Teva to Lay Off 1,000; Croatian Staff to Get Generous Severances

Teva Pharmaceuticals is to lay off 1,000 or more employees worldwide as part of its acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals. Three hundred of those layoffs will be in at Teva’s IVAX plant in DOral, Fla., according to the Miami Herald.

Those workers may be wishing they were Croatian, however. At Teva’s Zagreb facility, 790 employees are to go. But check out the deal they get. Israel’s Globes Online:

The “Croatian Times” quotes Pliva chairman Matko Bolanca as saying that the employees will receive “huge severance payments”. Employees will less than 25 years seniority will receive €40,500 and employees with more than 25 years seniority will receive more than €50,000. Employees who have spent their entire working lives with the company will receive €270,000. Remaining employees will receive a pay hike.

In other words, the minimum payout in Croatia will be about $52,000! (And you thought only CEOs got paid for failing.)

The South Florida Business Journal says the Doral workers will also get “severance packages,” but there’s no detail on how generous they will be (or whether they will be paid in more-valuable euros …)

Over 500 layoffs in Live Oak

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. will lay off 505 of its Live Oak employees between February and March 2009.
The Live Oak facility at one point employed about 1,500 and was Suwannee County’s largest employer, according to the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce. Suwannnee County is located about half way between Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
News of the layoffs came just two weeks after the PIttsburg, Tex.-based poultry producer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec.1, receiving a commitment for up to $450 Million in debtor-in-possession financing. The company’s Mexico operations and certain operations in the United States were not included in the filing and will continue to operate outside of the Chapter 11 process.
PIlgrim’s Pride (NYSE: PPC), which employees 48,000 in the U.S. and Mexico, has made numerous cut backs this year in response to soaring feed prices and an over supply of chicken in the U.S. It started in March with the closing of a chicken processing complex and six of the company’s 13 U.S. distribution centers, including the two Florida facilities in Plant City and Pompano Beach. In April it reduced its chicken processing by approximately 5 percent. The company also consolidated one chicken processing facility and idled two others in 2008.
Also in April, according to published news reports, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies, arrested more than 280 foreign nationals employed at Pilgrim’s Pride plants in five states, including the Live Oak facility, who were suspected of committing identity theft and other criminal violations in order to obtain their jobs.
The Live Oak facility is one of 34 fresh chicken processing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico, and the only processing facility in Florida. According to the company’s Web site, the Live Oak facility features air-chilling technology to process chickens that are antibiotic-free and raised on an all-vegetable diet and are part of a premium product line for the natural foods retail supermarket segment. There is also a Pilgrim’s Pride hatchery in Live Oak.

Manpower: More layoffs than hires at Jacksonville companies in 1Q

More Jacksonville companies expect to trim their workforce than add to it in the first quarter of 2009, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

“From January to March, 12 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 13 percent expect to reduce their payrolls,” said Manpower spokeswoman Judy Leppia. “Another 66 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 8 percent are not certain of their hiring plans.”

The best local job prospects in the first quarter appear to be in wholesale and retail trade, information and hospitality. Employers in construction, manufacturing, transportation and utilities, finance and professional services expect to reduce payrolls.

The local expectations are worse than the national numbers. Of the more than 31,000 employers surveyed about first quarter hiring plans, 16 percent expect to increase staff and 13 percent expect to reduce payrolls. Sixty seven percent expect no change and 5 percent are undecided.

Manpower Inc. has been conducting the employment outlook survey for 46 years. Beginning with the first quarter 2009 survey, Manpower adjusted the methodology to better reflect the makeup of the U.S. economy. Manpower said the revisions make it impossible to compare the latest survey to previous results.

St. Augustine company to layoff 208

An area manufacturing company will lay off 208 employees in 2009, according to a notice filed Friday by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

St. Augustine-based Ideal Div Epicor Industries Inc. designs and manufactures clamps for various uses.

Besides the headquarters at 3200 Parker Drive, the company has locations in Tennessee, China and Mexico.

The company has more than 90 years of experience, according to its Web site, and relocated to St. Augustine from Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1986.

