Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

« Thank You, Marit | Everybody Knows Obama First Appeare… »

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Economy / City Vulcan Announces Layoffs

Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 3:38 PM

Vulcan informed its 650-person staff today that it will lay off about 50 employees, company spokesman David Postman says. "Vulcan is not immune to [current] market conditions."

Layoffs are “project based,” Postman says, indicating specific departments will be eliminated, reduced, or postponed; however, he wouldn’t address which departments would bear the brunt, how much they would be impacted by layoffs, or when the staffers would be sent packing. But Vulcan isn't cutting its real-estate division. Vulcan—best known for pumping South Lake Union with new development—also maintains a film production company, a tech project called FlipStart, and an asset-management company. “It’s a tight-knit place and the fact that 50 workers are laid off hits hard on those people and their families, and their coworkers here,” he says.

Comments (9) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

You'd think they could coast from all the assets Paul Allen has ...

Posted by Will in Seattle on January 15, 2009 at 3:47 PM

This is awesome. In one year no one in Seattle will have jobs!

Posted by andrew on January 15, 2009 at 3:54 PM

This is highly illogical.

Posted by Ziggity on January 15, 2009 at 3:55 PM

David Postman taught me what the term flack means, and modeled how to pronounce the term with just the right amount of put-upon-ness.

And now he is one. Weird.

Posted by Kalakalot on January 15, 2009 at 3:55 PM

Will the last person leaving Seattle please turn off the desktop?

Posted by George Santayana on January 15, 2009 at 4:01 PM

@5 for the green win.

Posted by Will in Seattle on January 15, 2009 at 4:08 PM

Plenty of Seattleites will still have jobs in a year, though it is true some of the jobs may be different. A whole new generation gets to learn why U.S. economists and social scientists tend to bite their nails when the unemployment rate rises even a little.

Posted by tomasyalba on January 15, 2009 at 4:12 PM

Aren't like 2 in every 5 architects laid off right now? UGH.

Posted by scharrera on January 15, 2009 at 5:40 PM

@3 -

Dammit Ziggity! Paul Allen's a multi-billionaire fanboy, not a captain of industry!

Posted by Slip Mahoney on January 15, 2009 at 8:01 PM