Latest news with #CaliforniaEmploymentDevelopmentDepartment
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft layoffs hit its Silicon Valley workforce
Microsoft is slashing its Silicon Valley workforce. The tech giant, which is based in Washington but also has Bay Area offices, is cutting 122 positions in Silicon Valley, according to a layoff notice sent to the California Employment Development Department this week. Microsoft cited a reorganization and restructuring within the company as the reason for the job cuts. Bay Area Microsoft employees, who will lose their jobs in July, were working remotely or out of offices in Mountain View and Santa Clara, Calif. Microsoft also owns LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, that is based in Sunnyvale. The layoffs in California make up a fraction of the 6,000 workers the Redmond-based tech company is cutting. Microsoft said Tuesday that it's shedding roughly 3% of its global workforce, making it one of the company's largest job cuts in two years. It's the latest in a series of layoffs that continue to rattle the tech industry since 2022. Read more: Bay Area tech workers thought their jobs were safe. Then the 'golden handcuffs' came off The job cuts come as the rise of artificial intelligence, which can also generate code, is raising questions about how technology will impact software engineers and other workers. Software engineering roles made up 53% of Microsoft's job cuts in Silicon Valley, according to data provided to the EDD. Positions in product management, applied sciences, electrical engineering and other fields were also eliminated. In April, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said that as much as 30% of the company's code is written by AI during a conversation with Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg at the social network's AI developer conference. Zuckerberg has also said that he thinks AI will be able to write code like a mid-level engineer in 2025. As Microsoft competes with other major tech companies such as Google and Meta to release more popular AI-powered tools, the company said it's trying to increase how fast it moves by reducing the number of managers. 'We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace," Jeff Jones, a Microsoft spokesperson, said in a statement. The company also said it's trying to reduce redundancies while also empowering employees to spend time on more meaningful work by leveraging technology. As of June, Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers and more than half of those workers were in the United States, the company's annual report said. Microsoft reported revenue of $70 billion for the third quarter of its fiscal year ending in March, a 13% increase compared to the same period last year. The company's net income was $26 billion, up 16% year over year. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Microsoft layoffs hit its Silicon Valley workforce
Microsoft is slashing its Silicon Valley workforce. The tech giant, which is based in Washington but also has Bay Area offices, is cutting 122 positions in Silicon Valley, according to a layoff notice sent to the California Employment Development Department this week. Microsoft cited a reorganization and restructuring within the company as the reason for the job cuts. Bay Area Microsoft employees, who will lose their jobs in July, were working remotely or out of offices in Mountain View and Santa Clara, Calif. Microsoft also owns LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, that is based in Sunnyvale. The layoffs in California make up a fraction of the 6,000 workers the Redmond-based tech company is cutting. Microsoft said Tuesday that it's shedding roughly 3% of its global workforce, making it one of the company's largest job cuts in two years. It's the latest in a series of layoffs that continue to rattle the tech industry since 2022. The job cuts come as the rise of artificial intelligence, which can also generate code, is raising questions about how technology will impact software engineers and other workers. Software engineering roles made up 53% of Microsoft's job cuts in Silicon Valley, according to data provided to the EDD. Positions in product management, applied sciences, electrical engineering and other fields were also eliminated. In April, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said that as much as 30% of the company's code is written by AI during a conversation with Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg at the social network's AI developer conference. Zuckerberg has also said that he thinks AI will be able to write code like a mid-level engineer in 2025. As Microsoft competes with other major tech companies such as Google and Meta to release more popular AI-powered tools, the company said it's trying to increase how fast it moves by reducing the number of managers. 'We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,' Jeff Jones, a Microsoft spokesperson, said in a statement. The company also said it's trying to reduce redundancies while also empowering employees to spend time on more meaningful work by leveraging technology. As of June, Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers and more than half of those workers were in the United States, the company's annual report said. Microsoft reported revenue of $70 billion for the third quarter of its fiscal year ending in March, a 13% increase compared to the same period last year. The company's net income was $26 billion, up 16% year over year. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
