The last few years has been notable in the lack of major cutbacks (or at least, attention to layoffs) at local companies. The go-go environment has spawned far more companies than are being lost, and far more employment and jobs created than losses.

However, I noted two stories today which we haven’t seen much of lately, which are layoffs and consolidation in technology companies. It looks like it’s a particularly bad day for Ventura County:  Imation (in Camarillo) closing its plant and Midway Games closing its operations in Moorpark. Ventura County (and the 101 technology corridor) has been fairly quiet lately, as venture capital interest has moved more towards the consumer Internet and away from the hardware/electronics firms which have a greater presence in the corridor, but technology companies in the county have been plugging forward. These two closures — which follows higher visibility cuts over the last few months at big employers Amgen and Countrywide — are not good signs for the economic environment in Ventura County.

Aside from the local impact on jobs and employment, the actual fact that companies are closing or laying of employees is a story we haven’t seen for a long time. Whether that’s because there have been so many new companies and interesting developments in Southern California, or a booming economy, I don’t recall having covered two layoffs/closings in a day since the dot com bust. Hopefully this is more of an anomaly than the beginning of a trend.

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Employment by Benjamin Kuo