Large Time-Share Company Plans Hundreds of Layoffs

By The Associated Press

Published: Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 7:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 7:17 a.m.

ORLANDO | One of America's largest time-share companies is getting ready to lay off hundreds of workers and halt much of its sales.

Orlando-based Westgate Resorts is facing a sudden financing squeeze because of the nation's severe economic downturn.

Westgate's president told the Orlando Sentinel the cuts would affect all areas of business, from administration to marketing, sales and construction.

He says Westgate will be able to pay its bills, but has no money for new business until things get better.

E-One begins workforce reduction with layoffs

By Rick Cundiff

Published: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 2:35 p.m.
OCALA - Firetruck manufacturer E-One began a wave of layoffs Tuesday morning as the company moved to private ownership.

Doug Engle/Star-Banner
Michael Puzino, left and Lanny Hill, right, give each other hugs outside the Emergency One Chassis Plant after being laid off Tuesday. "There is no ill feelings towards them," Hill said who had 26 years with the company as a welder. "The strong will survive."
Related Links:

* E-One timeline
* Text of E-One news release about completed sale

Several laid-off employees said Tuesday they had been told last week by company management that E-One would lay off between 200 and 300 people. When the company sought state and local funds last year for a new plant, the reported number of employees was close to 1,300.

E-One spokeswoman Amanda Davis said Tuesday that the layoff estimates given by the employees were not accurate.

"You're not within the range," she said. "That's way too high."

Day-shift workers leaving the E-One chassis plant confirmed they had been told at 7 a.m. that they were being laid off because the company has too many workers.

"The company's got to be profitable," said Shawn Conner, a nine-year employee. "As it is, they've got too many employees."

The layoffs came on the same day that E-One and its longtime corporate parent Federal Signal Corp., announced the completion of the sale of E-One to a combination of E-One management staff and American Industrial Partners, a private equity firm.

E-One, founded in Ocala in 1974, has been owned by Federal Signal since 1979. E-One lost nearly $25 million last year, and Federal Signal investors have been pressuring the Oak Brook, Ill.-based corporation to sell the firetruck maker.

E-One also announced Tuesday that the privately-held company's board of directors will include Gene Goodson, a former chairman and CEO of E-One competitor Oshkosh Corp., and Donn Viola, the former chief operating officer of Mack Trucks. The company statement did not name any other board members.

Several laid-off employees confirmed E-One offered a severance package, but said they didn't know the details yet.

The layoffs weren't a complete surprise, employees said.

"We heard rumors last week, and the week before, but they were just rumors, so we didn't worry," said Michael Puzino, who worked in the fabrication department for two years.

"We all saw the handwriting on the wall," said George Goodridge, a 20-year employee.

Puzino said the number of workers laid off would probably be substantial.

"They said last week they were going to lay off at least 200 people," he said.

Another employee, Lanny Hill, put the figure even higher.

"I think they said right at 300," he said.

Company spokeswoman Davis disputed the number but declined to provide an accurate figure, saying the company would issue a statement today.

Hill, a small-parts welder, worked for E-One for 25 years. Like other laid-off workers, he offered only positive comments about his former employer.

"It was good. They provided you well," he said. "It's good. I wish them well ... They're all good people."

For Goodridge, 65, Tuesday was the second time he'd lost a long-term job.

"I've already lost a job at AT&T. I was there 25 years," he said. "That hurt, no matter what. I was hoping to stay another year or two [at E-One] if my health was good."

Conner, who was a rigger on the chassis line, remained optimistic as he left the plant.

"It's all right," he said. "There's more jobs out there, and we'll all get through it."

Hill, 60, wasn't sure what he'd do next.

"I guess, go home and sit down and relax for a while, and look through the package they gave us, and get on the Internet," he said.

Like Conner, he remained hopeful as he left the chassis plant for the last time.

"There is life after E-One," he said. "We will survive."

Rick Cundiff may be reached at rick.cundiff@starbanner.com, or 867-4130.

At UF, staff and faculty pay raises follow layoffs

University of Florida faculty and staff are getting raises just a few months after the school announced more than 100 layoffs to help slash $47 million from its budget.

