Who’s Firing is a weekly survey of organizations announcing (or rumoring) layoffs. Not only is this valuable for job seekers, but for business analysts, corporate strategists, marketers, salespeople, investment analysts, financial advisers, and others who are interested in companies that are contracting.

Inclusion on this listing doesn’t mean the entire industry is down, as many from the same sector appeared on the “Who’s Hiring” article published 10/12/09. It is interesting to note that while Federal hiring is on the rise, a number of State and Local governments face continued cutbacks. Also, Verizon has led the top hiring lists, but is also announcing a number of layoffs. Boeing made the layoff list, while competing aerospace manufacturers top the Who’s Hiring lists. Job seekers: You might want to look in greener pastures than these companies. Layoffs announced and rumored this week were in the Government, Manufacturing, Automotive, Technology, Publishing and Energy sectors. Organizations announcing or rumored layoffs week ended 10/16/09:

AM General (250)State of Massachusetts (up to 2K)State of Iowa (1000)Standish Max Prison (Michigan) (100)Smiths Medical PM Inc. (100)The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation (260)Boeing Corp. (200-300)City of Spokane, WA (200)SunTrust Bank (YTD 100)Wilsonart International (120)Moog Aircraft Group (220)Onondaga County, NY (133)State of New Hampshire (300)Country Financial (400)Kohl’s Corporation (250)Team Broadcast Services (96)HNI Corporation (150)State of Vermont (160 total jobs lost)Verizon Communications (200)City of Moraine, OH (187)Solvay Pharmaceuticals (450)Steifel Laboratories (200)Pilgrim’s Pride (GA) (100)Hamilton County Public Library (250)Oral Roberts University (124)NYC Dept. of Education (714)Albany County, NY (109)Bestop (140)Flour Energy Corp. (500)Valero Energy Corp. (250)Boeing Corp. (130)D&E Communications (280-290)United States Postal Service (650)Lafayette Caterpillar (106)American Cancer Society (140)Canron Western Constructors Inc. (106)Fluor Corporation (100-150)Redcats USA (490)Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (150)Kent County, MI (145)Boise Cascade (130)Dell (905)L.L. Bean Call Center (700)Sunoco Inc. (400)ATK Space Systems (550)Hilton Reservations and Customer Care (176)Thermo Fisher Scientific (130)Conde Nast Publications (180)Atlantic City Casinos (1067)Metavation (120)Prairie Correctional Facility (120)University of California Riverside (425)Pilgrim’s Pride (640)Emerson Network Power Connectivity Solutions (135)United Space Alliance (258)Dow Roofing (100)Tomasco Mulciber Inc. (213)Delta, Eagan, MN (unknown)Aramark Health Support Services, Huntsville, AL (163)Chevron Mining, Gallup NM (80)Electric Boat, Groton, CT (96)Sylvania Yarn Systems (145)Trojan Battery Co., Sandersville, GA (50)HON Co., Owensboro, KY (144)Aramark Sports & Entertainment, Deer Creek Resort, Mt. Sterling, OH (112)Phoenix Health Systems, Pittsburgh, PA (50)GE Oil & Gas Operations, Bethelehem, PA (81)Parsons, Pittsburgh, PA (90)Alliance One Inc., Trevose, PA (63)Richfield Hospitality, Charlottesville, VA (146)FreightCar America Inc., Roanoke, VA (33)Lockheed Martin, Fairfax, VA (65)Educational Credit Management Corp., Richmond, VA (60)Wells Fargo Mortgage, Kirkland, WA (60)Brandrud, Auburn, WA (104)Corhart Refractories, Buckhannon, WV (26)Care Wisconsin First, Madison, WI (77)Eppendorf Inc., Westbury, NY (44)Avant-Garde Optics LLC, Washington, NY (137)Matthews International Corp., Seneca Falls, NY (33)Tavern on the Green LP, NYC (405)Dominion Enterprises DBA Interco Print, Ontario, CA (31)Telecare Corp, Lemon Grove, CA (102)Duane Morris LLC, Carpinteria, CA (126)USS-Posco Industries, Pittsburg, CA (827)Bassett Furniture Industries Inc, Bassett, VA (45)Summit Holdings, Lakeland, FL (70)Frontier Oil Corp., Cheyenne, WY (28)NCH Healthcare, Naples, FL System (66)Freudenberg-NOK, Spencer, IA (65)Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, Lacrosse, WI (25)McCann Erickson, San Francisco, CA (40)Jeld-Wen, Bend, OR (31)Foley & Lardner LLC, Milwaukee, WI (39)Crothall Services Group, Valhalla, NY (235)Aramark, Huntsville, AL (163)Mueller Industries, Fulton, MS (37)Miller Brothers Mining, KY (85)Baker Hughes Inc., Houston, TX, (62)Hamilton Sundstrand, Hartford, CN (30)City of Loveland, CO (5.9%)Comcast, Wellesley, MA (64)Rensselaer County, NY (24)Midcoast Aviation, Cahokia, MO (150)TomoTherapy, Madison, WI (10%)Boston Globe, Boston, MA (unknown)Police Department Kansas City, MO (16)Clear One Health Plans, Bend, OR (25)Save – A – Pet, Greyslake, IL (40%)Microtune, Plano, TX (10%)Viking Range Corporation, Greenwood, MS (30)Current Media, San Francisco, CA (unknown)NH Department of Corrections (37)Bossier City, LA (88)Calumet City IL Schools (57)Lackawanna County, PA (30)Verizon, Newark, DE (66)Bistol Meyers Squibb, National (355 of Abilify sales force)MetLife, Lackawanna County PA (34)Stanley Furniture, Stanleytown, VA (unknown)North Providence, RI (35)Louisiana State Department of Education, Baton Rouge, LA (50)Yuba Community College, Clearlake, CA (56)Chelan County, WA (50)City of Kingston, NY (28)AOL, NY, NY (2,000)EBay, San Francisco, CA (several dozen)LCN Closers, Princeton, IL (47)NC Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, NC (thousands)City of Aurora, CO (50)Ohio State Prisons, Ohio (41)Osceola County, FL (40)University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, OH (50)Volvo Trucks North America, Dublin VA (50)Zillion TV, Sunnyvale, CA (1/3)Victor Valley College, Victorville, CA (28)DaySpring Inc, Siloam Springs, AR (53)CNN, Atlanta, GA (unknown)Source: Google, Twitter, AllPinkSlips.com, Telonu.com, TechCrunch.com, CoStar.com, Gawker, Screwedd.com

