With the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ looming at the end of the year, many companies had warned that if President Obama were re-elected, they would be forced to lay off workers. Company officials listed the skyrocketing price of health insurance and the taxes contained in Obamacare as a primary reason for job cuts.
Some job cuts are also the result of the likelihood that Congress will be increasing taxes thereby raising the cost of doing business. Other staffing cuts are also an attempt to avert the “fiscal cliff” and the economic reality caused by spending cuts and increased taxation in the Obama-favored budgetary tactic known as sequestration.
And three days after the re-election of the President, many big companies have already kept their promise. Among them are:
- Energizer, which is restructuring its company, and as a result, announced it expects to lose about 1,500 jobs.
- Boeing, who expects to shrink their executive staff by roughly 30% at the Boeing Defense, Space & Security unit.
- US Cellular, who is moving manufacturing plants out of Chicago, and as a result will cut roughly 640 jobs in the area. Overall, the company estimates it will cut 980 jobs, about 12% of its workforce.
- Power tool giant Husqvarna, who is cutting around 600 jobs, a move that they expect will save them roughly $33 million per year.
- Darden Restaurants, which owns popular chains like the Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Longhorn Steakhouse. They are expected to cut back the hours their employees work to 28 hours per week. The Obamacare law defines full time employees as working 30 hours a week. The law requires full time employees to have employe-provided healthcare, or the company must pay a fine.
- Murray energy corp will layoff more than 120 employees to avoid expenses due to Obama regulations and taxes
- Welch Allen will layoff 275 employees (10% of their workforce) as a “pro-active response” to taxes in Obamacare
- Dana Holding Group – auto parts manufacturer will make numerous cuts in response to $24 million in costs due to Obamacare
- Stryker will be eliminating 5% of its workforce (1,170 jobs) due to additional taxes in Obamacare
- Boston Scientific will be dropping between 1,200 and 1,400 jobs and shifting operations to China to avoid Obamacare taxes
- Smith & Nephew will drop 770 jobs
- U.S. Cellular will eliminate 980 jobs
- UtahAmerican Energy will cut a huge number of jobs as “204 American coal-fired plants” are shut down by 2014 – basically maiming the coal-mining industry
- Lockheed Martin is expected to notify 123,000 employees of coming layoffs
- Consol Energy to layoff 145 employees
- much, much more coming…
These are just a few of the big companies affected. Many other smaller companies are also saying they will have to either cut back employee hours or fire some of their employees. Other companies are closing plants in an attempt to save money.
Target has already announced the closing of several locations, including a store in Kissimmee, Florida. Kmart is another company that has announced its intention to close several stores.
These announcements come on the heels of two very grim days for the stock market. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 2.4%, which is the fifth worst single day drop in history. The S&P 500 also fell 2.37%. The markets continued to plummet on Wednesday. The Dow fell another 0.94%. And the S&P fell another 1.22%.
Investors cite concerns over Europe’s struggling economy and President Obama’s re-election. It is believed that Obama does not have a serious plan to regrow the economy or control the United State’s burgeoning debt.
