Hamilton’s unemployment rate last month was 9.9 percent, 3,000 people, a decline from 10.3 percent in March, according to Ohio Job and Family Services. In Middletown last month it was 9.5 percent, 2,400 people, a drop from 10.1 percent in March. Fairfield’s rate went from 8.4 percent in March to 8.2 percent in April.
But the gains may be short-lived. The latest report for April wouldn’t take in account recent mass layoffs announced by BAE Systems and CEVA Logistics US Inc. in West Chester Twp. And Butler and Franklin counties have the most mass layoffs in Ohio based on Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices received by Ohio Job and Family Services so far this year.
“I don’t think it’s really anything Butler County is doing,” said Jennifer Spohr, Ohio Department of Development regional work force director for Southwest Ohio.
Under the WARN Act implemented in 1989, businesses with more than 100 employees have to send notices 60 days in advance of layoffs of 50 or more employees at a time in a 30-day period at a single site, said Ben Johnson, spokesman for Ohio Job and Family Services.
Notices this year in Butler County include:
• Kmart in Hamilton, one of six stores closed April 3 in five states;
• The closing of MISA Metals plants in Middletown May 7 after a joint venture with Worthington Steel;
• Another 140 to 150 jobs to be cut through July by BAE Systems in West Chester Twp., one of several rounds of cuts the past two years. They attribute layoffs to the loss of key contracts, a corporate realignment and the winding down of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and
• CEVA Logistics U.S. Inc. in West Chester Twp., which will close and cut 194 employees starting in June.
There were a total four WARN notices from Butler County companies all of last year and 10 in 2009, according to Ohio Job and Family Services’ archives. The point is to give warning to the employees affected, Johnson said.
It’s also a way for government agencies under Ohio Job and Family Services, such as Workforce One of Butler County, to respond, he said. The agencies contact the company first to see if there’s anything that can be done to avoid the layoffs.
If that doesn’t work, the rapid response units work with employers to conduct on-site or nearby orientations for employees about how to file for unemployment benefits and other services available such as job training.
However, he said more layoffs happen in smaller numbers.
“When you’re talking about layoffs, WARNs are only a very specific subset,” he said.
Workforce One of Butler County responds to layoffs of all sizes, said Kathleen Williams, the job center’s business services representative and rapid response coordinator.
The center has recorded 17 nonWARN and four WARN layoffs for a total 21 layoff events from July of last year through the end of March this year in the county.
That’s a total in that time more than any of the surrounding counties of Preble, Montgomery, Warren, Clermont and Hamilton counties, according to the agency.
Layoff events include reductions or closings of any size at a single time that result in job cuts, Williams said. An employer can be included multiple times.
She said Workforce One finds out about nonWARN notices such as Superpetz in Middletown, Blockbuster in Fairfield and Marsh Supermarket in Hamilton several ways, including word of mouth, phone calls, news media, public meetings and economic development officials.
“I worked with significantly more employers that are downsizing than my counterparts in Warren and Clermont counties,” she said.
Butler, Warren and Clermont counties make up the Workforce One Investment Board of Southwest Ohio.
SMART Papers of Hamilton laid off more than 300 people in two rounds of cuts in 2009 and have not been able to bring anyone back, said Tim Needham, chairman. He said the market’s been tough.
Miami University, the county’s largest employer, eliminated 410 mostly vacant staff positions early 2008 to 2010, according to spokeswoman Claire Wagner. Once eliminated, the position is not recreated, according to Wagner.
Classified staff have been called back if there has been a vacancy in their area; some classified staff have applied for and been hired in unclassified salary positions; and some unclassified staff have been hired in different positions, according to Wagner.
Spohr said companies are getting used to less people, too.
“I think that people have to realize it’s not going to come back as fast as it left,” said Spohr.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
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