Readers – If you know of employers announcing significant layoff plans, or employers reducing large numbers of employees, please comment below to add to this list.

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SenateFormer President Bill Clinton visited Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill this week, urging them to quickly pass health care reform by the end of the year. Senate Leadership continues to work pulling its final merged bill together and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says that he will introduce the legislation on the Senate floor the week of November 16th.Under Senate rules, a 60-vote majority is required to move the bill forward before official debate can begin. It is likely that Democrats will receive the 60-votes needed to move the bill to the Senate floor, but it remains to be seen whether Reid has the full 60 votes to overcome a filibuster for bill’s official passage. Reid is still aiming to pass the legislation by the Christmas holiday.HouseAfter passing its health care reform legislation, the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” (H.R. 3962), the House of Representatives was quiet this week.Overview: Medicare Payroll in Senate Health Care Reform LegislationThe Senate’s health care reform legislation has still not yet been unveiled, but there are reports that an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office has found the bill to be more costly than expected, so Senate Democrats are already considering new ways to pay for the bill.One of the options is an increase to the Medicare portion of the payroll tax on individuals making $250,000 per year or more. Currently, workers and employers each pay a 1.45 percent payroll tax for Medicare and the new proposal would increase that to 2.5 percent payroll tax bracket for those making $250,000 per year or more.By including this new approach, it would allow the Senate to either reduce or eliminate altogether the controversial excise tax on “Cadillac” or high-cost insurance plans, passed in the Senate Finance Committee’s bill last month. Under legislation (S 1796) approved by the Senate Finance Committee, individual insurance plans costing more than $8,000 and family plans costing more than $21,000 would face a 40 percent excise tax on any amount above that level.

