RadioShack tells 400 workers the bad news electronically

RadioShack tells 400 workers the bad news electronically

Associated Press

FORT WORTH — Radio- Shack Corp. notified about 400 workers by e-mail that they were being dismissed immediately as part of planned job cuts.

Employees at the Fort Worth headquarters got messages Tuesday morning saying: "The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.

Company officials had told employees in a series of meetings that layoff notices would be delivered electronically, spokeswoman Kay Jackson said. She said employees were invited to ask questions before Tuesday's notification on a company Intranet site.

Jackson said the electronic notification was quicker and allowed more privacy than breaking the news in person.

"It was important to notify people as quickly as possible," she said. "They had 30 minutes to collect their thoughts, make phone calls and say goodbye to employees before they went to meet with senior leaders."

Employees met with supervisors and human resources personnel before leaving. At coffee bar areas on each floor, the company provided boxes and plastic bags for employees to pack their personal belongings.

"Things went very smoothly. Everyone left very graciously and very professionally," Jackson said.

Derrick D'Souza, a management professor at the University of North Texas, said he had never heard of such a large number of terminated employees being notified electronically. He said it could be seen as dehumanizing to employees.

"If I put myself in their shoes, I'd say, 'Didn't they have a few minutes to tell me?' " D'Souza said.

Laid-off workers received one to three weeks' pay for each year of service, up to 16 weeks for hourly employees and 36 weeks for those with base pay of at least $90,000, the company said.

The company announced Aug. 10 that it would cut 400 to 450 jobs, mostly at headquarters, to cut expenses and "improve its long-term competitive position in the marketplace."

RadioShack has closed nearly 500 stores in an effort to shake a sales slump.

The Electric Boat Company

Another 170 Electric Boat employees received lay off notices this week, bringing the total number workers to be let go this year to nearly 800.

The latest round of jobs cuts affects shipyard workers, 154 hourly employees and 16 salaried workers. They were notified Monday that their last day will be Oct. 27. This was the third layoff notice this year.

Last week, EB President John Casey said fewer workers will likely be let go this year than originally projected because of increased maintenance work, retirements and resignations. The company originally said as many as 2,400 jobs could be affected in 2006, but Casey scaled that number back to between 1,400 and 1,700 last week. The new layoffs announced Monday, combined with two previous layoff notices and nearly 600 individual workers leaving through attrition would place the total now at just under the 1,400 mark.

EB spokesman Robert Hamilton, however, declined to say if Monday’s layoffs would be the last this year.

“It really is a moving target,” Hamilton said. “We’ve said all along that we need to constantly evaluate what the needs are and we’re just not in a position to say whether this will or will not be the last one.”

Metal Trades Council President Ken DelaCruz could not be reached for comment Wednesday. All of the new layoffs are from that union, as are the majority of the 440 workers who received layoff notices in July. Designers and engineers, members of the Marine Draftsmen’s Association, made up the majority of the initial wave of 170 layoffs announced in March.

But Casey said last Thursday that he foresees no further job losses among designers and engineers, and some of the 440 who received layoff notices in July - due to separate on Sept. 8 - will be kept on for several weeks longer.

All the affected workers are being assisted in finding new positions through the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board. A special job placement office was established in Shaw’s Cove earlier this year, providing a variety of services to assist workers.

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Wichita

A group of 123 workers at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Wichita received notices that their last day of work will be Oct. 20.

"We are still on target we believe to reduce by the first quarter to the middle of next year 900 positions," says Forrest Gossett, Boeing Wichita spokesman.

The notices were issued Aug. 18. Originally, Boeing planned to have its work force reductions complete by the end of January. The layoffs are part of Boeing Wichita's effort to reduce costs and put it in position to win new contracts from other Boeing units along with customers from outside of the company.

wichita.bizjournals.com

Navistar

Navistar International (NAV) Sees Layoffs Due to Ford's (F) Production Cut Announcement
08-28-2006 04:21:08 PM

Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) reported that previously announced production cuts by Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) will result in an October schedule change at the company's Indianapolis, Ind., engine assembly plant necessitating the layoff of employees.

