On the Job Front
STATEWIDE – Due to soaring fuel costs and a stalling economy, Alaska Airlines is cutting up to 1000 jobs, ten percent of its workforce. The layoffs affecting pilots, flight attendants, aircraft technicians, customer service agents, and ramp workers, will begin in November.
EAST BAY – Because it violated Hayward’s living-wage ordinance, Cintas Corp will have to pay $1.65 million in back wages, interest and penalties to 219 current and former employees. The workers are from Cintas’ San Leandro and Union City laundries.
ALAMEDA – Stem-cell research company Advanced Cell Technology is not renewing its sublease here and shut down a second facility in Mass. The LA-based firm hopes to reduce annual production costs by up to $6 million.
AUBURN – Community 1st Bank will open a full-service location, its third branch here, by the end of the year
EL DORADO HILLS – In preparation for its grand opening this fall, Red Hawk Casino is hosting a job fair at the temporary employment center here Sep 21 & 22. Positions available include slot technicians and supervisors, bartenders, servers, cooks, hostesses and cashiers. For details, see their ad (click here) . . . Looking to offset higher fuel and power prices and cost-of-living allowances next year, the El Dorado Irrigation District eliminated 11 management positions and cut the pay of other managers.
FREMONT – Semiconductor equipment maker Mattson Technology Inc hopes to save $6 million annually by laying off 80 workers, 14 percent of its workforce. Half of the affected workers had manufacturing jobs.
NOVATO – The Novato Advance will cease publication September 24, idling its staff of 17. The 86-year-old weekly newspaper, which succumbed to falling ad sales and subscriptions, had been losing money since 1999.
RANCHO CORDOVA – Aerojet will lay off 99 employees by next month. The cuts, due to a reduction in the number of active programs, represent six percent of the company’s workforce at the local plant, which builds rocket engines for NASA and the Dept of Defense. . . Wachovia is letting 20 employees go from a student-loan division here, a result of the bank eliminating its private education loans to undergraduates.
ROSEVILLE – lucy activewear, the Portland OR-based athletic apparel retailer, is opening an "innovative new store concept" at the Fountains here on September 26.
SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento Bee eliminated 7 percent of its workforce and 10 percent of the newsroom staff, through buyouts recently issued to 87 employees. Since the daily newspaper offered buyouts to almost half of its workers last month, 93 employees have applied, including six newsroom workers who were not approved. . . A splashy 24-hour card room is opening here with a staff of about 100. Casino Royale will boast a bar, 15 flat-screen TVs and nine tables for poker, pai gow, and baccarat. . . Muzio Bakery Co. closed its doors after 79 years here. The bakery supplied bread to 200 eateries, but was unable to overcome the rising cost of ingredients, fuel and labor. 14 employees lost their jobs.
STANISLAUS COUNTY – The lack of a state budget led the County Board of Supervisors to approve 21 job cuts at the Dept of Child Support Services effective November 7. Forty-one vacant positions will also remain unfilled.
STOCKTON – TeleTech Holdings Inc is hiring hundreds of seasonal call-center workers. Interested parties should apply online at www.hirepoint.com.