Results tagged “layoffs”

Found in the window of Kenneth Wingard at 2319 Market.

While news of another batch of layoffs at the Chronicle isn't particularly newsworthy in this economy, the California Media Workers Guild posted the following missive yesterday.

We're almost certain that more esteemed colleagues like Steven T. Jones and Joe Eskenazi didn't come across a request from a Chronicle reporter to unpublish their items on yesterday's involuntary layoffs

While editorial staff gets pruned today, we're hearing from Chronicle guild members that "No one thinks they're gonna go through with any manager layoffs." (Update: Lesley Guth, Chron manager, was laid off this afternoon.) If there's no one to edit, however, what will the many, many layers of management do all day?

It's rumored that 20 newsroom-based Media Workers Guild employees at the San Francisco Chronicle will be involuntarily laid off today. We're told that a union steward sent a message to its members recommending that, if they are indeed called to HR, to bring a guild representative with them to help protect their interests. Yikes.

The latest Oakland City Budget document dropped yesterday, and in it Mayor Ron Dellums is proposing laying off 140 of the city's 803 police officers in order to help meet an estimated $80 to $100 million shortfall this year. The budget crisis stems from a loss in property tax revenue as well as rising costs for employee retirement funds and healthcare.

Sigh. The Sacramento Bee tells AP that they plan on "cutting 128 jobs, or 11 percent of its workforce, as revenue continues to fall in the beleaguered newspaper industry." The death toll by the numbers: 29 jobs in the newsroom, 8 in advertising, 62 in circulation, and 23 in production. Remaining employees face wage cuts and forced vacations too. The Sacramento Bee is owned by Sacramento-based McClatchy Co.

Insiders at SF Chronicle, according to SFBG, say that "it wants to cut 150 union workers, most of them in the newsroom." Egads. That is to say, half of the newsroom would be cut. Hearst Corporation also wants to end seniority at the paper. (No more overinflated masthead titles? Noooooooo!) This could mean a somewhat serious reduction in Bay Area coverage. This news comes on the heels of last week's announcement that Hearst Corporation might shutdown the paper for good.

Owen Thomas at Valleywag has word that there might -- might! -- be "'major layoffs'" at Apple today. According to VW tipsters, "'all sales teams have mandatory meetings today'" and "'HR booked conference rooms in Cupertino.'" Is it true? Who knows. But we're here to spread the wild speculation. Stay tuned.

According to a CBS 5/KCBS/AP report, "Union leaders at the San Francisco Chronicle said they were drafting a compromise to a management proposal that offers severe job cuts that officials indicated were imperative to keeping the newspaper open for business." This adds weight to the argument that the Hearst Corporation is strongarming the union via a threat of a shutdown. The cuts, the press release-ish news report, goes on to say that job cuts could "include more than 50 employees." If it takes a mere 50+ job cuts to save a paper, it seems like the choice is clear.

Budget or not, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is all set to send layoff notices (warnings) to 20,000 state workers. According to the Sacramento Bee, "those with the least seniority among the approximately 100,000 state workers employed at General Fund units," will get the notice come tomorrow morning. "In the absence of a budget, the governor has the responsibility to realize savings any way he can," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear, defending Arnold's menacing, mass layoff plan. While he hasn't said exactly how many notices will actually result in layoffs (we going to go ahead and guess most of them), 2,000 layoffs would "save an estimated $150 million, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office."

More grim news from the employed sector. According to the Chronicle (not AP!?), "January's payroll job losses were the steepest one-month decline since the end of 1974 when the nation was battling another deep recession"and the overall U.S. unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent in January, the highest level since September 1992.

In the throes of our failing economy, Google trimmed 100 jobs and close three offices this week. According to reports, 100 full-time recruiters were shown the door. Google also shutdown three engineering offices in Austin (just after it opened "with a lavishly catered party"), Norway and Sweden. Google VP Laszlo Bock announced the layoffs yesterday via his blog, siting "the state of the economy is to blame for the cutbacks." Stay strong, Googlers.

With corporate offices in Fremont and Mountain View, Logitech announced it will hand out 500 pink slips to employees this week. The cuts will affect middle management and higher, effectively cutting 15% of its workforce, according to reports. (Our condolences, guys.) Logitech produces keyboards, mice, cameras, speakers, gaming devices, and those pop-up notices that always seem to appear on our system.

Regardless what you think about print publishing, Stacey's Books was a favorite. (Its foreign section alone seemed endless!) So after months of guessing when it will close its doors, Stacey's finally told its employees today that they will close shop sometime in March. A source in Stacey's corporate sales tells us:

In an odd and somewhat unprofessional manner, the Chronicle announced yesterday that, well, it's imploding. (While layoffs at the Chron are no surprise, the dialing down of SFGate as a whole, however, is.) At least according to World Views second to final post.