San Francisco Chronicle
07-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
23andMe to close San Francisco office, warns 250 employees of possible layoffs
23andMe, the embattled Bay Area genetic testing company, permanently closed its San Francisco office and warned 250 employees of possible layoffs as part of ongoing restructuring efforts following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing this year. The notice, which was filed with the California Employment Development Department, gives employees advance notice that the company may need to reduce headcount if it does not receive an acceptable bid to acquire the business and retain its workforce. This is a standard precautionary measure taken by companies facing financial uncertainty. The closure of the office at 870 Market St. in downtown San Francisco is part of broader downsizing efforts, a spokesperson for 23andMe said in a statement. 'As has been reported previously, the company has been looking to reduce its real estate footprint,' it added. The potential layoffs come after a tumultuous period for 23andMe, which has faced mounting financial difficulties in recent years. In March, the company famous for its at-home DNA testing services filed for bankruptcy protection, signaling a sharp reversal for a business that was once valued at $6 billion. 23andMe's financial struggles were compounded by a cybersecurity breach last year that exposed millions of customers' data. In response to these issues, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer alert, urging state residents to consider deleting their genetic data from 23andMe's platform. Citing concerns over the company's financial instability and the sensitivity of its genetic database, Bonta recommended that consumers exercise their rights under California's privacy laws to delete their data and have any stored genetic samples destroyed. In November, 23andMe laid off 40% of its workforce, discontinued its drug development programs and refocused its efforts on its core genetic testing business. The company also announced it would wind down ongoing clinical trials and evaluate 'strategic alternatives' for its drug research assets, including studies related to potential cancer treatments.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stanislaus-based winery announces 146 more layoffs. First wave was 81
Bronco Wine Co. will lay off 146 more employees on top of the 81 announced in February. The company, based south of Ceres, announced the new job losses in a notice to the California Employment Development Department. A company spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday, April 24. Before the first round, Bronco had employed about 750 people at four plants. Three make wine: off Keyes Road in Stanislaus County and near Escalon and Madera. A bottling plant is in Napa. The first layoffs took effect April 8, and the second round will be as of June 16. They include subsidiaries WC Ag Services, Inc., which operates vineyards, and Bivio Transport and Logistics Co. LLC. The locations were not specified for the layoffs, which will be permanent. The moves come amid a slump in the California wine industry. Experts have attributed it to changing consumer tastes and an oversupply of grapes, compounded recently by tariffs. In its first layoff notice, Bronco cited 'a significant downturn in business revenues, necessitating a major reorganization in operations and workforce.' Bronco was founded in 1973 by three grandsons of Teresa and Guisepe Franzia, who built their namesake winery in northeast Ripon in 1906. Bronco does not own the Franzia boxed wine line, which is part of The Wine Group, based in Livermore. Bronco sought from the start to make wine affordable to more people, mostly famously Two Buck Chuck. That was the nickname of the Charles Shaw label, initially selling for $1.99 at Trader Joe's. Fred Franzia was the most prominent leader following the launch with his brother, Joseph, and their cousin John Franzia. Fred died in 2022 and John in 2024. Bronco has extensive vineyards in the San Joaquin Valley, as well as premium coastal regions. The company remains under family ownership and does not disclose financial details. Stanislaus County also faces job cuts in its poultry industry. Foster Farms announced in January that 519 raw turkey workers in Turlock would be let go as of May 9. The cooked-turkey portion of the operation will continue. Turkey workers could seek openings in the company's Valley chicken plants. Displaced people in all types of business can get help on retraining and other services at Stanislaus County Workforce Development.
