Johnson Controls, Inc., said it will layoff 110 of the 410 workers today at its plant in Columbia, Tenn., that makes seats and interior consoles for the new Chevrolet Traverse, according to the United Auto Workers, which represents the facility’s hourly employees.
Labor experts and political leaders are stressing the need for workers to earn high-tech certifications like Bloom’s to compete in the modern economy.
But as the nation deals with a recession and as unemployment rises, the state and local officials in charge of the federally funded programs that teach these skills are adjusting to cuts that have taken more than $10 million out of their budgets over the last three years.
Facial hair is showing up on more former corporate types. It’s one of those tiny luxuries unleashed by unemployment, a time when people are briefly released from workaday habits and may wish to take stock of their lives before setting out anew. Al Gore grew a beard after losing the tumultuous presidential election of 2000. Neatly trimmed, it looked cozy and anti-establishment as he pursued creative projects on his way to the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the past three months, 36 companies have either expanded in Nashville or moved here, Miller said, bringing 1,775 new jobs.
"Activity is not as robust as it was, but it's there," she said.
The state had 15,000 applicants in the first week of November, compared with 2,000 that week in 2007. In all of November, there were 46,000 applicants, compared with 25,000 in 2007.
