In Lynchburg, Va., this month, Stamford-based Pitney Bowes Inc. filed notice it may cut up to 175 jobs. Â
MeadWestvaco Inc., which moved its Stamford headquarters last year to Richmond, Va., revealed plans to lay off 75 people at an envelope plant in Enfield.
Altria Group Inc., which relocated its headquarters from New York City to Richmond last year, reportedly is planning job cuts there even as it caps the acquisition of UST Inc. ”“ with possible ramifications for UST headquarters in Stamford.
As corporations mail severance checks and employees prepare for a furlough of undetermined duration, economists still expect Connecticut to fare better in the recession than many states nationally ”“ despite the influence of reeling Wall Street banks on employment among Fairfield County residents that commute to New York City.
For the most part, employers have openly disclosed aggregate job-cut figures but have remained mum on the impact on local offices and facilities, save in instances where under law they must file notices under federal Workforce Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) rules, intended to give states time to arrange new jobs for local workers losing their employment.
Nationally, the U.S. economy shed 240,000 jobs in October, and unemployment was 6.5 percent, up from 6.1 percent in September. The official number of unemployed people ”“ those who have been seeking work for at least six weeks ”“ rose by more than 600,000 nationally.
Connecticut may lose fewer than 10,000 jobs over the next 30 months, according to revised estimates by researchers at the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis (CCEA), which is affiliated with the University of Connecticut. That would amount to just a fraction of the job losses of the recession that started in 1989.
CCEA slashed its layoff estimates from earlier this year by nearly two thirds, attributing the more optimistic outlook in part to a recent drop in fuel prices. That possibly is helping preserve extra cash to meet payroll, CCEA surmised. Connecticut is thriving in health care and education, two sectors that continue to add jobs to meet still-growing demand; and the state enjoys a diversified base, including the casinos in eastern Connecticut, financial companies in Fairfield County, and the continued industrial might of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp. and its subsidiaries like Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford.
Five companies filed (WARN) acts with the state in October, with the nearly 700 jobs cut, the second highest total this year after May when bankrupt Quebecor World printed more nearly 40 percent of the 800 pink slips issued that month.
The worst month this decade occurred in January 2006, when Macy”™s Inc. and Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. L.L.C. initiated widespread layoffs that contributed to 2,500 jobs being affected in WARN filings.
Among retailers nationally, auto dealers and department stores have suffered the steepest attrition in the current downturn. Linens ”™N Things is in the process of shutting down stores in Danbury and Norwalk; earlier this month, Circuit City Stores Inc. declared bankruptcy, affecting stores in the two cities as well as in Trumbull.
Luxury retailers have not been immune. In an interview with Bloomberg News, the parent company of Mitchells of Westport and Richards of Greenwich revealed unspecified job cuts to at its upscale department stores in response to lower consumer spending.
Still, despite the United Kingdom”™s bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS has not backed off occupying a new building under construction in Stamford, across the street from UBS AG. The latter company is aggressively slashing its worldwide headcount in response to the crisis.