter financial results for 2024, including a $10 billion cost reduction plan. (SNIP) Intel’s second-quarter revenue is down 1 percent year-over-year, and the company said it will be suspending dividends in the fourth quarter of 2024. “Our Q2 financial performance was disappointing, even as we hit key product and process technology milestones,” said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in a news release. “Second-half trends are more challenging than we previously expected, and we are leveraging our new...

(The Center Square) – In June, nine Illinois companies announced a total of 1,017 jobs affected by mass layoffs. A policy analyst and economy expert says more people are relying on themselves for employment. A “mass layoff” under the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act is a reduction in force at a single site of employment of 25 or more full-time employees if they constitute one-third or more of full-time employees at the site, or 250 or more full-time employees. Director of Fiscal and Economic Research at Illinois Policy Bryce Hill said Illinois has the least business-friendly state of...

The left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is cutting staff numbers in what the nonprofit calls an effort to streamline operations. Sixty jobs are believed to have been axed in the move. Fox News reports several of the reported layoffs hit top officials in the organization’s union, which was reportedly formed in 2019 to fight “inequitable” practices amongst the workforce. “Today, SPLC — my employer — laid off over 60 of our union members, essentially shuttering multiple departments,” Hannah Gais wrote on X. today, SPLC — my employer —laid off over 60 of our union members, essentially shuttering multiple departments....

The consolidation of the corporate media entities continues apace, with CNN set to feature Associated Press (AP) content on its website for the first time in nearly 15 years. CNN staffers fret that the move, pushed by the network’s CEO Mark Thompson, is a prelude to layoffs as the corporate news organization moves away from original reporting. The CNN-AP deal is the latest in a line of schemes to revive the network’s collapsing audience. In late May, it was revealed the network logged its lowest primetime ratings since 1991. According to Nielsen data, the network’s 8 PM to 11 PM...

California fast food restaurants have slashed nearly 10,000 jobs because of the state’s new $20 minimum wage as struggling franchises cut labor costs and raise prices to survive, a major trade group said Thursday. The California Business and Industrial Alliance (CABIA) slammed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for pushing through the law, which went into effect April 1 – and was blamed for forcing one beloved taco chain to shutter 48 locations in the state last week. “California businesses have been under total attack and total assault for years,” CABIA president and founder Tom Manzo told Fox Business. “It’s just another...

The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has already seen 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether.By tracking these layoffs, we’re able to understand the impact on innovation across companies large and small. We’re also able to see the potential impact of businesses embracing...

Fashion retailer Express filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States and intends to close more than 100 stores, it said on Monday. The retailer whose portfolio includes brands such as Express, Bonobos and UpWest Express, listed assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to a filing with the bankruptcy court in Delaware. ... As part of the bankruptcy process, the company will close approximately 95 Express retail stores and all of its UpWest stores, starting Tuesday, it said, without specifying the locations.

Disney's been in a magical world of trouble over the last several years, ever since the company decided to pick a fight with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the culture war and go all-in on diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of its core programming at the expense of its longtime customers, traditional American families. A string of movie failures hit Disney's bottom line in 2023 and 2024, most notably with "The Marvels," which opened as their worst-performing box office film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They also experienced flops within Pixar, with their latest, "Elemental," performing terribly at the...

Tesla shares extended declines Tuesday, pulling it close to the lowest levels since last spring, following the group's largest-ever job cuts, which have analysts and investors questioning the longer-term growth story of one of the market's most popular stocks. The Austin electric-vehicle group (TSLA) unveiled the layoffs in a companywide memo penned by Chief Executive Elon Musk, who told employees it was time to "streamline the company for the next phase of growth." "As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and...

Layoffs continue across the freight and logistics industry, with companies in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Texas announcing job reductions and facility closures over the past two weeks. Universal Logistics Warren, Michigian-based Universal Logistics is permanently shuttering two of its subsidiaries and laying off a total of 677 employees, according to notices recently filed with the state. The layoffs are related to Universal-operated entities Logistics Insights Corp. and Universal Dedicated of Detroit, an auto parts warehousing and logistics facility. Both operations were in Detroit. Universal Dedicated of Detroit’s closure will affect 230 truck drivers who worked from the facility. Logistics...

A fair wage advocacy group is demanding that California’s new $20 minimum wage law for fast food workers be extended to all sectors to help working-class people who are struggling with the state’s high cost of living. FOX Business spoke with Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage to discuss what she described as the skyrocketing levels of home insecurity and food insecurity post-pandemic. Fast food workers winning a $20 minimum wage, she said, “was just the beginning.” Jayaraman pointed to the exorbitantly high cost of living in the Golden State where, in some counties, an individual would need a...

Best Buy’s Geek Squad was hit was massive layoffs this week. According to 404 Media, who spoke to several employees, many Geek Squad members were told to work from home on Tuesday and wait for a call letting them know if they were still employed. Employees reported that the layoffs came suddenly, and were reportedly because the company could no longer afford to pay them. “It sucks, I spent more than half my life with this company and sacrificed a lot of personal time and experiences just to be let go,” a laid-off worker told the site. “At the same...

Tens of thousands of Americans have been made redundant at large companies this year. according to Warn Tracker, a website that tracks upcoming layoffs based on WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988) notices. The WARN Act mandates that employers conducting large-scale layoffs or closures notify employees as well as state government officials of job losses at least 60 days in advance. WARN notices must be served by companies that have 100 or more full-time employees or 100 or more employees who, in aggregate, work at least 4,000 hours per week, excluding overtime.

Artificial intelligence will lead to fewer employees at companies in most sectors, according to an exhaustive survey of executives by the Swiss staffing company The Adecco Group (OTCPK:AHEXY). The survey found 41% of companies expect fewer people employed at their organization in five years due to AI and generative AI. What's more, only 46% of employers plan to redeploy workers internally if their jobs are displaced by AI. The survey, "Leading through the great disruption 2024," involved 2,000 C-suite executives spanning nine countries. It was conducted in collaboration with Oxford Economics. The study's authors suggest companies should take a "human-centric...

The real estate rollercoaster is hitting some unexpected twists and turns, with February delivering a double whammy of unsettling news. Brace yourselves: layoffs have skyrocketed a jaw-dropping 410% compared to last year, hitting levels not seen since the gloomy days of 2009. And guess what? The housing market is feeling the aftershocks big time. Picture this: home inventory levels have ballooned by 24% from this time last year, painting a landscape flooded with “For Sale” signs. But hold on, it gets wilder. The Sunbelt, known for its sunny skies and hot markets, is now facing a deluge of available properties,...

The electronics retailer Best Buy is set to close 10 to 15 stores this year and into early next year, according to an earnings call last week where the CEO blamed declining sales. On the earnings call, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said the company needs “to strike a balance between its workforce and consumer interest,” according to The Austin American-Statesman. The chain closed 24 of its more than 1,000 stores last year. Earlier this month, two Best Buy locations closed – one in Colorado and one in Minnesota.