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Boeing to close its storied Seattle manufacturing R&D center
From outside the Boeing security fence, the giant windowless, box-like building across the road from the Museum of Flight looks unremarkable, if mysterious. For decades, drivers passing by on East Marginal Way have wondered what exactly goes on inside such a large structure. Soon, the answer will be: nothing at all. In yet another sign of Boeing's shrinking local footprint, managers told affected employees just before Christmas that in the next four to six months the facility, known as the Advanced Developmental Composites (ADC) center, will be shuttered. Just 10 years ago, Boeing expanded the...
The Seattle Times
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Top jobs for Stellantis: electrification, restructure Europe, compete in China
When Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and French automaker Groupe PSA merge on Jan. 16 to become Stellantis NV, the new transnational automaker's priorities will be to advance a robust electrification strategy, right-size product development operations and chart a path forward in China, the world's largest auto market. Shareholders of both companies on Monday overwhelmingly voted in favor of the combination. As the world's fourth-largest automaker by volume, Stellantis aims to combine the profit machines of Jeep SUVs and Ram pickups in North America with the hefty margins delivered by PSA — the ma...
The Detroit News
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How will Orlando, the theme park capital of the world, recover from 2020?
ORLANDO, Fla. — The year 2020 brought images of Orlando never seen before. Interstate 4, the eternally traffic-clogged gateway to the theme parks, was quiet. The Magic Kingdom, the world’s busiest park, was empty for months, a happy place that previously had shut down for just a day or two for hurricanes or other emergencies. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to recede in 2021 as vaccines become available. But restarting Orlando’s tourism machine will be a monumental task, and experts don’t agree on how much longer the region and its hundreds of thousands of industry workers will suffer. Di...
Orlando Sentinel
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How will Orlando, the theme park capital of the world, recover from 2020?
ORLANDO, Fla. — The year 2020 brought images of Orlando never seen before. Interstate 4, the eternally traffic-clogged gateway to the theme parks, was quiet. The Magic Kingdom, the world’s busiest park, was empty for months, a happy place that previously had shut down for just a day or two for hurricanes or other emergencies. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to recede in 2021 as vaccines become available. But restarting Orlando’s tourism machine will be a monumental task, and experts don’t agree on how much longer the region and its hundreds of thousands of industry workers will suffer. Di...
Orlando Sentinel
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How will Orlando, the theme park capital of the world, recover from 2020? |
ORLANDO, Fla. — The year 2020 brought images of Orlando never seen before. Interstate 4, the eternally traffic-clogged gateway to the theme parks, was quiet. The Magic Kingdom, the world’s busiest park, was empty for months, a happy place that previously had shut down for just a day or two for hurricanes or other emergencies. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to recede in 2021 as vaccines become available. But restarting Orlando’s tourism machine will be a monumental task, and experts don’t agree on how much longer the region and its hundreds of thousands of industry workers will suffer. Di...
Orlando Sentinel
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4,000 more Disney theme park division employees are losing their jobs
ORLANDO, Fla. — On the day before Thanksgiving, the Walt Disney Co. revealed 4,000 more layoffs are coming in its theme parks division, bringing the total number of announced layoffs to 32,000 across the company.At least [18,000 of the total jobs lost belong to cast members at Walt Disney World](This year, the resort has already lost nearly a quarter of its reported 2019 workforce of 77,000.A spokeswoman for Walt Disney World did not immediately respond to questions about the announced layoffs, including how many Orlando employees would be affected.The notice said about 32,000 employees in the...
Orlando Sentinel
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As new COVID-19 restrictions bear down, surviving businesses draw on hard-earned lessons from the spring
SEATTLE — Like many business owners in Washington state, sisters Tara Espinoza and Sabrina Rinderle, proprietors of Queen Anne Dispatch in Seattle, were neither surprised nor unprepared for Gov. Jay Inslee’s second round of COVID-19 restrictions.Since the first restrictions in March, Espinoza and Rinderle have largely reengineered their combination boutique and mail-services business. Staff is fully trained in safety protocols. Floors are marked for social distance and the inventory mix is more “grab-and-go.”The finances aren’t great. Sales are a fraction of pre-March levels and this time ther...
The Seattle Times
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Dog day cares turn to front-line workers and pandemic puppies to prosper
DETROIT — Erica Hill’s best friend weighs only 13 pounds, but he can be a terror of a terrier.That’s why Hill, who typically works a 16-hour day in her job with the City of Detroit, admits she could not do the work and hold onto the greatest joy of her life — her 2-year-old pup, Kash — if it weren’t for dog day care services.“I am single so if it were not for Canine to Five, Kash would take over my house,” Hill said of the day care and boarding center in Detroit. “He’s a very active Yorkie. There, he can socialize with other dogs and it makes my life easier to know that he’s safe and he’s well...
Detroit Free Press
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Huron cuts employees, office space and delays salary increases as part of pandemic-related restructuring
Consulting firm Huron is laying off 145 employees and plans to shrink its office space as it deals with the impact of COVID-19 on its workforce and clients, particularly those in the health care and education segments.The Chicago-based firm, which reported a decline in third-quarter earnings Monday, also said it would delay 2021 merit increases for all employees as part of a fourth-quarter restructuring plan.On an earnings call with financial analysts, Huron executives said most of the layoffs are in the health care and education segments, along with 20 positions eliminated on the corporate te...
Chicago Tribune
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Editorial: Washington state and Boeing must realign for better days
Even before Boeing announced drastic new layoffs that will hit Puget Sound hard, the need for a mutual reassessment was evident. Boeing’s ongoing business retrenchment will hurt in the near term. Washington state should focus on how to shape and aid Boeing’s long-range quest for renewal.The direness of the company’s condition is clear. An ongoing 19% companywide workforce reduction will cut Boeing by more than 30,000 jobs from its 2019 levels. The company is expected to sit on immense empty space in its Everett plant and may sell its huge Commercial Airplanes headquarters office in Renton. The...
The Seattle Times
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