Sergio Sgarbi, plant manager, said that the new production schedule that will go into effect beginning October 2 will result in the layoff of approximately 380 employees represented by the United Auto Workers union. Layoffs will also impact non-represented employees, but the final number has not yet been determined. The plant is just coming off a previously announced two week shutdown and another week of shutdown is scheduled to begin September 11, 2006.

Streetinsider.com

Tecumseh Products

Tecumseh Products Company says 450 of its Wisconsin employees will be laid off in late October.

On the Low-Tax Economy, Bush Has the Story Right

It’s still the greatest story never told.

By Larry Kudlow

Some conservatives are alleging that the president suffers from an inability to communicate with the American people, and there may be some overrated truth to this. But in a news conference last Friday, we saw George W. Bush at his communicating best. Following a meeting with his economic advisors at Camp David, the president let ’er rip, stating that “The foundation of our economy is solid, and it’s strong. Because of the tax cuts we passed, American workers and families and small businesses are keeping more of the money they earn. And they’re using that money to drive this economy of ours forward.”

Could he be any clearer?

The mainstream media won’t report the economic good news. And many on Wall Street don’t even want a strong economy, for fear of more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The day after the president’s Camp David message, the New York Times editorial cried “Hold the champagne,” and proceeded to obsess about a slowdown in housing.

There’s no counting how many recessions Times columnist Paul Krugman has predicted, but Bush was exactly right to point out 4 percent real GDP growth during the first half of 2006, brisk productivity rates, 5.5 million new jobs over the past three years, and a historically low 4.8 percent unemployment rate.

Bush’s critics say he’s whistling past the graveyard. But the president rightly insists that “The entrepreneurial spirit in the country is strong, and that’s good for America.”

Bush inherited the Internet bubble-meltdown from the Clinton years, as well as the corporate scandals. Then came the attacks of 9/11 and the ensuing war. But the Bush recovery also followed suit, the result of slashing high marginal tax rates on investment in mid-2003.

And the recovery continues. Recent strong numbers for retail sales and industrial production suggest a 3.5 percent economic growth rate in the second half of 2006, a far cry from soft-landings, hard-landings, or the recession scenarios that are beginning to proliferate.

And when the president says economic growth has had a positive impact on the budget, he’s right again. Tax receipts are growing around 14 percent for the second straight year, the biggest gain in a quarter of a century. Income-tax collections, bolstered by the success of owner-operated business entrepreneurs and other self-employed, are helping lift these revenues. These folks, who prefer unincorporated Subchapter S or limited-liability company partnerships, are the ones who show up in the household survey of employment — which is at a record high.

Meanwhile, non-withheld revenues from lower-taxed capital gains and dividends are paying for themselves. Total tax receipts in 2006 will come in around $2.4 trillion, roughly $400 billion above the tax-collection peak of 2000.

The Congressional Budget Office may now acknowledge that deficit projections were $100 billion too high, but they maintain that only higher taxes in the next ten years will solve the budget problem. This defies common sense. If it pays less to work and invest after-tax, as implied by the CBO scenario, does anyone truly believe people would work harder to expand the economy? If that were the case, then why not raise tax rates back to 70 percent, where Reagan found them, or 91 percent, where JFK first had them? The CBO’s thinking begs credulity.

Yes, $3 gas at the pump has cut into the economic success story. Our biggest economic challenge has been higher energy prices, itself largely a function of the worldwide spread of capitalism and low tax rates that has led to strong global growth. But the heavyweight energy story could be lightening up.

At high prices and profits, market forces are generating more production and less consumption. For the first time in fifteen years, the number of oil wells drilled in the U.S. has surpassed the 1,000 mark. The rotary rig count is up 23 percent from a year earlier. Total exploration and development is 30 percent higher than last year. Unleaded gasoline futures have been dropping, suggesting relief at the pump.