Popularity: unranked [?]

December 9, 2009This Week in Health Reform —Legislative OverviewSenateLess than two weeks after the debut of official legislative language, the Senate began official debate on its $848 billion health care reform bill “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (H.R. 3590) on November 30. The bill, which is estimated to cover 94 percent of Americans, passed its first hurdle before the Thanksgiving holiday when Senate Democrats received the needed 60 votes on the “motion to proceed” to debate. Quoting & Saving just got easier…EasyToInsureME Health Insurance Quotes… Quote all carriers in secondsHealth insuranceHealth insurance quotes More than 60 amendments have been filed to the Senate health care reform legislation in its first week of debate. Some of the notable amendments include one by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), which was adopted by a vote of 61-39. The amendment would eliminate co-payments for many preventive services for women – and would require that insurers provide full coverage for breast and cervical cancer screenings. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) also included a stipulation to the amendment that would preclude the most recent controversial recommendations on breast cancer screenings by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force from being used for insurance coverage determinations. Additionally, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) are crafting an abortion-related amendment that will mirror the one passed in the House version of the bill last month. The amendment would prohibit the use of federal funds for abortions.Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) is leading efforts in the Democratic caucus on the creation of a public health insurance option that is built around a state-by-state “trigger” option. Carper has spent weeks working with members of the Democratic caucus, as well as some moderate Republicans on the amendment that he is hoping will appease a broad range of individuals concerned about the government-run health insurance plan, also known as the “public option”.Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) still has significant work to do in uniting his divided Democratic caucus. Reid has stated that he will keep Senators in Washington on weekends throughout December to ensure that key legislative issues are worked out before a final bill can be brought to the Senate floor. As detailed above, Reid will have to balance trying to appease the progressive members of his party with a robust government-run health insurance plan with corralling the moderate and conservative Democrats who have been vocal on issues such as abortion and cost-containment measures. HouseThe House of Representatives remains quiet on health care reform legislation after passing its portion of the bill in November. Its main focus during the next few weeks before the holiday recess will be on a financial regulation package to be brought up by the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Popularity: 1% [?]

