Obama Layoffs

Not often do I so quickly get to say I  told you so.  We are less than a week from Obama's re-election and the surge of layoffs begins.  I had been saying to colleagues and on Facebook that Obama's re-election will force companies to choose survival tactics such as layoffs and closures.  And with these actions (as well as gas price spikes, decreasing dollar strength, rising taxes, increased non-employment, etc) Obama supporters get no credibility to complain.

But first let's get back to the layoffs.

Welch Allyn
Welch Allyn, a company that manufactures medical diagnostic equipment in central New York, announced in September that they would be laying off 275 employees, or roughly 10% of their workforce over the next three years. One of the major reasons discussed for the layoffs was a proactive response to the Medical Device Tax mandated by the new healthcare law.

Dana Holding Corp.
As recently as a week ago, a global auto parts manufacturing company in Ohio known as Dana Holding Corp., warned their employees of potential layoffs, citing "$24 million over the next six years in additional U.S. health care expenses". After laying off several white collar staffers, company insiders have hinted at more to come. The company will have to cover the additional $24 million cost somehow, which will likely equate to numerous cuts in their current workforce of 25,500 worldwide.

Stryker
One of the biggest medical device manufacturers in the world, Stryker will close their facility in Orchard Park, New York, eliminating 96 jobs in December. Worse, they plan on countering the medical device tax in Obamacare by slashing 5% of their global workforce - an estimated 1,170 positions.

Boston Scientific
In October of 2009, Boston Scientific CEO Ray Elliott, warned that proposed taxes in the health care reform bill could "lead to significant job losses" for his company. Nearly two years later, Elliott announced that the company would be cutting anywhere between 1,200 and 1,400 jobs, while simultaneously shifting investments and workers overseas - to China.

Medtronic
In March of 2010, medical device maker Medtronic warned that Obamacare taxes could result in a reduction of precisely 1,000 jobs. That plan became reality when the company cut 500 positions over the summer, with another 500 set for the end of 2013.
...
Smith & Nephew - 770 layoffs
Abbott Labs - 700 layoffs
Covidien - 595 layoffs
Kinetic Concepts - 427 layoffs
St. Jude Medical - 300 layoffs
Hill Rom - 200 layoffs

For those keeping score that is over 6000 jobs from just 10 companies. This does not include companies that will eliminate full time jobs for part time (less than 30 hours per week) since there are huge incentives to do so under the Obamacare rules.

Darden Restaurants
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Darden Restaurants, a casual dining chain best known for their Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants, is "experimenting with limiting the hours of some of its workers to avoid health care requirements under the Affordable Care Act when they take effect in 2014".

JANCOA Janitorial Services
The CEO of JANCOA, Mary Miller, testified to Congress that Obamacare was a "dream killer", adding that one option she had to consider "is reducing the majority of my team members to part-time employment in order to reduce the amount that I will be penalized."

Kroger
The American retailer in Cincinnati, Ohio recently was reported to be planning a significant slashing of their hourly workers. Doug Ross writes:

Operative Faith (a mid-level manager with the company) reveals that Kroger will soon join the ranks of Darden Restaurants and slash the hours of its non-exempt (hourly) workers to avoid millions in Obamacare penalties.

According to the source, Obamacare could result in tens of thousands of Kroger employees being limited to working 28 hours per week.

America, this is just the beginning. Expect layoffs for survival over the next 4 years minimum as Obamacare continues to go into effect by 2014 and then as other companies feel the suffocating crunch afterwards. Full time jobs will be increasingly difficult to find much less hold and the foolhardy thing that will happen is to again extend unemployment benefits which is addressing the symptoms of the illness not the illness itself. Unemployment numbers will eventually get better as people's benefits simply expire and there will be confusion about why people still feel like their in a depression.

America, you brought this on yourself. In voting for the same thing (hostile business environment and hostile environment towards the actual people that can solve this--the wealthy) you voted for continuing the our economic path. Eventually the path of circling the drain just goes down the drain.