Tuesday, March 3, 2009

First Energy Layoffs could top 1,000

We should know more in the next two hours as to how bloody it's gotten at First Energy.

Today was rumored to be "black Tuesday" with major layoffs coming, and that appears to have happened.

One worker tells me that 156 employees have been let go in the Energy and Delivery sector. Not sure how many of those jobs are local.

Others tell me that the company line seems to be a 10 percent cut across the board, which would mean about 1,400 employees being let go, but none is confirmed yet. Another told me that the layoffs might be capped in the "low hundreds."

Again, nothing announced publicly yet.

Last week, a company spokesman would only confirm that a restructuring was underway and that employees "would be the first to know." That was last week .. leaving employees to have a great many sleepless nights over the weekend.

This morning, a FE spokeswoman told AkronNewsNow that a formal release is due out later today with all of the specifics.

It just hurts so much to even write that another major employer is cutting a significant amount of jobs.

Stay tuned.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, we are an electrical contractor trying to get a customers electric restored since yesterday. They've have been without heat now for 2 days. Due to a snowplow catching a power line and ripping it out of their weatherhead. We've had it repaired since yesterday and been on the phone for over 2 hours (on hold) yesterday (kept getting rerouted) and 1 hours today. Absolutely rediculous that they should even think about cutting jobs. Even tried the emergency downed power lines (in which they were laying across the road) and still on hold.