S.A. call center to lay off 410 workers

A call center company that has been in San Antonio since 1999 said Wednesday that it was closing one of its two local offices, leaving 410 people out of work at least temporarily.

Brett Saks, vice president of human resources for kgb, said he hopes a large number of those workers will find work with the kgb center at 6010 Exchange Parkway, the San Antonio facility that will remain open.

That center will look to hire about 30 people a week for the next 12 weeks, "possibly longer," Saks said in a prepared statement. All employees in good standing at the Wurzbach Road center that is closing will be encouraged to apply for the openings.

Kgb is a worldwide provider of directory assistance, customer care and other call center serviced that was known as INFONXX until last year.

It opened its first San Antonio center in 1999 with 300 employees and added a second office in 2003 during a growth spurt. Officials said in mid-2004, they expected the facilities would grow by 1,700 employees to a total of 2,200 workers.

The layoff, if it stays close to its current number, would be one of the largest the city has seen as the national economic shakeup worsens.

Kgb officials did not use the nosediving economy as a reason for the closing, however. It was instead “a business decision made for operational efficiency” after the lease on the Wurzbach Road facility expired, said spokeswoman Amy Wolfcale.

DISD Lays Off 375 Teachers

Laredo National Bank to lay off 170 in South Texas

About 170 employees will be laid off at the Laredo National Bank (LNB) headquarters in Laredo.

According to a letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), the bank’s merger with Birmingham, Ala.-based Compass Bank is the catalyst behind the layoffs.

In 2005, Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) purchased Laredo National Bancshares Inc. for $850 million, which at the time had six locations in San Antonio as well as branches in place in the Rio Grande Valley, Dallas and Houston.

BBVA later purchased regional bank company Compass Bank in 2007. Compass alone has total assets of $61.2 billion and 579 branches throughout its six-state region. Compass has 25 locations in San Antonio.

Last year, BBVA decided to merge LNB and two other banks it purchased — McAllen-based Texas Regional Bancshares Inc. and Fort Worth-based State National Bancshares — under the Compass Bank brand.

The letter to the TWC states that this merger “creates duplicate staffing in some technical and back office departments in the Laredo area.” The company adds, however, that about 400 people will continue to be employed in Laredo.

The “displacements” are slated to begin within one week after LNB’s operations systems are converted to Compass Bank systems, which is projected to be on or about Nov. 13 and may continue for a couple of weeks after that.

Those affected by the layoffs will be offered alternative positions within the bank or will be offered outplacement assistance. Employees were notified about the layoffs on July 7.

Thomas Graham, executive vice president of communications for Compass Bank, says the company takes layoffs seriously and makes it a point to notify affected employees four months in advance.

"These decisions are never easy and we greatly appreciate the valuable contribution these employees have made," Graham says. "We continue to look for opportunities to place these employees in new positions within the organization and, of course, we're helping them transition to new opportunities through outplacement support services that include, among others, resume writing, job search skills and interview coaching skills."

Employees who are displaced, the letter says, will have a certain level of pay continuation following the layoff to assist them during the employment transition period. During the time that this severance pay continues, employees can continue health care coverage at the same rate they paid while employed.

BBVA is a financial services group with more than $740 billion in total assets, 47 million clients, 8,000 global branches and 112,000 employees in more than 35 countries.

The company provides commercial and consumer banking services, consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards, securities brokerage, wealth management, pension plan management and insurance.

700 DISD Teachers Face Layoffs

Thousand Trails announces 144 layoffs in Frisco

Thousand Trails LP expects to eliminate 144 positions at its Frisco headquarters when a planned sale of the company to Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. is complete, the company said in a letter to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The Frisco-based operator of RV camping and outdoor preserve communities says an additional 97 employees working off-site will lose their jobs, bringing the total staff reduction to 241 employees. Most of the positions are tied to administrative functions at the company’s Frisco headquarters.

Chicago-based real estate investment trust Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. (NYSE: MHC) said in July that it would acquire Thousand Trails from its parent company, Privileged Access.

In May 2002, Thousand Trails was awarded $125,000 in cash incentives from the City of Frisco, for moving its headquarters and 100 jobs from an office building along Interstate 635 to Parkwood Office Center in Frisco. The company says the staff reductions will take place on or around Sept. 24.

Retailer to lay off 126 workers at its downtown store

Little Rock, Ark.-based Dillard's Inc. has filed notice of plans to lay off more than 100 employees at its store in downtown San Antonio.

Earlier this month, the retailer filed a work-force alignment and retraining notice (WARN) report with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). In the report, Dillard's states that its store at 102 Alamo Plaza will cease operations and will close its doors no later than Aug. 23 of this year.

