Western Mass job cuts on the rise

Chicopee, Mass. (WWLP) - The only good news from the survey is that most companies that reported layoffs said the cuts affected 25 or fewer workers.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts says 46 percent of the 145 companies who answered the survey had conducted a layoff in recent months or were planning to do so.

That is a believable figure considering all the local businesses that have handed out pink slips.

National Nonwovens in Easthampton laid 28 people, Hazen Paper in Holyoke let 15 workers go, slumping sales forced Micro Abrasives in Westfield to lay off 19 of its 50 employees...and upwards of 100 employees at Berry's Plastics in Easthampton are now collecting unemployment.

Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce president Russell Denver told 22news the cost of doing business in Massachusetts is simply too high one example he gave us was that Massachusetts businesses pay more per employee for unemployment benefits than any other state in the country. "It is the utility cost, it is the cost for health care the health care premiums are substantially higher than other parts of the country."

The study found eighty-six percent of businesses had altered staffing plans, 55 percent had frozen salaries for 2009 and 42 percent had reduced work hours for remaining employees.

All but 15 percent of the companies that responded said business had weakened since the recession began.

And for those laid off workers finding a new job seems impossible.

Executives said decisions on which employees to let go were based most often on job title, followed by performance and length of service.