by Michael Snyder
"Do you remember the endless barrage of layoffs and store closings that we experienced during the Great Recession? Well, it is starting to happen again. All over the country, large employers are bringing down the axe really hard. For those that have been laid off, the outlook is not promising at all because competition for good jobs is extremely intense in this very tough economic environment. Meanwhile, stores and restaurants are being permanently shuttered at a blistering pace. We haven’t seen anything quite like this in many years. Of course a major economic meltdown is one of the 10 major trends that we have been anticipating. If a major war with Iran soon erupts, our economic meltdown will get a whole lot worse.
On Wednesday morning, approximately a third of all employees at the Washington Post were suddenly let go…"The Washington Post laid off about one in three employees across the company Wednesday morning, dealing another big blow to a newsroom that has reached a breaking point. Post owner Jeff Bezos had no immediate comment about the cutbacks. Bezos has been pushing the Post’s management team to return the publication to profitability, but many journalists at the paper have criticized his approach and questioned his motives.
One employee is describing the layoffs as “an absolute bloodbath”, but Jeff Bezos did not have much choice. The Washington Post has been losing about 100 million dollars a year, and so something had to be done. Now that several departments have been entirely gutted, the once great newspaper will only be a shell of what it once was… According to various sources, the Post is killing its sports and book sections, “suspending its Post Reports podcast, restructuring its metro section, and shrinking its international footprint.”
What does that leave? Nothing. I mean, nothing other than D.C.-centered political coverage and an editorial page. In other words, the Post is now a blog — another Politico or New Republic or National Review.
Needless to say, the Washington Post is not the only newspaper that is downsizing. In fact, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution just decided that it is time to cut ties with about 15 percent of their employees…"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) announced Tuesday that it would be laying off newsroom employees along with other staff across the company, according to the outlet. About 50 positions will be cut as part of the layoffs and roughly half are newsroom positions, according to the AJC, which is 15% of the paper’s total staff." It is a tough time to be a journalist in 2026. People just aren’t as interested in the news as they once were.
The tech industry is another sector where we are witnessing mass layoffs. In Northern California, hundreds of Amazon workers are about to get canned. Interestingly, we are being told that exactly 666 jobs are going to be eliminated in Santa Clara County…"Amazon is planning a fresh round of layoffs that will slash hundreds of Bay Area corporate jobs this spring, according to new state filings.
Notices filed with the California Employment Development Department showed that 769 employees in San Francisco and Silicon Valley are scheduled to be laid off effective April 28, marking one of the company’s largest local reductions in months.
Most of the Bay Area cuts are concentrated in Santa Clara County, where Amazon plans to eliminate 666 jobs across offices in Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto. The largest clusters of job cuts are in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara, where dozens of employees are being laid off at multiple facilities tied to engineering, product and corporate operations, according to the filings."
In Washington state, T-Mobile will be conducting yet another round of layoffs that will result in 393 workers losing their jobs…"T-Mobile is laying off 393 workers in Washington as part of a new round of cuts, according to a filing with the state Employment Security Department released Monday morning. More than 200 different job titles are impacted, according to the filing, including analysts, engineers and technicians, as well as directors and managers. The cuts targeted nearly 210 senior- and director-level employees, plus seven employees with vice president or senior vice president titles. They include a senior VP of talent and four VP of legal affairs roles. The commercials that T-Mobile has been running make it appear that they are doing very well. Apparently they are not doing as well as we were led to believe."
On another note, Pinterest has announced that it will be firing hundreds of workers, and that includes two employees that had created “an internal tool to track which employees had been laid off”…"Pinterest said it fired two engineers who built an internal tool to track which employees had been laid off following a recent round of job cuts at the social media company. The firings come about a week after the lifestyle app said it was cutting 15% of its staff as it invests in artificial intelligence. Pinterest, which had about 4,700 employees prior to the layoffs, said the restructuring should be complete by Sept. 30."
I could give you so many more examples, but let me give you just one more really big one. It is being reported that Oracle will soon be eliminating at least 20,000 jobs…"Oracle is considering cutting 20,000 to 30,000 jobs and selling some of its activities as US banks pull back from financing the company’s AI data-center expansion, according to investment bank TD Cowen.
The job cuts would free up $8 billion to $10 billion in cash flow, TD Cowen said in a research report seen by CIO. Oracle is also weighing a sale of its health-care software unit, Cerner, which it acquired for $28.3 billion in 2022. The measures come as multiple US banks have pulled back from Oracle-linked data-center project lending. “Both equity and debt investors have raised questions regarding Oracle’s ability to finance this buildout,” the report said."
Every day we learn of even more companies that are laying off workers. And many workers that have already been laid off have not had any success in finding new employment even after applying for hundreds of jobs. If you have been unemployed for an extended period of time, you know exactly what I am talking about.
Meanwhile, stores and restaurants continue to shut down all around us at a frightening rate. Earlier today, we learned that the parent company of Eddie Bauer is preparing to file for bankruptcy. As a result, all Eddie Bauer stores could be permanently closed… Eddie Bauer stores could be next on the chopping block. Catalyst Brands, which owns the license to operate Eddie Bauer stores across North America, is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection, a source close to the matter told Fast Company. The filing could cause the company to shutter all of its North American stores, the person said."
Overall, it is being projected that somewhere around 8,000 stores in the United States will close this year. Personally, I think that it is quite likely that the final tally will be even higher than that.
Restaurant chains are also going belly up at a very alarming pace, and the latest victim is Bahama Breeze…"Darden Restaurants announced on Tuesday that it will close its Bahama Breeze chain after nearly 30 years in operation. The Orlando-based company said it will permanently shut down 14 of Bahama Breeze’s 28 restaurants, while converting the remaining locations into other Darden brands. Restaurants designated for permanent closure will continue operating through April 5, Darden said."
Many other chains have recently chosen to shut down locations as well. That list includes Noodles & Company, Red Robin and Wendy’s…"Just over two weeks into the new year, multiple fast-food and fast-casual chain restaurants across the United States have announced plans to downsize, with some stating they intend to focus resources on their stronger-performing stores. Among the restaurants that have announced closures are Noodles & Company, Red Robin and Wendy’s.
Noodles & Company, in a Jan. 12 news release, confirmed it closed 33 company-owned restaurants and nine franchise restaurants in 2025. In the coming year, there will likely be 30 to 35 more closures, the company said."
I remember eating at a Red Robin a number of years ago when economic times were better. It was a very pleasant experience. But now everything is changing. Our economy is literally being transformed right in front of our eyes, and the nightmare that we are now experiencing is still only in the very early chapters."
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