Unisys Plans 1,800 Job Cuts

Unisys shares were down as much as 8 percent in early trading after the Blue Bell-based computer service company’s chief executive, Peter Altabef, told investors sales were down 5 percent in the past three months, due largely to weaker foreign revenues as the U.S. dollar strengthened.

The company plans an 8 percent “worldwide” reduction in its workforce, which totalled 23,000 last year. Severance and restructuring will cost $300 million, resulting in $200 million in yearly savings, the company added.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Unisys-plans-2000-job-cuts.html#Tv2iHY82ZSyg8f73.99

NJ’s Largest Paper, Star-Ledger, Cuts 40 News Jobs

The Star-Ledger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey’s largest newspaper is cutting about 170 jobs, including 25 percent of its newsroom positions, as it moves to consolidate operations and cut costs.

The Star-Ledger reported Thursday on NJ.com that the cuts will mean the loss of 40 of the 156 newsroom staffers at the paper.

Other journalists at the newspaper are being offered jobs at NJ Advance Media, a new company being created by parent company Advance Publications to provide content, advertising and marketing services to all of its papers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20140403_ap_bcb3f7ff38f04519b9d0130680554985.html#yfmrwV6huUd6q3Sx.99

US Airways To Close Moon Flight Operations Center, Affecting 600 Jobs

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Built less than six years ago, a state-of-the-art flight operations control center in Moon will be closing and the work transferred to Texas, a casualty in the American Airlines-US Airways merger.

American Airlines announced Friday that it intends to consolidate flight operations in Dallas-Fort Worth over the next 18 months, costing the region a facility built specifically for the needs of US Airways and the 600 jobs that go with it.

“It’s pretty sad for the people that have been here for a long time,” said Danny Persuit, president of Transport Workers Union Local 545, which represents 164 employees at the center.

In a separate action, American also plans to transfer 53 mechanics out of Pittsburgh in what it said was an annual maintenance “rebalancing” unrelated to the merger.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2014/01/24/US-Airways-to-close-Moon-flight-operations-center/stories/201401240148#ixzz2rQyL9pLw

Fulton Financial To Cut 14 Branches, Including 1 In Lancaster County

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Fulton Financial is closing 14 branches, including one in Lancaster County, as part of a cost-cutting program worth $8 million annually.

The action was disclosed Wednesday by E. Philip Wenger, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Wenger spoke during a conference call to discuss Fulton’s fourth-quarter and 2013 results with analysts who follow the firm.

Fulton is closing six branches in Pennsylvania, five in Maryland and three in New Jersey by the end of the second quarter.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/fulton-financial-to-cut-branches-including-in-lancaster-county/article_10b11eee-8436-11e3-bf19-001a4bcf6878.html

National Penn Bank Says It Will Close Nine Branches, Cut Staff

After three years of stable operating expenses, and positive returns for investors in 2013, the owner of National Penn bank said this week it is cutting staff and consolidating nine branch locations.

“The consistency of our financial performance with such a strong return on assets is a tribute to the efforts of our entire team,” National Penn President and CEO Scott V. Fainor said in a statement.

National Penn Bancshares Inc.’s restructuring also includes previously announced plans to move its headquarters from Boyertown, Pa., to Center City Allentown.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2014/01/national_penn_says_it_will_clo.html

Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club To Cut 2,300 Workers

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NEW YORK (AP) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it’s eliminating 2,300 workers at its Sam’s Club division as it reduces the ranks of middle managers in a bid to be more nimble.

The layoffs, which cut 2 percent of the membership club’s U.S. employee count of about 116,000, mark the largest since 2010 when the Sam’s Club unit laid off 10,000 workers as it moved to outsource food demonstrations at its stores.

The cuts come as Sam’s Club strives to compete better with Costco Wholesale Corp. and online players like Amazon.com’s Prime membership service. They also follow layoffs announced by several other major retailers in recent weeks that include Macy’s Inc., J.C. Penney and Target Corp.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140125_ap_4fbfbde8c9e1487cbe6569dc8dc9139f.html#6AF86HobVkfOl5Cz.99

Police Cuts Talk Of 2 Luzerne County Towns

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Two municipalities facing budget shortfalls are exploring options to ease their finances by cutting police services.

Edwardsville Mayor Bernard “Ace” Dubaskas said council members are talking about reducing the number of full-time officers, while Laflin council members are considering contracting with a neighboring municipality for police protection.

Cutting police services is not a new concept for cash-strapped municipalities.

Warrior Run disbanded its police force in favor of contracting police services from Nanticoke two years ago.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/741394/Police-cuts-talk-of-2-towns

Pottstown Memorial Medical Center Furloughs 30 Workers For 90 Days

POTTSTOWN — Pottstown Memorial Medical Center has instituted three-month furloughs for dozens of its employees and one of its units will be closed.

“We are implementing furloughs for less than four percent of employees across our hospital.  The furloughs impact both represented and non-represented employees.  Impacted employees are being reassigned to other open positions as possible,” PMMC spokesperson Debra Bennis wrote in an email received by The Mercury at 4:51 p.m. Tuesday.

An email reply from The Mercury at 4:52 p.m. Tuesday, which asked how many employees the hospital has, went unanswered; as did a subsequent phone message asking how many people have been furloughed.