UF President Bernie Machen announced today that staff would receive 2 percent increases effective Sept. 19. A 3 percent merit pool will be created for faculty, with raises to be determined based on critera set by college deans, he added.

Health care premiums will not increase, Machen said in a statement.

Money for the raises will come from fees and higher tuition approved recently by trustees, Machen said.

"Any time we are asked to do more with less total resources, it is difficult and potentially damaging to the institution," Machen said. "Because of your collective efforts, we have come together and are positioned to maintain our commitment to educational excellence. In recognition of this overall effort, we are going to provide a small, but hopefully significant, compensation increase to eligible faculty and staff."

NASA contractors issue layoff notices for 2,300

NASA contractor Space Gateway Support LLC and three of its subcontractors have told the state they plan to layoff a total of nearly 2,300 employees by Sept. 30 as Space Gateway Support's contract for base operations at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station expires.
However, many of those employees are expected to be rehired by the companies that will take over the functions performed by Space Gateway Support and its subcontractors. The work is being divided into multiple contracts instead of one joint contract. Space Gateway has held the contract since 1998.
Space Gateway Support is laying off 1,725 employees, while Wyle Aerospace Group will lay off 248, Creative Management Technology will lay off 185 and Comprehensive Health Services will lay off 135.
The layoffs are unrelated to the shut down of the space shuttle program, which is expected to cost the area up to 8,000 jobs.

Boston Whaler to furlough 250

Boston Whaler Inc. filed notice with the state Agency for Workforce Innovation that it will furlough 250 employees between the end of June and the end of July.

The 250 workers involved amounts to half of the Edgewater-based plant's workforce.

The company expects to recall all the workers, although they may be off work long enough to become eligible for unemployment benefits, says a company spokesman.

Boston Whaler is owned by Lake Forest, Ill.-based Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC).

Brunswick announced in March that it would lay off 400 employees at its Sea Ray boat subsidiary plant in Merritt Island because of the sagging economy and slower demand for boats.

The company announced in May it will cease production of its Bluewater Marine brands beginning July 1 and close its production facility in Newberry, S.C., by the end of June, resulting in the loss of 175 jobs.

Brunswick's first-quarter sales of $1.35 billion were down 3 percent from $1.39 billion for the same quarter last year. "Sales for the quarter reflected lower demand for marine products, particularly in the United States where industry retail sales were down about 17 percent in units in the first quarter," said Brunswick Chairman and CEO Dustan McCoy.

North Ridge to lay off 405

North Ridge Medical Center has notified the state of its intent to layoff 405 employees by June 1.
The Oakland Park hospital was recently bought by Holy Cross Hospital, which said last week it would close the 322-bed facility within 90 days.

Holy Cross said it has a team working with affected employees to help them locate jobs within its ministry and through workshops, outplacement services and job fairs.

North Ridge -- which opened in the mid-1970s -- reported a net loss of $37.6 million on revenue of $90.6 million to the Agency of Health Care Administration for 2006. It had a 26.4 percent occupancy rate -- among the lowest in South Florida -- and had been owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. Tenet has one additional hospital in Broward County, five in Palm Beach County and four in Miami-Dade County.

Holy Cross, which owns a diagnostic treatment center across the street from North Ridge, posted a 2006 loss of $234,473 on revenue of $249.9 million. The 571-bed hospital has had an occupancy rate of 45.6 percent and more than 2,800 employees. It is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.

Metro One to shut down call center, lay off 200

Metro One Telecommunications Inc. will shut down its Orlando call center and lay off 200 employees by May 20 as part of its exit from the wholesale directory assistance business.
Metro One (NASDAQ:INFO) will be shutting down its call centers in Orlando, Minneapolis, Charlotte, and Honolulu and layoff a total of 600 employees, who will receive severance packages based on their length of service.
The moves are expected to cost the company $3.6 million.
In addition, the company also will reduce the size of its headquarters staff in Beaverton, Ore., leaving it with 70 workers.
Metro One previously closed call centers in Long Island, N.Y., and Portland, Ore.
The Oregon-based company says it's getting out of the directory assistance business due to a lack of customers willing to pay enough to cover expenses and generate a return for shareholders. Metro One Telecommunications, which is an information services provider, says it will focus on its data and contact services business.
This isn't the first contraction for the company, which eliminated more than 2,000 workers between 2005 and 2006, when it consolidated 25 call centers into six locations.