The filing shows that Dillard's expects a total of 126 employees to be affected by the closing -- including 85 sales associates.

According to the TWC Web site, under federal law employers with 100 or more employees must file a WARN report when the company plans to shut down an employment site with 50 or more workers. An employer must also file a report if it plans to layoff at least 33 percent of its workforce.

The downtown Dillard's store is part of area retail center Rivercenter Mall.

The WARN report comes on the heels of an announcement by Rivercenter's owner, New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. (AAC), that it had purchased the former Joske's department store building from Dillard's.

That building, which dates back to 1867, spans a total of 550,000 square feet. The Dillard's store occupies about 160,000 square feet of that property.

The Joske's building buy is part of a larger investment that AAC is making to revitalize Rivercenter, which opened its doors in 1988.

At the time that AAC announced the purchase, Dillard's spokeswoman Julie Bull stated that her firm's downtown store would remain open until mid-August. She also stated that the company was working to relocate the Rivercenter employees to the retailer's four remaining stores in San Antonio, as follows: North Star Mall, Ingram Park Mall, The Shops at La Cantera and Rolling Oaks Mall.

Toyota to layoff 200 temp workers at truck plant

Toyota Tundra plant to lay off temp workers, slow production
June 17, 2008: 07:01 PM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday told 200 temporary workers at its full-size truck plant here they will be laid off this summer.

The company will also slow production at its Tundra plant, scheduling 14 days between now and October when no trucks will roll off the assembly lines. Those days, workers will be allowed to take vacation, days without pay or work at the plant on non-manufacturing duties as they choose, said Toyota spokesman Mike Goss.

The temporary workers were hired at the plant with hopes of becoming permanent employees as other workers left, but they will instead be returned to the agency that helped hire them, Goss said.

"We have a very long-term view of that factory in Texas. We're trying not to overreact. We're trying not to shut it down," said Goss, who noted record-high gas prices and a slowing economy have badly damaged truck sales.

The layoffs announced Tuesday do not affect the company's permanent work force of 2,000 at the San Antonio plant that opened in November 2006. At full capacity, the plant can produce 200,000 trucks a year.

It's not clear how the layoffs or slowed production might affect the 21 onsite suppliers that make parts for the Toyota Tundra plant. Those companies employ another 2,000 workers. Top of page

Employment in Texas up 2.3 percent since May 2007

Texas employers added about 8,700 jobs across the state in May, representing an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent since May of 2007, according to figures released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.

This compares to 0.2 percent annual job growth nationally over the same period.

After posting a record-low Texas unemployment rate of 4.1 percent in April, the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in May. Unemployment in Texas is up from 4.4 percent in May 2007.

"Job growth in Texas remained strong, outpacing the national trend," says Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken. "Despite the fact that the number of those seeking work went up this month, the Texas unemployment rate remained at historically low levels, staying below the 5.0 percent mark for nearly two years."

The San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area's unemployment rate stood at 4 percent for May 2008, according to non-seasonally adjusted state labor market data. This compares to an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent for May 2007.

Goodyear Announces 110 More Layoffs in Tyler

By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor

Goodyear has announced to the United Steelworkers Union that it will lay off about 110 people — about two-thirds — of the workforce remaining at its Tyler plant between Aug. 6 and Aug. 19.

A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice sent to the union stated the “permanent mass layoff has been necessitated by a lack of work at the plant.”
Amy Brei, Goodyear spokeswoman, said about 60 employees will be left.

“There has been a decrease in the requirements needed for that rubber from Tyler,” Ms. Brei said of the Tyler plant, which retained its mixing operation after a mass layoff at the end of last year.

During the last contract negotiations between the company and the USW, the union struggled to keep the Tyler plant open, and the three-year master contract guaranteed the Tyler plant would be kept open through Dec. 31, 2007.

The company, however, ceased tire production there, reduced the plant’s employee base by several hundred and retained the plant as a rubber-mixing operation.“I feel like this is a further reduction toward the total closure of the plant,” USW Local President Harold Sweat said Thursday.

The union’s master contract, which expires in July 2009, requires the company to shut down the Canadian Valleyfield plant before it closes the Tyler plant, Sweat said.

Several Firms Set Layoffs in Texas

Several companies have recently disclosed pending layoffs in Texas, including a number involving more than 100 workers apiece, according to regulatory filings.

Citigroup, the nation's largest bank by assets, notified the Texas Workforce Commission in a letter received Tuesday that it will cut 125 jobs by closing an office in the Fort Worth suburb of Bedford.

Citigroup plans to cut at least 4,200 jobs this year and close eight branches in Texas and 11 in other states as part of a restructuring under new Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit.

