AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT FREIGHTCAR AMERICA (06/30/21)

JUNE 30, 2021 BETRAYAL AT FREIGHTCAR AMERICA?

Investigative journalists at ProPublica have reported that the company had taken a $10 million in Paycheck Protection Program Loan meant for payroll expenses during the pandemic.

The allegation is that the company used the funds to keep their Shoals manufacturing facility in Muscle Shoals, Alabama operational in preparation of plant closure and a transfer of operations to the company’s new facility in Castaños, Mexico.

“Jim Meyer, FreightCar America’s CEO, told ProPublica in an email that he had not intended to shutter the plant when he received the PPP money, and that it had allowed the company to keep workers on the job through most of 2020 despite a sharp dropoff in new orders.”

“The efforts of our Shoals' team helped us to reduce our breakeven production levels by roughly one-third since the start of the plan," CEO Jim Meyer said. "However, the ongoing impact of the industry downturn has been further intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic and required an additional and significant response to both protect our franchise and reposition the business for immediate success post-downturn.”

JULY 31, 2019 — Original post

Chicago, Illinois-based FreightCar America, a designer, manufacturer, and lessor of specialized railcars, has announced that they are realigning their manufacturing capabilities which will result in the permanent closure of its Roanoke, Virginia railcar manufacturing facility by the end of 2019. The realignment will result in 200 permanent layoffs commencing on September 20, 2019.

According to a statement by Jim Meyer, President and Chief Executive Officer of FreightCar America, “The closure of our Roanoke facility is another next step in our ‘Back to Basics’ strategy as we continue to streamline our manufacturing footprint and match it to our future product offering, Reducing our fixed costs and achieving world-class output from our much larger Shoals facility have always been core pillars of our turnaround strategy.We have spent the last two years building our talent, processes, and overall capabilities at Shoals and the plant is now in a position to accept the Roanoke models and volume. This action, when complete in the first half of 2020, is expected to save approximately $5 million per year. Our people at Roanoke have consistently performed above all expectations. We are extremely thankful for everything they have given the Company.”

The Shoals facility is a state-of-the-art railcar manufacturing plant located in Cherokee, Alabama.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT UBER (06/23/23)

JUNE 25, 2023 — 200 RECRUITING TEAM MEMBERS TARGETED

The company has announced the layoffs of 200 recruiters in a cost-cutting initiative.

According to Chief People Officer Nikki Krishnamurthy, “With attrition being low, the size of the Talent Acquisition team needs to be rightsized to our hiring strategy and set the business up for ongoing success.”

JULY 30, 2019 — Original post…

San Francisco, California-based Uber Technologies, the iconic peer-to-peer ridesharing and transportation company, appears to be worried about maintaining its post-IPO pricing on Wall Street and has implemented a reduction in force of an estimated 400 employees, about one-third of its marketing team. The company remains unprofitable at this point in time and shareholders are becoming increasingly concerned.

The marketing function is being reorganized under Jill Hazelbaker, Uber’s marketing lead, who noted, “These changes are incredibly difficult to make because they have a huge impact on people’s lives. Many of our teams are too big, which creates overlapping work, makes for unclear decision owners, and can lead to mediocre results. As a company, we can do more to keep the bar high and expect more of ourselves and each other. So, put simply, we need to get our edge back.”

Her stated intention is to consolidate marketing activities worldwide, which may portend more layoffs.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT ARROW ELECTRONICS

Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics, a major manufacturer, assembler, and distributor of computers, electronic components and tools, has announced the closure of its 3-year-old, 400,000 square-foot Gahanna, Ohio “asset disposal” facility resulting in layoffs of 304 employees. The closure is estimated to take place around September 14, 2019. The facility is primarily dedicated to the refurbishment, recycling, or disposal of used computers and other electronic devices. It appears that this closure may be part of a larger world-wide effort to reduce costs and redeploy assets. According to a company spokesperson, “After careful market analysis indicating that business dynamics have changed since we entered this market, we have decided to wind down operations at our business.” Essentially, Arrow processed used electronics from large customers such as Boeing, Cisco Systems, Dell Technologies, Google, and others and re-sold them to retailers of used goods or international companies with less stringent demands and smaller budgets.

In addition, another 143 employees with similar tasks will be laid off at its Windsor, Connecticut asset disposal facility. With hundreds of more layoffs to follow as the company shutters its personal computer and asset disposition businesses world-wide.

Arrow Electronics President and CEO Michael J. Long noted that Arrow is “disappointed that our anticipated results for the second quarter are lower than we had initially expected” and cited the cause as “deteriorating demand in the global components business.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?