Sea Ray layoffs rise to 400

Sea Ray will lay off 400 employees at its plant at 100 Sea Ray Drive in Merritt Island, 50 more than previously reported.
In February the company reported it would lay off 350 employees at the facility because of the sagging economy and slower demand for boats.
However, the state Agency for Workforce Innovation reported Wednesday the company plans to layoff 400 employees between May and July.
The company says in a statement it will be able to move some of those employees to other plants as it relocates the production of some of its boat models. Two of Sea Ray's other Merritt Island facilities -- a product development & engineering facility at 200 Sea Ray Dr. and manufacturing plant -- will not be affected by the layoffs. In February, the company reported the net job loss would be 80.

High-tech Harris Corp. of Melbourne to add 425 jobs by mid-2008: Defense contracts are fueling the company's hiring growth in Palm Bay and Melbourne

Feb 07, 2008 (The Orlando Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- Melbourne-based Harris Corp. plans to add more than 425 new jobs by mid-2008, the latest hiring boom in a substantial expansion of its Brevard County work force, the company said Wednesday.

With annual pay ranging from $55,000 to more than $66,000, the high-tech communications giant expects to boost its Brevard work force by at least 6 percent through midyear, officials said.

More hiring is planned later in 2008, although specifics were not available.

Since early 2007, the company has generated more than 700 new jobs in Melbourne and Palm Bay. Though it has filled some positions vacated by retirements, Harris' work force grew at a net pace of nearly 10 percent.

Wartime defense contracts have prompted much of its hiring, though nondefense work has been almost equally important, officials said.

"We've seen across-the-board growth," spokesman Jim Burke said. "And the local hiring numbers do not include additional hiring we are doing throughout the rest of the U.S. and internationally."

The largest high-tech company based in Central Florida currently employs about 7,200 in government communications, electronics, program management and other technology operations. That represents nearly half of its worldwide employment.

Harris has grown locally without the enticement of tax breaks or other government incentives, according to Burke.

Its average annual salaries are 50 percent to 90 percent higher than the Central Florida average of $37,000 a year.

The company continues to bring aboard a variety of technical talent, ranging from recent college graduates to veteran engineers, Burke said.

It produces some key military systems now used in Iraq and Afghanistan, including high-speed command communications systems and fighter jet cockpit electronics.

Its nonmilitary work includes production of wireless hand-held computers for the U.S. Census Bureau and advanced air-traffic control communications for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Harris recently posted fourth-quarter sales of $1.3 billion, a 30 percent jump from the year-earlier quarter. Profit rose 26 percent to $114 million, beating the average Wall Street analyst estimate.

The company's expansion comes at a critical time for the region as the economy tries to weather the effect of the real estate slump and mortgage-credit crisis, said Sean Snaith, an economist with the University of Central Florida.

"Harris has tapped into areas that have been unscathed by the housing demise thus far," he said. "There continues to be sustained demand and job creation in the military sector, which is not going away any time soon, no matter who comes into the White House."

The higher paying jobs at Harris and other high-tech employers will be key to sustaining the local economy by supporting consumer spending during the slowdown, Snaith said.

"Their salaries are a far cry from the other industries tied to tourism, which generally have lower pay," he said. "High-tech provides the types of jobs we need to diversify the economy and increase the average wage in this region."

Overall, defense and high-tech employment across mid-Florida has grown 8 percent to 223,200 jobs since 2005, according to a recent study for Enterprise Florida by the University of West Florida's Haas Center.

Richard Burnett can be reached at rburnett@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5256.

Updated: Facility Closures and Layoff Announcements (Jan. 20-26)

A Weekly Listing of Future Corporate Downsizings

This report is excerpted from Watch List, a weekly column of distressed commercial properties, mortgages and corporate news. (Editors Note: We removed the layoff notice for LendingTree Loans/HLC that appeared here earlier today. According to the company no layoffs are planned.)