Bank of America (who used to be based in San Francisco) has announced plans to cut anywhere from 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over the next three years. As the company sucks up Merrill Lynch & Co., cuts will affect both BofA and Merrill. "In an effort to lower costs as they face increasing defaults in mortgages, credit card debt and other loans," the (former) banking giant will add these jobs cuts to the thousands that they already eliminated over the past year. In related conspiracy theory, tinfoil hat news: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges, it seems, the day after he announced all Illinois government agencies to suspend business with Bank of America. Allegedly.

After yesterday's rare appearance before the Board of Supervisors, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced his team's $118 million in proposed "mid-year solutions." Part of said solution will be to eliminate 400 city jobs. While workers will be notified on Friday, they will still be employed by through February 2009. (Hopefully, this will be the start of a budding relationship between the mayor and the Board of Supervisors. Chortle.)

It was announced today that Washington Mutual , which was shoved under the thumb of federal regulators and sold to JPMorgan Chase in September, will close its Pleasanton campus and eliminate hundreds of San Francisco positions. In total, the former banking giant will eliminate 1,600 Bay Area jobs. The company plans to "cut 400 employees at its operations center at 201 Mission St. in San Francisco early next year," which would leave a paltry 60 workers there until the site shuts down permanently in late 2009. One employee at the SF office said, "It's a shock, but at least it's good and bad. At least we're part of a transition team until next year. It's better than being laid off right now." This comes on the heels of, well, scores of other layoffs hitting the Bay Area this month. (SFGate)

Awful news, everyone! Most Bay Area executives believe that the economy will get worse through 2009. But wait, it gets worse! The Bay Area Council surveyed 509 executives, and the results show that "four out of ten companies plan to cut jobs within six months." What's more, 41 percent of the fat cats also suspect that "the economy will get worse for the next 18 months to three years," predicting economic misfortune going well into the next decade. And while home prices have dramatically plunged across the Bay Area, forecasts like this might mean most of you wading in the middle-class pool won't be able to pay a mortgage anytime soon. In related news, you now need to register in order to post an 'erotic services' ad on Craigslist, and the cocaine retail biz is still a seller's market.

It was officially announced today that at least 1,500 jobs are set to get cut at Yahoo, which effectively hacks off 10 percent of the Sunnyvale Web portal's staff. This most recent set of layoffs, coupled with the 1,000 jobs eliminated in January, come as the company's third-quarter profit plummeted two thirds to $54.3 million (4 cents per share), from $151.2 million (11 cents per share) over a year ago. Will Microsoft come to the rescue? Again? Stay tuned. (SFGate)

In more pink slip sadness today, (owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group) eliminated 50 jobs. Fifteen newsroom employees and 19 employees from "other parts of the paper" were let go today. Citing a loss of advertising revenue because to the evil Internet, this most recent workforce slashing represents "a cut of about 5 percent" of the over Merc staff.

535 San Francisco Unified School District teachers will receive layoff notices this morning due to state cuts in education funding. Today's pink slip handouts stem from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget '09, which will see San Francisco schools losing around $40 million. According to CBS 5, Mayor Newsom is doing what he can, even if it's a Band-Aid solution to a longterm problem.

Politically-correct, conservative KSFO talk show host Melanie Morgan annonced yesterday that her contract would not be renewed due to financial issues over at KSFO's corporate parent, Citadel Broadcasting Corp. Co-host of the Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Show, Morgan is somewhat (in)famous for jump starting the Gov. Gray Davis recall, which has since left us with Gov. Schwarzenegger; and calling for the rape, murder, hair-pulling, and vivisection of editor Bill Keller. (Okay, not really, what she actually said was that if Bill Keller should be tried for treason, he should face the ultimate penalty, which is death. So..there you go.)

According to a Valleywag tipster:

The Denver Biz Times is reporting that Denver-based MediaNews Group -- the owner of the Alameda Newspaper Group (which includes the Oakland Tribune) and the Contra Costa Times, will be reducing staff in its NoCal operations.

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian! Oh, Tim Redmond, we're so sorry to hear about your dad. [Moment of silence.] Okay. The Guardian's with Daly on the budget. They got a letter from someone saying Ed Jew is innocent. More info on the layoffs at the Merc News. A man with psychiatric problems gets no help from the city. More people upset with Newsom's proposed budget. They're going to crack down on pot clubs -- watch out, Ed Jew! Do you want to help Annalee Newitz run her blog? Sonic Reducer on Harry and the Potters. Cover article: Looking for the next cult revival star. Cheryl Eddy on Sicko. And Ed Jew's (.pdf) horoscope!: "In order to make the little details worth your time, you've gotta make sure they pay off in the long run."

And the layoffs begin -- a source tells us the first person to be let go from the Chronicle in their 25% reduction-in-staff campaign is managing editor Robert "Rosey" Rosenthal. We got the news confirmed by Friend of SFist and Chron Blogging/Interactive Editor Eve Batey, who says: