Avalanche of shadow layoffs
- Home Depot
- Starbucks
- Microsoft
- IBM
- General Motors
Each day, mass media news reports large companies announcing thousands being laid off. Behind the scenes, there is another layoff story which is more significant. While a few companies are laying off thousands, hundreds of smaller companies are laying off dozens. Each day there are hundreds of medium sized companies that lay off 50, 100, or more workers. Many of these small companies are staffed with people who have spent their entire lives in one place, creating tight factory-floor communities, but also making it harder to land a new job. It is hard for these stories to make the news when Starbucks is firing 5000+ workers.
In one example, a 100 year old tile company laid off 59 workers, while another small manufacturing firm in the same town closed altogether.
The town of Abbeville Alabama had its factories closed, with all of the equipment auctioned off to middle-eastern corporations.
Equipment sold to foreign producer, awaiting shipment to Middle East
These stories are serious, because small businesses create most of the new jobs in the United States. By some accounts, 80% of newly created jobs come from small companies.
The new government is planning on creating 2.5 million new jobs in the next 2 years. If small and medium businesses are laying off daily, that could be a difficult task.