Los Angeles Times
28-02-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Inside the mysterious slaying of a Hollywood pimp with Russian mob tattoos
The key to solving a mysterious double homicide in the South Bay city of Lomita was a convicted robber imprisoned 200 miles away. Robert Eversole had never met Allan Roshanski or Ruslan Magomedgadzhiev, but he told the authorities he knew 'everything' about how they died the morning of Oct. 4, 2020. But first, Eversole wanted to make a deal. He'd gotten his daughters and wife involved in fraud, drug dealing and gun running schemes that he'd orchestrated from prison. He wanted their charges dropped and his own sentence reduced. The only currency Eversole had to barter with was his knowledge of crimes he said he'd committed for the Aryan Brotherhood, the syndicate of white inmates that dominated the prison yards where he'd spent the last 21 years. In January, Eversole explained how Roshanski and Magomedgadzhiev ended up on the Aryan Brotherhood's hit list, his account part of a saga that unspooled over three days in a Fresno courtroom. It all came down to a stolen car, unemployment benefits and Russian prison tattoos. The first part of Roshanski's story was told by his former lover. Testifying in Fresno in January, Lana Haley said she was addicted to methamphetamine and supporting herself through fraud and theft when she met Roshanski in 2020. He was two years out of prison, having served four years for pimping women in Hollywood. Haley said she had a 'friends with benefits relationship' with Roshanski, who was living out of hotel rooms around San Diego. Roshanski, then 36, made his money by defrauding the California Employment Development Department, which was doling out benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, Haley testified. In August 2020, she accompanied Roshanski on a trip to Wisconsin. While he was asleep, Haley stole his rental car. 'I was struggling, homeless and on drugs,' she testified. 'It's just something I decided to do to survive.' Inside the car were two pounds of methamphetamine. Haley used some and sold the rest, she testified. Then she got a call from Francis Clement, she said. Clement is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood who has been imprisoned for murder since 1985, prosecutors say. At parole hearings, the 58-year-old has denied being affiliated with the gang. Clement told Haley she'd stolen drugs that belonged to the Aryan Brotherhood, she testified. She owed them $5,000. Haley said she returned to California and gave the money to a man who worked for Clement. She never saw Roshanski again. Eversole, 51, filled in the rest of the story. A compact man with no neck, a salt-and-pepper beard and close-cropped hair, Eversole was at North Kern State Prison in Delano when he heard about Roshanski's fraud racket. Defrauding the state of pandemic benefits was 'the big thing' at the time, said Eversole, who admitted getting his own family involved. 'A lot of people were getting a lot of money.' The Aryan Brotherhood collected a 'tithe' from white criminals inside and out of prison, Eversole said. At North Kern, where Eversole said he used corrupt kitchen staff and drones to bring in drugs and phones, he paid for the privilege of doing business in the Aryan Brotherhood's 'house.' 'We always said among ourselves, 'This isn't your prison. This is the Aryan Brotherhood's prison,'' he testified. 'They let you be on their yards.' The same rules applied to criminals on the street. Eversole wanted to extort Roshanski — but he needed to find out whether he could get away with it. From his prison cell, Eversole said he'd heard Roshanski had 'Russian mob-style tattoos.' According to a coroner's report, Roshanski had inked stars on his knees, a symbol in the Russian penal system that can only be worn by a high-level criminal. 'I'm not sure what this guy is,' Eversole said he told Kenneth 'Kenwood' Johnson, a reputed Aryan Brotherhood member who has been incarcerated since 1996 for attempting to kill a Madera County sheriff's deputy. Johnson, 63, has denied at parole hearings being affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood. Eversole said he ran a background check on Roshanski, asking some Armenians he knew if they were aware of him. They sent word back to Eversole: Roshanski wasn't part of any Russian mob and shouldn't have gotten those tattoos. According to Eversole, Johnson wanted Roshanski to turn over EDD debit cards loaded with cash. Once Roshanski came under Johnson's protection, no one else would be allowed to extort or rob him, Eversole testified. Then the plan changed. Johnson said Roshanski had 'disrespected' Clement, according to Eversole. It wasn't clear if this had to do with the methamphetamine stolen from Roshanski's car. 