The 60-plus Employees at the Carrabba's Italian Grill in the Staten Island Mall say they were "ambushed" by a Sunday-morning meeting telling them they were out of a job...effective in ten minutes. more ›

The city of Newark was recently ranked as the twenty-ninth most dangerous city in America based on crime statistics. But now, thanks to a multi-million dollar budget gap and a bitter dispute between the city and the police union,167 police officers—or 13% of the force— were laid off yesterday, making it Newark's largest force reduction in 32 years. "We were doing everything possible to avoid this from ever happening. In fact, we starved other city departments to push more resources into the police department to actually start hiring more police officers. And to have this day come -- it is very sobering and disappointing," Mayor Cory Booker told WNYC. more ›

Gov. Paterson has given unions representing state workers an ultimatum. After taking emergency measures like delaying school aid and state construction projects he’s asked them to hold off on 4 percent raises that are part of their contracts, or face “massive layoffs”, reports the Times Union. This despite a no-layoff agreement he signed last year, in exchange for more affordable pension plans for new state employees. Facing a $9 billion deficit, Paterson says he’s not going back on his word, adding that now "everything's on the table." "I never promised I would not lay anyone off," said the governor. "I let them know that would be the plan, based on what they said (that) the economy is coming back.” more ›

Alongside other cost-cutting moves that will eliminate subway and bus lines, nix free student MetroCards, and reduce service, the MTA has announced that it will fire more than 1,000 workers. In an effort to save a projected $50 million, the agency will lay off more than 600 unionized and non-unionized administrative workers, cutting 15 percent of the MTA's administrative payroll. The agency will also deliver pink slips to up to 500 NYC Transit station agents, who are represented by the Transport Workers Union. more ›

If Gov. Paterson's proposed budget is approved and Mayor Bloomberg is unable to negotiate pay concessions from the teachers' union, city educators may face significant layoffs for the first time since 1976. About 11,000 of the city's 79,000 teachers might be fired, and others might be shuffled around the city to different schools, the Mayor said. more ›

Under Mayor Bloomberg's proposed budget, 20 fire companies would close, 834 city workers would lose their jobs, and thousands wouldn't get raises. The Mayor's budget calls for shutting down four more firehouses than he requested to close last year (City Council rescued them last year) and firing 299 libraries employees, 186 workers at cultural institutions, and 141 Health Department staffers. Police, firefighters, sanitation workers or corrections department workers would be spared from layoffs. more ›

The recession is really hitting home for one well-to-do Brooklyn couple. Real Housewives of New York's Alex McCord (betrothed to the creepy Simon Van Kempen) has just lost her job as visual merchandiser at Victoria's Secret (she was 1 of 90 axed at the NYC offices). More shocking is that she even had a job! Seeing as how the couple spend most of their time shopping and plotting the huge renovation on their Cobble Hill home, this is just very sad news. What purpose could they possibly serve on the show now? Perhaps they can form a troupe of triste Parisian mimes with their French-speaking spawn, Francois and Johan. For now, McCord says they will still jet off to St. Barth's even though it was her salary "that tended to pay for their infamous shopping sprees, not to mention the cost of their full-time nanny." [via Cobble Hill Blog] more ›

Two separate reports show that monthly layoffs are at their highest level in almost seven years. CNBC reports that outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas cites November job losses to be "181,671, up 61% from October and 148% higher than November 2007" while payroll company ADP says November job cuts were around 250,000. (Back in January 2002, layoffs were at 248,475.) And more are coming: In its takeover of Merrill Lynch, Bank of America may cut up to 30,000 jobs (they will cut at least 10,000), through layoffs, attrition, and sales of business units. With that news, stock futures are down. more ›

The NY Post reports on the overall unfairness of former Lehman Brothers employees' severance being cut off, while "former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld received a total compensation package of $71.9 million last year." Though a former employee--who was laid off in March after 16 years with the firm--had signed a severance agreement giving her pay and health insurance through April 2009, she received a letter last month saying it was ending because of the bankruptcy. A few weeks ago during the chaos, Dealbreaker heard from more recently laid-off Lehman employees who were told their severance would run out soon or be non-existent. more ›