MARCH 5, 2010This Week in Health Insurance Reform This week, President Barack Obama continued to pressure lawmakers to pass a final health insurance reform bill, calling for its passage through reconciliation, a process which only requires the support of a simple majority. Republicans continued to oppose the President’s proposal , vowing to fight the expedited reconciliation process, while House Democratic leaders began intense internal discussions to rein in the needed votes.Health Care Reform NegotiationsHealth Care Summit Ends in Stalemate: Last Thursday , President Obama and congressional leaders spent nearly seven hours debating how to overhaul the U.S. health care system. Republicans argued against this new proposal, labeling it a government takeover and suggesting a more incremental approach. The philosophical differences between the parties were evident throughout the summit and remained unchanged at day’s end. As predicted, no new agreement was reached, and Democratic leaders left the meeting determined to press forward with or without bipartisan support.Tensions Increase Between the President and Congressional Republicans: After last week’s health care reform summit, which displayed deep rifts between both Democrats and Republicans, the President sent a letter Tuesday to Congressional leaders. In the letter, the President offered to incorporate a handful of Republican ideas into his bill, including: the expansion of health savings accounts; increases to Medicaid reimbursements to doctors; the implementation of undercover investigations to combat fraud in the Medicare system, and increases in funding for grants to states to explore alternatives to resolve medical malpractice lawsuits.Republicans rejected his proposal, calling his bill “unsalvageable,” and asked him to listen to the American people and start the process from scratch.President Obama Calls for Passage through Reconciliation: On Wednesday, the President stepped up the pressure, urging lawmakers to finish work on health care reform legislation. He encouraged them to ignore the politics of the issue, saying, “I do not know how this plays politically, but I know it’s right.”Additionally, the President expressed his support for using the reconciliation process to prevent a Republican filibuster. The process would involve legislators in the Senate working with House members to develop a reconciliation package. This package of “fixes” would only require a simple majority vote in the Senate, as opposed to the 60 votes usually required to pass legislation. Democrats can no longer rely on the normally required 60 votes to pass the bill , due to the election last fall of Republican Senator Scott Brown.Republicans continued to express strong opposition for the reconciliation tactic, saying that it was never intended for such important legislation; it raises the specter of unlimited amendments and challenges to the bill’s provisions.Democrats Work to Shore Up Votes: Democrats continued to work behind closed doors to garner enough votes to pass the Senate bill before the congressional Easter recess, which begins March 29, a deadline set by the President. A number of issues continue to present challenges for Democratic leaders, including Medicaid funding, immigration and abortion funding.Abortion Issue Looms over Health Care Reform Bill: As final legislation begins to take shape, the debate around the use of federal funds for abortions continues to draw rancor from both sides of the issue.Currently, the new legislative package contains less restrictive language on federal funding of abortion, which diverges from the language included in the version passed by the House last fall. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), a leader among anti-abortion Democrats, has intimated that this new language could cost House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) the 10 to12 votes that she needs to pass the bill. On the other side, supporters of abortion rights fear the inclusion of more restrictive language.Additional ActivitiesJobs Bill Extends COBRA Coverage and Medicare Payments: This week, both the House and Senate passed bills giving unemployed Americans another month of health care coverage through COBRA and protecting physicians from a looming 21 percent cut in Medicare fees. This measure will now go to President Obama, as debate begins on a much broader bill that would extend the safety net programs through the end of the year.House Energy and Commerce Committee Expands Investigation into Rate Increases: After recently examining the rate increases proposed by Anthem Blue Cross in California, House legislators signaled their intention to expand the investigation by summoning the chief executives of the nation’s four largest for-profit health insurance companies to testify before the committee on the topic of preexisting conditions. The top executives at WellPoint, UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna have been invited to appear before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on March 23. White House Meeting with Insurers: On Thursday, five health plan CEOs and representatives of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners met with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the White House to discuss insurance premium increases and rising health care costs. The President also stopped by the meeting.Public OpinionAmericans Support Incremental Steps to Reform: In a newly released Rasmussen Reports survey , 52 percent of American voters continue to oppose the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. Further, 63 percent of those polled believe that passing smaller, more targeted bills is a better strategy for achieving health care reform. In addition, just over half think that health care costs will rise if the current plan passes into law. Only 17 percent are convinced that the plan will decrease health care costs.Editorials Point to Failed Massachusetts Health Care Experiment: Also this week, both the Wall Street Journal and Boston Herald featured opinion pieces pointing to the high costs of health care in Massachusetts, which passed its own version of universal care in 2006. Talk radio host Michael Graham in the Boston Herald pointed out that the Massachusetts plan is already $47 million over budget this year, saying, “It’s killing us on costs: Average Massachusetts premiums are the highest in the nation and rising. We also spend 27 percent more on health care services, per capita, than the national average.”Looking Ahead The next major step will be for Senators to send the reconciliation bill to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for a cost estimate, which could take days or even weeks to finalize. As Democratic leaders continue to lock down a strategy on the process, timing and substance of the bill, President Obama plans to travel to Philadelphia and St. Louis next week to discuss the importance of the bill’s passage. www.easytoinsureme.com

Popularity: -5% [?]