'We're going to smoke his a— and take all of them, all the cards,' Johnson said, according to Eversole. Johnson's attorney, Andrea Luem, called Eversole 'the definition of an incentivized witness' and said he only implicated Johnson after prosecutors suggested it. Hoping to sweeten his deal, Eversole offered a 'made-up theory,' she said in her closing argument. When he learned who Johnson had picked to be the killer, Eversole testified, he was stunned. Eversole had met Justin 'Sidetrack' Gray at Calipatria State Prison, where they worked out together under the desert sun. Gray was a good soldier, according to Eversole. He said that, on his orders, Gray had 'stabbed the s— out of' a convicted sex offender, who somehow survived. Eversole came to see Gray as a little brother, he testified. Gray was paroled and started a family in Los Angeles. Eversole had talked with Gray about moving to get away from his past. Then, he said, he learned Gray had been tapped to kill Roshanski. His voice cracking with emotion, Eversole testified he called Gray from prison and asked: 'What the f—'s wrong with you? Why are you doing this?' According to Eversole, Gray said his imprisoned brother was in trouble with the Aryan Brotherhood. If Gray didn't kill Roshanski, they were going to kill his brother, Eversole testified. Understanding the dilemma Gray faced, Eversole said he 'walked him through' how to kill Roshanski. The target was supposed to bring a briefcase filled with EDD debit cards. 'I told him to walk up, shoot him, throw the gun on his body, grab the briefcase and leave,' Eversole testified. Gray has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. He is scheduled to stand trial in Fresno in September. His lawyer didn't return a message seeking comment. Eversole said the next time he heard from Gray was a text message that read, 'It was done.' He called Gray and asked if he'd gotten the briefcase. Gray said he hadn't. The plan had gone awry. 'Two guys showed up,' he said, according to Eversole. There was no briefcase. Looking down at the bodies on the sidewalk, Det. Louie Aguilera of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department knew this 'wasn't your typical L.A. murder,' he recalled in an interview. Lying next to Roshanski was Magomedgadzhiev, 40, a former boxer from Chechnya who had served in the Russian military. Both men had been shot once in the head. As a coroner's investigator examined the bodies, 'I started seeing tattoos I've never seen in my life,' said Aguilera, who investigated the homicides with his partner, Det. Maria Maciel. The stars on Roshanski's knees. A sickle and star tattooed across Magomedgadzhiev's abdomen. 'I worked gangs for 12 years in South Central,' Aguilera said. 'I'm familiar with gang tattoos. These were not gang tattoos.' Within days, anonymous tipsters told detectives Gray was involved in the slayings, Aguilera said. Sheriff's deputies arrested him at a motel in Ontario. Gray had a handgun in his waistband and two rifles in his room, according to a police report. Gray refused to talk, Aguilera said. He carried himself with the confidence of someone who could weather prison time. 'This guy's not going to break,' Aguilera recalled thinking. The tips were uncorroborated hearsay. They let Gray go. An agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives called Aguilera a few months later. Eversole knew about their double-murder in Lomita, the agent said. Aguilera and Maciel went to Fresno, where Eversole was being held at the county jail on new charges of trafficking guns and drugs from prison. Eversole laid out why and how the killings happened. He said Gray had made a big mistake — he'd brought Brandon 'Bam Bam' Bannick on the hit, Aguilera recalled. Bannick was Gray's friend and member of the same South Bay gang, the Baby Blue Wrecking Crew. Whereas Gray was a hardened criminal who'd been tested in prison, Bannick was, 'in one word, lost,' Aguilera said. 'I don't think he had a mind of his own.' Eversole didn't think Bannick could be trusted to keep his mouth shut. He testified he told Gray to kill Bannick. In 2022, a grand jury in Fresno charged Johnson and Clement with ordering the slayings in Lomita and Gray and Bannick with carrying them out. The week before he was scheduled to stand trial, Bannick pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Johnson and Clement. At their trial in Fresno earlier this month, Bannick said he knew 'somebody needed to get killed' as he drove Gray to a dark street off Pacific Coast Highway, but he wasn't sure how it was going to happen. Bannick said he pulled over and got out to greet Roshanski and Magomedgadzhiev. Gray walked up and shot them without saying a word, Bannick testified. 'I was startled because I didn't know anything was going to happen right there,' he said. Bannick, 36, said he hopes U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston will spare him from spending the rest of his life behind bars in exchange for his testimony, which helped convict Johnson and Clement of ordering Roshanski and Magomedgadzhiev's slayings. For a time, Eversole said, he spoke nearly every day with Johnson and Clement using contraband cellphones. Because they were held in a different prison, he had never seen them before that day in the courtroom. Eversole said he felt conflicted about testifying against his onetime friends — but his turn as government witness got him all that he wanted. His family's charges were dropped; his own sentence for racketeering and drug trafficking was cut in half. He left prison in July and is now attending college on a Pell grant, he testified. He was never prosecuted for his role in Roshanski and Magomedgadzhiev's deaths. 'You saw him sit up there, get teary-eyed,' Clement's attorney, Jane Fisher-Byrialsen, said in her closing argument. 'When you think about that, think about who he was. Who he is. He got away with murder.' Eversole told the jury he felt 'ambivalent' about his freedom, his voice breaking again, because 'I don't feel I deserve it.' Then he finished testifying and walked out into the free world.
