Layoffs | featured news

Will Bourne, who became editor in chief of The Village Voice in November, and Jessica Lustig, the deputy editor since January, are leaving the weekly publication. They met with the staff at 11 a.m. on Thursday and said that Christine Brennan, executive editor of Voice Media Group, had instructed them to lay off or drastically reduce the roles of five employees on the 20-person staff. Rather than carry out the cuts, they resigned and left immediately.

From household wealth to spending at stores, many of the U.S. economy's vital signs have recovered from the damage done by the Great Recession. Home foreclosures and layoffs have dropped to pre-recession levels.

Coca-Cola Co said on Thursday it will lay off 750 people in the United States as the world's largest soft drinks maker streamlines its business three years after a big acquisition.

Hostess Brands says it is going out of business, closing plants that make Twinkies and Wonder Bread and laying off all of its 18,500 workers. The Irving, Texas, company says a nationwide worker strike crippled its ability to make and deliver its products at several locations.

Major banks have announced some 160,000 job cuts since early last year and with more lay-offs to come as the industry restructures, many will leave the shrinking sector for good as redundancies outpace new hires by roughly two-to-one.

NBCUniversal is laying off about 450 people, or roughly 1.5 percent of its workforce of about 30,000, in a round of belt-tightening that began in September.

American Airlines is sending layoff warning notices to more than 11,000 employees although it expects job losses to be closer to 4,400.

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," NBC's flagship late night program, has laid off 20 staffers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Deadline reports that Leno himself took a "tremendous" pay cut as well. Details of the departments that will be affected by the downsizing are currently unknown, nor is it known why the layoffs took place.

U.S. employers posted the most job openings in four years in June, a positive sign that hiring may pick up. The Labor Department said Tuesday job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 million in June, up from 3.7 million in May. That's the most since July 2008. Layoffs fell. The data follow Friday's report that said employers in July added the most jobs in five months. A rise in openings could signal better hiring in the coming months. It typically takes one to three months to fill a job.

San Bernardino must cut government spending by a third, almost assuredly resulting in widespread layoffs or pay reductions for city workers, as it prepares to officially file for bankruptcy protection, city officials said.