lay-offs

Dish said to shutter 300 U.S. Blockbuster stores

As more Blockbuster video rental stores slip into the red, its parent company Dish Network has decided to shutter 300 stores across the U.S., according to Reuters. The closing of these stores could mean that as many as 3,000 employees would also be laid off.

After Dish bought Blockbuster in 2011, for $320 million, the company said it planned to keep 1,500 of the chain's rental stores open and maintain 15,000 employees. However, with profits dropping, and with video streaming and downloading popping up all over the place, Dish ended up keeping only about 850 locations open. … Read more

EA's PopCap downsizes, laying off 50 U.S. employees

To avoid permanently getting rid of plants, zombies, jewels, frogs, or worms, gaming company PopCap announced today that it has to lay off 50 employees at its headquarters.

The social and mobile gaming arm of Electronic Arts that's known for games like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies said it had to reevaluate its costs in order to keep up with the digital gaming world.

"The change in consumer tastes requires us to reorganize our business and invest in new types of games on new platforms," PopCap co-founder John Vechey wrote in a blog post today. "It'… Read more

The 404 284: Where Heavy & Flo thank Mr. Roboto for his pencil

Heavy & Flo return to the show. It's supposed to be a monthly thing, but our schedule is a little erratic. Just be thankful we're not pregnant. They're up to their usual high-jinks because Daddy Bakalar is out of town to keep us in check.

The Oscars were on last night, so Heavy & Flo think it's an appropriate time to make fun of Japanese men, who can barely speak English. OK, Mr. Yu and Mr. Tang seem to think that it's pretty damn funny, too, when he thanks his pencil. Flo recounts her story … Read more

Fring cuts staff by 20 percent

Fring.com, a provider of voice over IP and instant-messaging applications, has laid off 20 percent of its staff, or about 10 people, according to a report Thursday on TechCrunch.

CEO Avi Shechter told TechCrunch that the company was doing well, and that the staff reductions were designed to ensure that the company had enough money to get through 2009. The Israel-based start-up, which had raised $13 million in previous funding rounds, told Tech Crunch that it had recently raised a third round but declined to discuss the amounts or investors.

EarthLink to lay off 900

Internet service provider EarthLink said Tuesday that it would lay off approximately 900 employees as the company restructures in an attempt to boost its sagging stock price.

EarthLink will lose about half its staff in the restructuring as it shuts down operations in Orlando, Fla.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Harrisburg, Pa., and San Francisco. It will also substantially reduce its presence in Pasadena, Calif., and Atlanta, the company said in a press release Tuesday.

The reductions are expected to cost the company $60 million to $70 million. But it will save EarthLink $25 million to $35 million through the remainder of 2007, … Read more

Lay offs at the Mercury News

With Bush's pardon commutation of Scooter Libby's 30 month prison sentence dominating the news this morning, the San Jose Mercury News published an article announcing 31 lay offs from their newsroom. This news, along with 15 recent volunteer resignations brings The Mercury's fleet of reporters down to 200 which according to the article is about half of what it was in 2000. Of course, this news shouldn't come as too much of a surprise as newspapers across the country have been feeling the heat for some time and many have resorted to lay offs in an effort to balance their declining budgets.

So why is it that print newspapers are faltering in recent years? Is it because of the rise of online journalists and bloggers or is it because American's have grown hypersensitive about paper waste and have decided it is no longer responsible to read a daily newspaper? Has Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth had that much of an impact? Somehow I doubt it.