The statement Bennis provided included no information about what departments experienced the furloughs.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130730/NEWS01/130739893/pmmc-furloughs-30-for-90-days#full_story

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton One Of More Than 100 U.S. Airports At Risk Of Closure

More than 100 U.S. airports, including Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, are in jeopardy of losing their air traffic control service – forcing their closure – under automatic federal spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 2, according to a Center for American Progress study.

Under the potential across-the-board budget cuts, or sequestration, the Federal Aviation Administration would be required to slash an estimated $1.35 billion, or approximately 9 percent, from its annual budget for each of the next 10 years, starting in January, to reduce the nation’s deficit, according to the study.

In order to decrease its expenditures, the administration may choose to restrict flights nationwide – from 70,000 to 62,000 per year – said Scott Lilly, a CAP senior writer and the author of the study.

However, Mr. Lilly said it is more likely the FAA will be forced to cut air traffic service at 106 of the nation’s smaller commercial airports – which he defined as less than 750,000 passengers per year – including the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, Lehigh Valley International Airport and Harrisburg International Airport.

Read more:http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/wilkes-barre-scranton-one-of-more-than-100-u-s-airports-at-risk-of-closure-1.1355940

Early Oley Valley School District Budget Includes Tax Hike, Job Cuts

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The Oley Valley School Board passed a tentative budget for the 2012-13 school year Wednesday night, but board members are still looking for any possible places to cut.

“I will support this tonight, but I am not pleased with certain aspects of the budget,” board member Ralph C. Richard said. “We still have some work to do, but we’ll get the proposed budget on the docket as we move to get a final budget.”

The $28.21 million budget includes a 0.4013 mill increase, which would bump the tax rate to 24.5563 mills. The annual tax bill on a property assessed at $100,000 would be about $2,456.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=385290

Report: Sony To Axe 10,000 Jobs In Turnaround Bid

 

The logo of Sony is not considered a "work of authorship" because it only consists of text in a simple typeface, so it is not an object of copyright in respect to US law. However, this logo is still protected by trademark laws. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Japan’s Sony Corp. is cutting 10,000 jobs, about 6 percent of its global workforce, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday, as new CEO Kazuo Hirai looks to steer the electronics and entertainment giant back to profit after four years in the red.

The job cuts would be the latest downsizing in Japan Inc where companies from cellphone maker NEC Corp. to electronics firm Panasonic Corp. are trimming costs in the face of a strong yen and competition from rivals like Apple and Samsung Electronics.

TV makers in particular have been hit hard by the tough business climate as well as sharp price falls, with Sony, Panasonic and Sharp expecting to have lost a combined $17 billion in the fiscal year just ended.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/chi-sony-to-axe-10000-jobs-in-turnaround-bid-20120409,0,38906.story

Methacton Throws Lunch Ladies Under The Bus

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Methacton School District has replaced the entire cafeteria staff with Philadelphia-based food service giant Aramark.  42 workers and managers have lost their jobs.

Aramark has agree to offer comparable service and cut high school lunch prices by $1.00.  Aramark has also agreed to give consideration to furloughed workers for comparable jobs, but rehire is not guaranteed.

Food service is expected to be a break-even operation but has lost money for the last five years.  About $1 million dollars according to Superintendent Timothy Quinn.

Time will tell if this was the right decision.  Aramark’s contract is for one year.

HSBC To Slash 30,000 Jobs Worldwide

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UK banking giant HSBC is now focusing on fast-growing emerging markets and plans to sell about half of its US Retail Bank Branches (195) to First Niagara for about one billion dollars.  The branches up for sale are mainly in New York and six are in Connecticut.

HSBC lost billions in the financial crisis of 2008; however HSBC reported a 3 percent increase in pretax profits for the first half of 2011.  The increase exceeded forecasted expectations.

HSBC is shifting their focus by expanding in emerging markets and reducing headcount in tougher markets.  A company official failed to give details on specifically where the 30,000 job cuts would be made.

Merck & Company To Layoff 13,000 In Latest Restructuring Round

Although Merck had a higher than anticipated second-quarter profit, stocks are down 2 percent and a new round of job eliminations is planned that could cut as many as 13,000 from the workforce.

Since 2009, Merck eliminated 12,500 positions but only reduced headcount by 6,000.  The latest round of cuts would bring the total number of jobs eliminated by Merck to 30,000, since 2009.  The workforce will drop from 91,000 (July 2011) to about 80,000.  The job cuts are to be completed by 2015.

Merck makes Singulair, Januvia and Janumet (their three top-selling drugs).  Singulair’s patent is expiring next year which will cut profits as generics hit the market.  Adjusted earnings for Merck came to $2.95 billion, up 9 percent over last year.  Revenue was $12.15 billion, up seven percent over analyst’s projections.

Time will tell what this means for the Lansdale plant.

Harley-Davidson Keeping Kansas City Plant Open – Surprise!

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This has become so predictable.  Harley-Davidson has used the same strategy again to get what they want from workers.  Cut permanent employees; add casual workers and then we will stay put.  First York, then Wisconsin, now Missouri.  They are cutting 145 union workers and adding 145 casual workers to replace them in order to be competitive in Missouri.  And of course “other restructuring moves” are thrown in for good measure.

It was either agree to Harley’s terms or they would shut down the plant in question each time.  Seriously, workers are left with no option other than to agree or face a plant closing.  Not much or a choice.