Layoffs

Health care services company McKesson Corp. warned state regulators Monday that it would close its Landover facility this spring and lay off 106 employees. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said the San Francisco-based company, which specializes in areas such as pharmaceuticals distribution and health care IT, expected the closure to happen April 20. The pharmaceuticals division, which delivers medicine to retailers, pharmacies and hospitals, provided the warning notice.

The University of Maryland Medical Center will send layoff notices to employees at the end of the month as it looks to cut costs in the wake of federal budget cuts and what it and other state hospitals have called inadequate rate increases. Jeffrey Rivest, president and CEO of the Baltimore hospital, sent an email to managers Tuesday that said individual letters regarding layoffs would be given out June 25, 26 and 27. The number of people who will lose their jobs still is being finalized, said spokeswoman Mary Lynn Carver said.

The University of Maryland Medical Center will send layoff notices to employees at the end of the month as it looks to cut costs in the wake of federal budget cuts and what it and other state hospitals have called inadequate rate increases. Jeffrey Rivest, president and CEO of the Baltimore hospital, sent an email to managers Tuesday that said individual letters regarding layoffs would be given out June 25, 26 and 27. The number of people who will lose their jobs still is being finalized, said spokeswoman Mary Lynn Carver said.

Bethesda-based Marriott International warned the state that it will lay off 35 employees in June, and potentially several hundred others later in the year, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Friday. The company's layoff warning notice said it is reorganizing and outsourcing some "information resources" operations. The initial cuts are planned for June 28 in Bethesda, Frederick and Gaithersburg. Marriott said several hundred more employees could be laid off between July and December.

Northrop Grumman on Wednesday notified about 60 people, primarily in Maryland and Virginia, in its electronics systems segment that they will be out of jobs at the end of the month. In October, the aerospace and defense contractor announced it was cutting its electronic systems staff by up to 350 positions. About 280 people accepted voluntary buyouts, but "the number of volunteers did not reduce our headcount to the extent required," Jack Martin Jr., a Northrop Grumman spokesman, said Wednesday.

Rising factory output and a decline in the pace of layoffs are giving economists confidence that the U.S. recovery has staying power. The government is expected to report today that the economy added jobs in March for only the second time since December 2007. Still, job creation is likely to remain weak for years to come, in part because U.S. factories have become more efficient, producing more goods with fewer workers. On top of that, the sector's contribution to the overall economy has been shrinking for decades due to competition from China and other low-wage countries.

Annapolis Mayor Josh Cohen told city employees Thursday that furloughs and layoffs are likely during the next few months in order to close a projected $9 million budget gap. Despite a number of cost-cutting measures that his administration has taken since he took office in December, the job cuts are necessary because of the city's "unprecedented budget crisis," said Cohen, a Democrat. The city faces a projected $2.6 million deficit for the fiscal year ending in June, and a $6.4 million deficit for fiscal year 2011.

Bank of America is not releasing details on how many Maryland workers are to be laid off in its job-cutting plan. The financial institutution, the largest in Maryland by deposits, said Monday that it planned to cut 30,000 jobs nationwide over several years. Bank of America says the move, along with other cost-cutting measures, will save $5 billion a year. The bank employs about 4,000 people in Maryland. It has not detailed the locations of any of the job cuts. hanah.cho@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Baltimore might not like layoffs, but Wall Street does. Investors drove Legg Mason Inc.'s stock price up 11 percent Tuesday — the biggest jump in nearly a year — after the money manager announced plans to cut 350 jobs nationwide and buy back as much as $1 billion of its shares. Stronger-than-expected earnings, announced after the markets closed Monday, along with the company's plans also helped. The firm estimates that the job cuts, 250 of which will hit workers in Owings Mills and Legg Mason's Harbor East headquarters, could mean up to $150 million in annual savings.

A convenience-store supplier warned Maryland regulators that it will lay off 112 employees in Baltimore, the state said Friday. Eby-Brown's reduction plan was one of two recent layoff warnings the state received. MV Transportation, which provides paratransit and other transportation services to governments, groups and companies, told the state that it would close its Waldorf division beginning late October and lay off the 68 people working at the Southern Maryland location. Eby-Brown's layoffs will start Nov. 2, the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said.