Silver Line Building Products LLC, which makes vinyl windows at a plant in Garland, told the commission last week that it will begin cutting 251 jobs around June 30. The company is "substantially" reducing production at the plant and expects the layoffs to be permanent.

Dallas Woodcraft Co. said it will close its Dallas plant and eliminate 119 jobs on June 30. The company made products for Home Interiors & Gifts Inc., which sells decorating accessories through home parties but had seen its sales fall by more than half in four years, and it filed for bankruptcy protection last week.

Another Home Interiors division, Laredo Candle, said it would lay off 77 workers in Webb County on June 30.

Also, Origen Financial LLC said it will cease Texas operations and close its office in Fort Worth on July 1 and cut 96 jobs.

In El Paso, Millennium Plastics Technologies LLC indicated it would cut 185 jobs on June 30.

Accenture LLP plans to cut 95 jobs in the Houston area on July 1.

Dell to Layoff 900

Just heard that Dell is laying off 900 workers in Austin. Not sure what department(s) are getting hit. I'm sure we'll hear more soon.Update: North Austin Desktop PC plant to be closed by end of 2008. This is part of worldwide cutbacks at Dell. The work might be moved to a newer plant in North Carolina.

Bell Helicopter To Lay Off 5% Of Employees

North Texas-based Bell Helicopter will lay off about 5 percent of its work force this year, the company announced Saturday.

Officials could not give an exact number or date, but said the layoffs were needed for cost reductions and " to better align the organizational structure with strategies for future growth."

In a release, Richard Millman, President and CEO of Bell Helicopter, acknowledged it was difficult for the company to reduce their staff, "but the facts are that Bell Helicopter must undergo some changes in the short term to prepare for the long term future."

There are about 44,000 employees internationally.

"We must reduce operating costs to assure that our products will be competitive in the marketplace. We will do this by increasing our efficiency while reducing redundancies and flattening the organization."
The employees affected by the layoff are being notified, officials said, and added they will be offered assistance in locating other employment.

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

The following future closings and permanent mass layoffs were reported in Texas.
· Goodyear Tire & Rubber is stopping most non-mix functions at its plant at 13701 State Highway 31 West in Tyler with most layoffs being completed by the end of this month.
· Integrated Logistics Inc. is losing its contract with Wal-Mart and will have to layoff 780 employees at its distribution facility at 4554 E. Greenwood Drive in Baytown by the end of next month.

The following future closings and permanent mass layoffs were reported in Washington, DC.

· MVM, Inc. at 425 I St. NW is closing down laying off 51 employees by the end of this month.
· Resources for Human Development, Inc. is laying off 20 employees in the District by the end of this month.

Slow retail hiring crimps Houston employment figures

Area gained nearly 60,000 jobs through 2007 despite late slowdown

By L.M. SIXEL
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

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More conservative holiday hiring by retailers last month slowed overall job growth in the Houston area, according to data released today by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Retailers added only 700 jobs between December 2006 and December 2007. One year earlier, retailers put on 4,000 jobs.

Usually there is a surge in year-end retail hiring, said Joel Wagher, labor market analyst for The WorkSource, which manages employment services, education and training for the Houston area.

But retail isn't growing like it had been because people aren't buying as much, he said. They're having to devote more of their income to cover the higher prices for gasoline and food.

Overall, employers added 59,800 jobs during the past 12 months, a 2.4 percent gain, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

Houston's unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in December, up from 4 percent in November. Local jobless data is not seasonally adjusted.

The statewide unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in December, its highest level in 10 months and a sign of slowing in the regional economy.

Figures showed that the number of job hunters swamped a modest increase in hiring in Texas, pushing unemployment up from 4.2 percent in November.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in Texas declined 4.3 percent, to 57,364 from 59,943 in November.

lm.sixel@chron.com

AT&T loss prompts job cuts at GSD&M Idea City

GSD&M Idea City could lay off between 100 and 200 workers in the wake of the loss of AT&T Inc.'s media account, according to a published report this week.

In an interview in Advertising Age, Roy Spence, chairman and CEO of Idea City, would not confirm the number of employees that will be cut. However, he told the magazine that the layoffs largely stem from the advertising agency's loss of AT&T's media business. The communications company consolidated its $3.4 billion media account with advertising firm Mediaedge:cia last month.

An Idea City spokesperson said that employees were notified today. The cuts will largely affect those employees who worked on the AT&T account. The published report said the layoffs could affect between 100 to 200 employees companywide.

At one point, the AT&T account represented about 40 percent of the advertising firm's business, insiders say. It is not known how significant those billings are presently.

Idea City employs about 700 people. The advertising agency has lost more than 100 employees in the past few months.

In the past year, Idea City has parted with longtime clients Chili's Grill & Bar and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

This story originally appeared in the Austin Business Journal, an affiliated publication.


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