[In December, Congress passed a sweeping tax overhaul that cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent. Although the White House, GOP and businesses have argued the corporate tax cut would benefit regular Americans, companies have announced layoffs affecting at least 21,857 people across the country since the law’s passage.
These layoffs directly challenge Republicans’ claims that December’s tax overhaul would inspire businesses to create jobs in the United States.
Here is a rundown of layoffs announced at 31 companies since Congress ushered in the corporate tax cut. Big If True will continue to track layoffs, as well as workforce investments, throughout the year.
Absolute Plastics: The company announced it would lay off 75 to 100 employees in Wilson, North Carolina starting in January.
ArcelorMittal: The company announced in September that it would lay off 150 employees at its steel mill in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania during 2018.
AT&T: Around the time when Congress passed its tax overhaul, AT&T notified 600 of its Midwest employees that they would be laid off. It also laid off more than 700 employees who install DirecTV and 215 technicians who worked in the South. In February, the company also plans to lay off about 700 Texas and Missouri workers.
After the tax law passed, AT&T announced it would give bonuses of $1,000 to 200,000 employees because of the overhaul. However, the bonuses had been a subject of negotiations between AT&T and the union Communication Workers of America before the law went through.
The union responded to the layoffs by suing AT&T.
Autocar Trucks: The company’s truck plant in Hagerstown, Indiana lost 70 employees in early January. When Autocar relocated its headquarters and factory to Hagerstown, local, county and state entities gave the company over $1 million in incentives and grants.
Bonnier Corp.: On Jan. 17, the Swedish publishing company laid off 70 Americans, who make up 17 percent of Bonnier’s workforce in the United States.
Brit + Co: The digital media company laid off an undisclosed number of employees in January. This TechCrunch report suggests about a dozen people may have lost their jobs during Brit + Co’s reorganization.
Capital One: On Jan. 26, U.S. Sen. Tom Carper said Capital One would shed 180 jobs in Wilmington, Delaware. The layoffs followed the sale of Capital One’s one million retail brokerage accounts to E-Trade.
After the tax law passed, the company received a $1.8 billion charge for deferred taxes, contributing to a fourth-quarter loss of $971 million.
Carrier: At its Indianapolis factory, Carrier let 215 employees go in mid-January.
Comcast: Around the time of the tax overhaul’s passage, Comcast fired more than 500 salespeople. The company announced in late December that those employees were eligible for a severance of $1,000, while giving bonuses of the same size to full-time employees.
CUNA Mutual Group: The company announced in late January it would lay off about 35 salespeople at its Waverly, Iowa location. CUNA is outsourcing incoming sales calls.
Detroit Medical Center: The Detroit Free Press reported Jan. 22 that the medical center, which is owned by Tenet Healthcare in Dallas, is expected to lose about 300 jobs this year. DMC includes Detroit Receiving Hospital, Sinai-Grace, Children’s Hospital and Harper Hutzel.
DuPont Pioneer: In January, the company notified Iowa Workforce Development that it would lay off 53 employees by the end of the month. The state had given the company $17 million in incentives two years ago with the assurance DuPont would retain its 2,600 jobs in Iowa.
Late last year, the Michigan Nurses Association filed a lawsuit alleging DMC’s Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital had a dangerously low staff, putting patients’ health at risk.
Flextronics: In January, the company announced it would lay off 138 employees in Morrisville, North Carolina in phases until May.
The Florida Times-Union: This newspaper changed hands from Morris Communications to GateHouse Media last October, and two months later, more than 50 people were laid off due to the company’s decision to outsource printing.
On Jan. 18, the Times-Union announced it would cut its remaining workforce by 10 percent, which amounts to about two dozen jobs. About 10 of those positions came from the newsroom.
Funny Or Die: Paste reported Jan. 23 that the company laid off all of its writers and directors responsible for its content. A Funny Or Die spokesperson did not respond to a request for the number of people affected by the layoff.
GoPro: After deciding to stop producing the Karma drone, GoPro announced on Jan. 8 that it would lay off 250 employees.
[Read Big If True’s list of companies making workforce investments after the corporate tax cut.
Hearst Magazines: On Jan. 9, Hearst announced it would lay off 145 of its employees in Emmaus and Upper Macungie Township, Pennsylvania.
Hudson’s Bay Company: By April, the company plans to lay off 202 workers at its Lord & Taylor distribution center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Kimberly-Clark: The company famous for Kleenex, Huggies and Kotex plans to eliminate 13 percent of its workforce, amounting to 5,500 jobs, as it closes 10 manufacturing plants.
Microsoft: Website Petri reported Jan. 22 that the tech company laid off a “small” number of people at its corporate office and around the world. Big If True asked a Microsoft spokesman for the number of affected employees but didn’t receive an answer.
Molina Healthcare: In California, Molina Healthcare laid off about 60 Long Beach employees in December. In January, the company plans to lay off 162 of its employees at two shuttering Pathways by Molina locations in Massachusetts. And by Feb. 9, Pathways by Molina will shut down 11 of its Family Preservation Services offices in Florida, leaving 249 unemployed.
National Geographic Partners: The company said it laid off about 1 percent of its staff, or nine people. National Geographic Partners employs about 900 people in all, according to Variety.
Pfizer: In early January, Pfizer announced it would lay off about 300 employees connected to its abandoned research into drugs to treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The layoffs will mostly affect those working in research and development labs in Massachusetts and Connecticut in the coming months.
Schneider Electric: The company notified the state of Indiana in January that it plans to cut about 60 jobs in its Peru, Indiana facility.
Siemens Gamesa: The company announced in late January that it planned to lay off about 200 employees, most of whom work in Siemens’ wind turbine blade factory in Fort Madison, Iowa.
Sinclair Broadcast Group: Circa, a Sinclair news site, has laid off seven employees in January.
Snap Inc.: On Jan. 18, it came out that the company that runs Snapchat had laid off 22 employees.
Sony DADC US Inc.: The company has told the state of Indiana that it will lay off 375 employees at a music and video disc plant in Terre Haute, Indiana. With plans to outsource production, Sony will make the layoffs between March and August.
Technicolor Home Entertainment Services: The French company has said it plans to lay off 96 employees at its CD and DVD plant in Olyphant, Pennsylvania between March and July.
Teva Pharmaceuticals: The company filed a state notice Jan. 18 that it would lay off 208 people in the Philadelphia area. These layoffs are part of Teva’s plans reported last year to cut about 10 percent of its American employees.
Wal-Mart: The company plans to lay off about 500 people at its Arkansas headquarters this year. This development followed news that Wal-Mart would shut down 63 of its Sam’s Club stores, about 10 of which will be converted to warehouses. About 9,450 people worked at the stores, including 336 who were laid off in North Carolina.
The news of the Sam’s Club layoffs came out the same day that Walmart announced plans to raise its hourly wage from $9 to $11 and to give bonuses of up to $1,000 to some employees.
Contact Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@bigiftrue.org. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
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Note: This post was last updated Jan. 30, 2018 to include additional layoffs.
[Read Big If True’s list of companies making workforce investments after the corporate tax cut.