IndyMac Bancorp in Pasadena, CA, plans to eliminate 2,403 people, or 24% of its overall workforce, spread throughout the company, including a 27% reduction in staff with its outsourced and temporary vendors, mainly in India. IndyMac’s CEO, Mike Perry, notified employees in a blog posting and after telling employees in October that the bulk of its downsizing was done. "The reality is that since October 12 conditions have gotten worse in our industry.

The private secondary market remains virtually frozen, and the market suffered another setback in November, as the GSEs [government sponsored enterprises] reported large losses and indicated that they are capital-constrained, with the result that they had to further tighten their own guidelines," Perry wrote.

Of the 2,403 impacted individuals, 1,881 are being impacted immediately, including 1,440 regular employees and 441 from our global/non-traditional workforce. 470 are sales staff, who, the company said, will not be able to succeed and earn sufficient commission-based income and will therefore leave IndyMac by March 31. The remaining 52 individuals have already voluntarily resigned since Jan. 1.

As part of the plan, IndyMac has decided to close its regional wholesale mortgage centers in Tampa, FL (One MetroCenter, 4010 W. Boy Scout Blvd., Suite 600), Philadelphia, PA (480 East Germantown Pike, East Norriton, PA); Boston, MA (1 Adams Place at 859 Willard S., Suite 200, Quincy, MA); Columbia, SC (1333 Main St.); and Kansas City, MO (901 E. 104th St., 4th floor) by the end of the first quarter.

Lehman Brothers will substantially reduce its resources and capacity in the U.S. residential mortgage origination in light of the dislocation in the mortgage markets. As a result, it is suspending its wholesale and correspondent lending activities at its Aurora Loan Services subsidiary. The action affects approximately 1,300 employees and will result in the closure of Aurora’s regional operations centers in Lake Forest, CA (25510 and 25520 Commercentre Drive), Sunrise, FL, and Florham Park, NJ. Aurora’s Colorado operations will be consolidated at its Littleton office.

Bank of America Corp. plans to eliminate 650 corporate and investment banking jobs and sell its equity prime brokerage business. The restructuring also includes reduced activities in certain structured products, including collateralized debt obligations and resizing the international platform to emphasize core strengths in debt, cash management, and trading, including rates and foreign exchange.

London-based recording company EMI Group expects to cut between 1,500 and 2,000 in the next six months. The company did not identify how many of those will be in the United States.

Mortgage company to lay off 300

There's no word on how many PHH employees in Jacksonville will be let go.




By URVAKSH KARKARIA, The Times-Union


New Jersey-based mortgage company PHH will eliminate about 300 jobs at its Mount Laurel, N.J., and Jacksonville locations, citing the housing market slump.
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In an e-mail to PHH Mortgage employees, Chief Executive Officer Terence Edwards said affected workers will be offered severance packages and outplacement services.

It's not clear how many of the cuts will take place in Jacksonville. Calls to PHH were not returned Wednesday.

"Recent housing-market developments continue to negatively impact the level of originations and profitability of mortgage companies industry-wide," Edwards said in the e-mail, obtained by The Times-Union. "Like our competitors, we now find ourselves forced to implement a layoff."

Edwards left the door open for further pink slips.

"In the past, when we have reduced the number of our team players I was able to say the cuts were over for the foreseeable future," Edwards said in the e-mail. "This time, I am unable to promise that. We will continue to evaluate business flow and new client signings to determine if further reductions will be necessary."

The CEO said he hoped further cuts could be avoided by, among other things, signing new customers and clamping down on costs.

Earlier this year, PHH agreed to a $1.8 billion buyout by GE Capital Solutions. As part of that deal, GE plans to sell PHH's mortgage unit to Blackstone. But PHH announced last month that Blackstone is having money trouble, so the buyout might fall through. Blackstone received a letter from its lending group indicating that its funding plan might fall $750 million short of what it needs.

urvaksh.karkaria@jacksonville.com,


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