Meanwhile, bond rates are coming down as the Fed removes excess liquidity to stop inflation. Mortgage rates are now declining, with Wall Street economist David Goldman noting that home prices actually increased slightly in the second quarter after falling in the first. Much of the housing slack will be taken up by the highly profitable business sector, as resources shift from residential construction to a new boom in commercial and corporate building. Stock markets, by the way, continue to rise, and are within shouting distance of five-year highs.

All this is not to say that the president doesn’t have a problem with the Iraq war. He does. But on the low-tax economy, Mr. Bush has the story right.

Low tax-rates, strong economic growth, and shrinking budget deficits — it’s still the greatest story never told.

— Larry Kudlow, NRO’s Economics Editor, is host of CNBC’s Kudlow & Company and author of the daily web blog, Kudlow’s Money Politic$.

AOL plans further cuts

AOL plans to cut 5,000 jobs - or about a quarter of their staff - in hopes that the increased revenue will keep the company competitive

Layoffs At Two Major Dubuque Employers

Layoffs At Two Major Dubuque Employers

Two major employers in Dubuque announce they will layoff workers. Regency Thermographers says it is moving its operation laying off all 137 of its employees. Also, the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium says it will lay off four full time employees.

Layoff Data for July 2006

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released data Wednesday indicating that in July employers initiated 1,125 mass layoffs nationwide.

Each layoff involved at least 50 employees from a single establishment, and data were derived from new filings for unemployment insurance.

In total, the unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) was 4.8 percent, up .2 percent from June and down .2 percent from July of last year.

The two industries with the highest number of claims were automobile manufacturing with 16,796 and temporary help services with 11,057. Together these industries accounted for 17 percent of claims filed in July. The manufacturing sector accounted for 43 percent of all mass layoffs and 58 percent of claims in July. Claims were highest in transportation equipment followed by plastics and rubber manufacturing.

--Denver Business Journal

Borg-Warner furlough

The Muncie Star Press is reporting that the BorgWarner plant is planning a one-week layoff beginning Sunday.

The move is in response to Ford's plans to cut car and truck production by 21 percent through the end of the year.

Camel Manufacturing plans to lay off workers

Camel has plants in Jamestown and Pioneer. Each will lose 75 employees. The layoffs began August 14th and will continue until September first.

Jobs in Media rise

Media employment rebounded in June to about 859,000 jobs, the highest level since last December. Employment in the overall U.S. ad industry rose in June to 1.59 million, the highest level since December 2002.

Advertising Age
August 22, 2006

New York Times coverage of the Labor Department report

Jobs Report from the Labor Department

The Labor Department said 113,000 jobs were created last month, less than the 145,000 expected by economists.

Averaged over the past four months, payrolls have risen by 112,000 a month – well below the 150,000 economists use as a rule of thumb for the pace needed to absorb new entrants to the workforce. Unemployment, which is calculated from a different survey, unexpectedly rose from 4.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent last month – its highest level this year.

Private employment improved and manufacturing hours worked rose even as overtime fell, suggesting healthy production rates.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.4 per cent, more than the 0.3 per cent expected, for an annual rate of 3.8 per cent.

August, 2006

After two weeks of extremely hot weather throughout most of the United States, things seem to have "broken open" again. During extremes in weather, no one is motivated. It's as though we spend all day going,

"Boy is it hot out there. "

"Yeah. The heat index says it's like 115 out there."

Yeah I heard it was like 115."

"Yep, it's hot."

"And the air conditioning isn't doing well enough."

"Have they started to cut back on power . . . "

And, so it goes. The focus is on the heat.

Yet, at the same time there is an active job market.

I don't work with a lot of junior people but there are shortages of cheap smart people. A person in my office found an accountant making $34000 in Boston. He just moved to NYC. One company offered him $44000. The next company $50000.

Another person is here to interview from the Carolinas. This business analyst is making $71000 and will probably get an offer in the mid $80's plus bonus.

Good people are doing well. Cheap people are doing extremely well.

If you are trying to hire, sell the job to everyone you meet.

Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2006 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To subscribe to Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to www.headhuntyournextjob.com. To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you or search for openings, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. For information about personal search services, go to www.vippersonalsearch.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).