Thursday, June 5, 2008

The Arithmetic Of Decay

There isn't much to say that hasn't been said before, so I'll just lay out the numbers and give you the links.

150 = The number of jobs Utica-based ConMed announced they'd be cutting yesterday.

25 = The number of jobs lost by the closure of the North Utica Linens 'n' Things store on May 2nd.

104 = The number of jobs lost by the closure of the Home Depot store in Rome on May 1st.

That's 279 jobs gone in the last five weeks alone. The loss of the ConMed jobs is particularly painful, since many of the people hired there were let go from Partner's Trust and the Federal Reserve facility during their cutbacks.

Update: Strikeslip has more. A kind emailer also points out that ConMed has been the beneficiary of millions in Empire Zone tax credits, a point noticeably absent from stories about the layoffs.