Illinois employers warn of 2,600 layoffs in coming months
A state report shows plans for more layoffs amid an already difficult jobs climate in Illinois, especially for blue-collar workers.
From a furniture manufacturer, to a global travel business, to a breakfast-cereal maker, more than a dozen Illinois companies gave notice to the state in November that they plan to hand out pink slips to thousands of employees. The state released the monthly report compiling those notices on Dec. 9.
These layoffs – affecting more than 2,600 workers – come at a time when Illinois is experiencing tepid jobs growth overall and major losses in the manufacturing sector.
General Mills Inc. will lay off 444 workers beginning in January, as the company shutters its longtime West Chicago plant, which opened in 1959. The plant produces Bugles snacks, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Hamburger Helper products.
Chicago-based Orbitz Worldwide also filed notice with the state of impending layoffs, but did not disclose the number of employees affected. Orbitz’s parent company, Expedia Inc., announced in November it would cut Orbitz’s Chicago workforce by 40 percent – totaling over 300 employees – at its Chicago location, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Two manufacturers in northern Illinois, Bretford Manufacturing Inc. and NN Autocam Precision Components, announced plant closures in Schiller Park and Wheeling, respectively, that will cost 142 workers their jobs.
NN Autocam boasts three plants in Western Michigan as well as facilities in South America, Europe and Asia. Bretford is an Illinois-based manufacturer of office furniture that has been in business since 1948.
These layoffs reflect a dismal year for jobs growth in Illinois, especially for blue-collar workers.
Illinois is home to the worst jobs growth of all its neighbors in 2015.
And manufacturing workers like those at General Mills, NN Autocam and Bretford Manufacturing have taken a beating in 2015. Illinois has hemorrhaged 14,100 manufacturing jobs this year alone.
Illinois’ losses in this area set it apart from its neighboring states and the Midwest as a whole. No other Midwestern state has experienced manufacturing losses on par with Illinois in 2015.
At the Statehouse, policy reforms that would do a great deal to reverse this troubling trend in Illinois are currently on the bargaining table. The thousands of families receiving news of a loved one’s layoff during the holiday season deserve bold action.