When reigning national champion Salisbury opens a semifinal contest of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament against Mary Washington this Saturday at Sea Gull Stadium, 10 days will have passed since the team's last game - a 7-6 setback to then-No. 12 Washington College on April 17. Coach Jim Berkman is hoping that the Sea Gulls (13-4), who slipped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll because of that loss to the Shoremen, will still be sharp when they take the field Saturday.

The mutual decision to postpone Wednesday night's showdown between UMBC and Maryland means that the top-ranked Terps will now have seven days between their last contest (March 2 at Duke) and their next one (March 10 vs. Stony Brook). It's the longest layoff of the regular season for Maryland, and coach John Tillman acknowledged some concern. “I think kids, you get them in a rhythm and get into a kind of systematic repetition and I think kids really flourish in that,” Tillman said Wednesday.

A convenience store supplier located in Anne Arundel County is closing its doors and plans to layoff about 200 workers. Eby F.A. Davis LLC, a division of the Illinois-based Eby-Brown Co., will be ending operations at its Baltimore-area facility and conducting layoffs of 194 employees in two phases, according to a statement Friday from the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The first phase will occur over a two-week period in mid-April; the second will be during a two-week period in mid-May, the department said.

Northrop Grumman on Wednesday notified about 60 people, primarily in Maryland and Virginia, in its electronics systems segment that they will be out of jobs at the end of the month. In October, the aerospace and defense contractor announced it was cutting its electronic systems staff by up to 350 positions. About 280 people accepted voluntary buyouts, but "the number of volunteers did not reduce our headcount to the extent required," Jack Martin Jr., a Northrop Grumman spokesman, said Wednesday.

An engineering, construction and technical services firm notified the state that it might lay off 31 employees next month, Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Wednesday. California-based URS Corp. said possible layoffs could occur at its operations on MacArthur Road at Fort Meade and 430 National Business Parkway in Annapolis Junction. If layoffs happen, they would take effect at the close of business on Feb. 27 t h , the state said. The company declined to comment.

Commerce Corp., a lawn and garden supplies distributor based in Curtis Bay, notified state regulators that it was laying off between 60 and 70 workers. Commerce Corp., a lawn and garden supplies distributor based in Curtis Bay, notified state regulators Thursday that it was laying off between 60 and 70 workers. According to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Commerce initially said it was closing its principal office at 7603 Energy Parkway. The company later said it was not shutting operations there, but instead had started to lay off workers on Dec. 28, according to the agency.

The Sparrows Point steel mill in Baltimore County is offering temporary, voluntary layoffs to "a small number of its employees," said company spokeswoman Elizabeth "Bette" Kovach. She would not give a specific number of layoffs but said the company is still accepting volunteers. Russian steelmaker Severstal, which bought Sparrows Point in 2008, has been looking for ways to cut costs as its U.S. operations have dragged down earnings. The union that represents 2,500 employees at the plant received a draft proposal in the fall from Severstal detailing a restructuring that could impact as many as one-third of the jobs at the plant.

TransCare Corp. is warning state regulators that it will lay off 55 employees in Baltimore at the end of August as a state transit contract expires. The Aug. 31 expiration of a Maryland Transit Administration contract to provide transportation for Marylanders with disabilities or other physical challenges will affect workers at TransCare's Desoto Road facility in Southwest Baltimore. Brian Nevin, general manager for TransCare's Maryland division, said the company hopes to win another contract for that work and recall employees.

Commerce Corp., a Maryland-based distributor of lawn and garden supplies, said Thursday it is laying off some employees as it seeks to find a buyer or develop a new format. CEO Richard Lessans said the privately held company is still trying to determine how many of its 280 employees nationwide will be laid off. Commerce is based in Curtis Bay and has facilities in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Ontario, Calif. Some sales staff were told they were laid off. "The business is not closing," Lessans said.

Citigroup announced this morning it would lay off 11,000 employees - about 4 percent of its workforce - to save money. A Citi spokesman said the layoffs are expected to have little impact in Maryland, where the company employs 3,600 workers. Less than 1 percent of those Maryland employees will be affected, the spokesman said. Citi plans to close one branch here while other affected Marylanders work in the operations and technology group, the spokesman said. The location of the branch wasn't disclosed.