This week focused on the unveiling of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) proposed health care reform legislation. House and Senate NegotiationsReid Unveils Senate Bill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled his version of health care reform legislation on Wednesday night after receiving cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). With a price tag of $849 billion over ten years, the bill will reduce the deficit by $127 billion over a decade and cut Medicare spending by $500 billion, while increasing taxes by $500 billion. In addition, the bill will:* Provide coverage for 31 million Americans who currently lack health insurance – accounting for 94 percent of eligible Americans* Offer a government-run option of which states can opt out* Expand Medicaid* Require most Americans to carry health insurance, providing subsidies for those who cannot afford it and imposing weak penalties for violations* Bar insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage for those who become sick* Impose penalties on medium and large sized employers for not providing health insurance to employees* Increase the Medicare payroll tax on higher-income workers* Imposes fees totaling $101.9 billion on insurance companies, drug makers, and medical device manufacturers over ten years* Impose a tax on high-cost health insurance plans provided by employers to their employees.While Democrats remain committed to passing the legislation, it is not certain that Reid has the 60 votes needed to bring the measure to the floor for debate. Several moderate democrats, including Sens. Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska have expressed concerns over the inclusion of a government-run plan. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), however, expressed in a meeting Monday night with Reid that liberal lawmakers had conceded enough ground on the government-run plan and that he should push forward with the bill.Members of the Senate will convene on Saturday for a rare weekend session to hold a procedural vote, deciding whether or not to bring the legislation to the Senate floor for debate.Immigration and Abortion Remain Central to the Debate: Access to care for illegal immigrants will continue to be contentious as lawmakers work to reconcile the health care legislation passed by the House and pending in the Senate. Under the bill approved by the House, illegal immigrants would not be barred from using their own money in the newly-created insurance exchanges. White House officials and members of the Senate Finance Committee, however, pledged that undocumented workers be barred not only from receiving subsidies but also from buying insurance through federally sponsored exchanges – even with their own money.As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid works to finalize the legislation, he will also need to address the question of federal funding for abortions, an issue that has proved starkly divisive. Because of pressure from the Catholic Church and anti-abortion groups, the House-approved bill restricts the use of taxpayer funds for abortions, a decision that has sparked a heated debate among pro-choice and pro-life advocacy organizations. In contrast, the Senate’s proposed bill would allow the use of federal funds for abortion in cases of rape and incest, requiring insurers that cover elective abortions to segregate money from Americans who get government subsidies.Public OpinionPolls Continue to Show Deep Divisions: A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that Americans are deeply divided over the current health care proposals and that the majority believes costs will rise. Forty-eight percent say they support the proposed changes to overhaul the health care system, whereas 49 percent are opposed. In addition, 52 percent say an altered system would probably make their own care more expensive, and 56 percent see the overall cost of health care in the country going up as a result of the reform.Furthermore, a recent Associated Press (AP) poll shows that Americans are split (43 percent opposed; 41 percent support) over the health care plans being discussed in Congress. The AP poll also suggests that the public is becoming more attuned to the details of the proposals, including the cost implications and the public option. And, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, 53 percent of voters disapprove of President Barack Obama’s handling of health care reform.However, a new CBS News poll shows that only one in four Americans prefer to have no health care legislation at all, while 51 percent support a bill with a public option.Other ActivitiesCMS Report Indicates Costs Would Rise Under House Bill: According to a report issued by Richard Foster, the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), overall spending on health care would rise as a result of the legislation approved by the House. Specifically, the measure to reduce more than $500 billion from future Medicare spending would sharply reduce benefits for some seniors and may jeopardize access to care for millions of others.Drug Makers Increase Price, Anticipating Health Reform: The media has reported that the drug industry has been raising prices at its fastest rate in years, in anticipation of the costs associated with health care reform. These costs include the $80 billion in fees over the next decade that the industry agreed to in order to help pay for coverage of the uninsured.On Wednesday, Democrats in Congress asked for two separate investigations of drug industry pricing.Economists Endorse Health Care Reform Bill: Twenty-three high profile economists from universities and think tanks sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday to support four important elements of health reform legislation critical to its success: deficit neutrality, an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans, an independent Medicare commission, and delivery system reforms.Looking AheadThe Senate will convene on Saturday for a procedural vote, deciding whether or not to bring the legislation to the Senate floor for debate. Debate could continue throughout the weekend.

Popularity: 6% [?]