SAN JOSE — Several Bay Area companies — some tech firms among them — have revealed layoffs affecting hundreds of workers, fresh staffing cutbacks that run counter to recent reports of job gains in the region, official state government reports show.
Lumentum, Boston Scientific, Hitachi Vantara, Off The Grid Services (also known as The Whole Cart), Target, and MobiTV have revealed layoffs or facility closures that together affect more than 800 workers, according to notices posted by the state Employment Development Department.
The layoffs and closures offer a grim contrast to the reports of Bay Area job gains totaling 50,100 during two recent months, consisting of 33,200 jobs added in February and 16,900 jobs in March, according to the EDD reports.
The EDD notices are a brutal reminder that the Bay Area’s wobbly economy might not have fully shaken off the effects of coronavirus-linked business shutdowns that state and local officials ordered starting in March 2020 to combat the deadly bug.
Among the most recent notices of layoffs or permanent closures of facilities, according to official WARN letters sent by the employers to the EDD:
— Lumentum, a tech company that makes optical and photonic equipment, is cutting 165 jobs at two locations in north San Jose, effective May 25. The company’s letter said that 114 workers would be laid off from a site on Automation Parkway in San Jose and 51 would lose their jobs at a site on Rose Orchard Way in San Jose.
— Boston Scientific, a medical equipment maker, is cutting 168 jobs in Santa Rosa, effective on June 14. In January 2021, Boston Scientific cut 126 jobs in Menlo Park.
— Hitachi Vantara is cutting 65 jobs in Santa Clara, effective May 31. Hitachi Vantara also cut 148 Santa Clara jobs in December 2020.
— MobiTV is cutting 86 jobs in Emeryville, effective May 2.
— Target is closing two Bay Area stores, which affect 37 workers in San Francisco and 35 workers in Cupertino. Target is giving many of the affected workers an opportunity to shift their jobs to another store, so the actual number of layoffs could be less than the potential 72 positions.
— Off The Grid and its subsidiary The Whole Cart disclosed plans for the permanent layoffs of 256 workers in the Bay Area. The company provides and coordinates food truck services for big employers such as Google. But due to the business shutdowns, numerous Bay Area office campuses have been largely deserted for more than a year.
“The layoff will be permanent for the foreseeable future because we lost our program contract with Google,” Maurice Tuiasosopo Bell, vice president of people for Off the Grid Services, stated in the notice to the EDD.
The company’s locations in South San Francisco and Mountain View will be closed permanently, the company said. The Hayward location, which is owned and maintained by The Whole Cart, will be repurposed for other business needs if that is feasible, the company said.
Off The Grid and The Whole Cart did offer hope that some workers could find other work despite the layoffs.
“Those employed by The Whole Cart do have an opportunity to transfer over to Bon Appetit because they took over the program contract with Google,” the company said in the notice.
