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Solo Cup Co. plans to begin shutting down its 551-worker Baltimore County manufacturing plant in October and to complete the long process in March 2012.
The Illinois company, which is closing two other facilities to consolidate efforts in its remaining North American locations, notified the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation of its layoff schedule Monday.
New U.S. claims for jobless benefits climbed more steeply than anticipated last week, according to a Labor Department report on Thursday that further underlined the drag on economic activity from persistently weak job markets.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 464,000 in the week ended July 17, the department said, more than erasing a decline in the prior week that included the Independence Day holiday. Get the full story »
Drugmaker Merck & Co. said Thursday it is shutting down eight manufacturing plants and eight research sites around the world, including two domestic locations, in the latest phase in its strategic pruning of operations.
The moves, which include consolidating some offices, are part of ongoing consolidation following Merck’s acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp. last November.
Playboy Enterprises Inc. said its recently announced round of layoffs include the elimination of the job held by Michael S. Dannhauser, who had served as senior vice president and corporate controller.
Kraft Foods Inc. confirmed Monday it has laid off around 120 staff at the global headquarters of the Cadbury business it bought earlier this year for $17.78 billion.
A spokesman for the Chicago-based company said the global headquarters of Cadbury on the outskirts of London has now closed, with the loss of about 120 staff. Only around 50 of Cadbury’s global head office staff had been found new roles within Kraft, he said. Get the full story »
Playboy CEO Scott Flanders in his Chicago office. (Tribune file photo)
Playboy Enterprises said it is cutting staff in an effort to save more than $3 million annually as it transitions from a media company into one that primarily licenses the Playboy brand.
The company declined to say Tuesday how many employees are affected by the move.
At the end of March, Playboy employed 573 people in its Los Angeles and Chicago offices, down from 651 a year ago. Get the full story »
From WREX TV | Harris Bank, which took over Amcore Bank on April 23, 2010, announced plans to close 18 former Amcore branches and eliminate jobs as part of its buyout reorganization.
From the Press-Enterprise | Abbott Labs has laid off 120 workers in its Abbott Vascular unit. The majority working at an Abbott manufacturing plant in Temecula, Calif. The company said it was part of a regular review process.
Get the full story: pe.com
By Phil Rosenthal | Jim O’Donnell, who covered horse racing with brio, penned features that often drew upon his encyclopedic recall of local lore and, periodically, wrote a provocative sports media column in a 13 1/2-year run with the Chicago Sun-Times, was among those cut this week by the newspaper. A spokeswoman for parent Sun-Times Media confirmed that two full-time editorial staffers had been let go, along with a part-timer.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker.
Associated Press | Lake Forest-based Solo Cup Co., which makes single-serving food and beverage containers,
said Tuesday that it will close three factories, eliminating 1,240 jobs,
because of growing capacity at its 10 other North American plants.
The company plans to shutter factories in North Andover, Mass., and
Springfield, Mo., in mid- to late 2011, and a plant in Owings Mills,
Md., in mid-2012.
Associated Press | A northern Indiana cargo trailer maker says
it may close its plant in the city of Middlebury — a move that would
cost 150 workers their jobs. Illinois-based Pace American Inc. notified
the state of the possible closing late last week, saying it is in the
process of selling its business operations and assets.
Erik Proulx, a former advertising copywriter, is seen on the roof of an office building where he maintains an office in Boston. Proulx says he no longer wants to rejoin an industry he thinks will continue to struggle. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Associated Press | Fewer construction workers will be needed.
Don’t expect as many interior designers or advertising copywriters, either. Retailers will get by with leaner staffs. The economy is strengthening. But millions of jobs lost in the recession could be gone for good.
And unlike in past recessions, jobs in the beleaguered manufacturing sector aren’t the only ones likely lost forever. What sets the Great Recession apart is the variety of jobs that may not return.
That helps explain why economists think it will take at least five years for the economy to regain the 8.2 million jobs wiped out by the recession — longer than in any other recovery since World War II.
By Bruce Japsen | The looming decline in sales from the blockbuster diabetes drug Actos
figured into Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s decision Wednesday to slash
nearly 1,600 U.S. jobs — including hundreds in Chicago’s northern
suburbs.
Japan’s largest drug maker operates from its U.S. base in Deerfield
under the name Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. It faces
competition in the next two years from upcoming generic versions of its
flagship product, the diabetes prescription Actos.
From the Chicago Sun-Times | CNA Financial said it plans to lay off 320 of its 750-employee IT department during the next 90 days. Playboy said it also plans an unspecified number of layoffs.
Get the full story: suntimes.com.
Associated Press | OfficeMax plans to close its Casper call
center and terminate the facility’s 250 employees. The Naperville-based
company’s three other call centers — in Bristol, Va., Peru, Ill., and
Ottawa, Ill. — will remain open.
