An unexpected company now announces layoffs in Utah according to a WARN notice filed with the Department of Workforce Services.
This week, Ben Group Inc. filed a notice advising that a total of 72 employees in Salt Lake City will be laid off on July 23.
It’s important to note that under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, an employer with more than 100 full-time workers must provide a 60-day notice before laying off 50 or more people at a single site.
These must be filed with the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
The layoffs equate to approximately 50% of the company’s workforce, per AdWeek.
“The most painful part of this process will be a significant reduction in force, eliminating approximately half of our roles in the U.S. and identifying additional roles for potential redundancy globally over the next several months,” stated newly appointed CEO Ted Sheffield.
“These role eliminations and potential redundancies will be across all teams and seniority levels as we re-focus on a clear strategic vision to rebuild as a profitable company.”
“As part of this change, Ricky Ray Butler will be departing as CEO of BENlabs.
We will be adopting a new leadership structure, in which Erin Schmidt will be leading a focused Product Placement business, Jake Maughan will be leading a focused Influencer business, and Tyler Folkman will be leading a focused TubeBuddy business.
I will be serving as CEO,” Sheffield stated in an email.
“For those who will remain with the company, I would ask that you use the days and weeks ahead to join me in expressing empathy and gratitude for our friends and colleagues who will be departing.”
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Other Economy News Today
Applications for unemployment benefits now surge to new highs, a sign that the white-hot labor market is starting to cool off.
First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 231,000, the highest level since August, per CNN.
Thursday’s data also showed that the number of continuing claims, or applications from people who have filed for unemployment for at least one week, was 1.78 million.
That’s an increase of 17,000 from the prior week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The latest numbers come less than a week after the monthly jobs report showed the US economy added just 175,000 positions in April, less than economists expected and a steep drop-off from prior months.
US employers have now added an average of 245,500 jobs per month, versus 2023’s 251,000-per-month average.
Still, hiring remains strong. Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% last month, it’s the 27th consecutive month that the jobless rate has held under 4%, matching a streak last seen in the late 1960s.
Weekly jobless claims data tends to be volatile but, while one week’s worth of data “does not a trend make,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.
“We can no longer be sure that calm seas lie ahead for the US economy if today’s weekly jobless claims are any indication.”
“Company layoffs are picking up, hinting at caution on the part of companies as they weigh the outlook for the second half of the year,” he wrote in a note Thursday.
The Federal Reserve has been battling inflation by raising its key lending rate in the hopes of slowing the economy.
While the labor market has so far resisted those efforts, remaining white hot for the past 18 months despite 11 rate hikes from the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that demand has “cooled from its extremely high level of a couple of years ago.”
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Economics said in a note Thursday: “We’d need to see at least a month of elevated readings to convince us that the trend really has turned.”
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Also Read: A Giant Company Now Announces Unexpected Layoffs in Virginia
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