More bad job news (Boise, Nampa: 2011, job market, school)

[HDL]

and it's not good news for housing either !!! I feel for these people (and their families) losing their jobs in this economy. I hope that they get going on the NEW LED manufacturing quickly to help some of these folks out!

~Prayers for all those effected by these lay offs ~

Micron's ending an era in the Treasure Valley | Business | Idaho Statesman

"The final chips are rolling out of Micron Technology Inc.'s fabrication plant over the next few weeks, ending a nearly three-decade run that helped launch Micron into an international, multibillion-dollar powerhouse and put Boise on the global high-tech map.
Now, the Treasure Valley will have to cope with the loss of at least 3,500 Micron jobs in 10 months during one of the nation's worst economic crises.
Micron announced in February that it would lay off 2,000 people by August as it stops making its primary product, dynamic random-access memory chips, at its outdated Boise plant.
That announcement came on the heels of another Micron layoff of 1,400 to 1,600 employees announced in October.
After the layoffs, about 5,200 Idahoans will still be employed at Micron, down from more than 10,000 about four years ago."

OUT WITH OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

As Micron jettisons its outdated memory-chip division, it is embarking on a new endeavor - light-emitting diodes.
Commonly called LEDs, this new breed of high-efficiency lighting uses far less energy and can last many times longer than traditional electric lights.
The Idaho Department of Energy Resources intends to spend $5 million in federal economic-stimulus money so Micron can convert idled fabrication plants in Boise and Nampa to LED manufacturing.
Micron plans to begin work on prototype LED lighting modules this summer and produce the prototypes by the first half of 2010. Full production is expected by 2011, according a Labor Department report.

[IDtoTX]

I'm so sorry to hear about this. My husband and I both worked for Micron when we lived in ID. I'm thinking of all my former co-workers.

[jwest09]

Not good for a already overcrowded job market in the Boise area. And very few companies doing any new hiring at all.

[MrGrumpy]

There goes Columbia Village.

[Jarndyce]

I think the most depressing thing I read in the source article is that WalMart is now one of the top employers in the state. That's embarrassing, actually.

[cleosmom]

Ouch to our fellow Idahoans, sorry to hear this bit of news.

[boiseguy]

Originally Posted by Jarndyce

I think the most depressing thing I read in the source article is that WalMart is now one of the top employers in the state. That's embarrassing, actually.

actually that doesn't surprise me... but walmart is also the largest private employer in the country.... our neighboring states like utah.. walmart employs 15000 people.. and it is their top employer as well outside of governement and nonprofit hospitals...
so I wouldn't worry about walmart...
Things will be changing when this economy starts back up again... there is a process of out with the old in with the new.. and unfortunately in the shuffle people lose jobs.. many times forcing them into new careers or back into school.. it happened in the 80's and a little bit in the 90's..
The run is over.. and places and companies that can innovate will be the ones that survive... whether we like obama's green energy initiatives or not.. that is where the focus of the new economy is going.. and if micron is jumping on board... we could see some good things come to the valley in 2-5 years... Micron's footprint is there.. and there is a facility for manufacturing that won't go to waste.. because nobody can afford to waste something like that.. that is a huge asset to be used or sold to someone that will use it...