Remember, Christmas is coming and time’s running out to get those layoffs in! Stellantis is idling — not closing — its suburban Belvedere plant making Jeep Cherokees. So tell the 1,350 former employees not to worry! They may not have a job for the holidays, but it’s not like they’re fired fired.
PepsiCo is also laying off hundreds in snack and beverages, though no word on how many will be in Chicago specifically, home to Gatorade, Tropicana and Quaker Foods. These are our favorite kind of layoffs, the ones triggered not by a turn in the business but by the belief that things will get bad at some future moment. Better to “run lean” and have the remaining folks do twice the work than to risk compromising bonuses.
West Monroe and Relativity are making smaller cuts. The consultancy is laying off 180 people this week thanks to a “slowdown in tech” leaving West Monroe with a surplus of talent (doubt it). Legal software maker Relativity is laying off fewer people — 150 — but a larger percentage of its staff at an almost 10% cut.
Do you think they already had office Secret Santas picked out, or …
Just a reminder that the best way to protect yourself from the effects of arbitrary layoffs is to join a union — just like more than 600 nontenured educators at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago did this week.
Christmas season is also spending season, and private equity BDT Capital Partners just dropped $221.5 million to buy the remaining shares it doesn’t own in Weber Grill, taking the company private after leading its IPO just over a year ago. An impressive premium given the company announced a 20% drop in sales this year.
Nerdio (ugh) picked up a cool $117 million, which it plans to use to double headcount, throwing more bodies at the problem of setting up Microsoft environments for companies with lots of remote workers. Or, those same companies could, you know …
Cardiosense raised $15.1 million to build out its technology, which uses AI and medical sensors to allow for early detection of cardiovascular disease. Just a much better place to put money honestly.
Then there is Evertas, which raised $14 million to insure cryptocurrency investments. Cool. Cool cool. Can they insure those investments from the crypto founders themselves, or?
Remember folks, there’s always money in logistics. Telegraph just raised $10 million to grow its software, which provides shippers, railroads and other logistics services with an operating system to manage moving items all over the world. Or, what about clogged toilets? Mezo raised $6 million for a platform that lets tenants report building issues to landlords. In our experience, that doesn’t mean the issues will be fixed. But still! Definitely a need to be served.
Horizon Therapeutics hasn’t quite cashed the check yet, but California-based biotech company Amgen has agreed to pay $27.8 billion for its autoimmune disorder treatments. No word on what it means for Horizon’s large Deerfield office.
It could work out well for the area however. Take Medline: The family behind the healthcare supply company is taking the billions they made selling shares and using it to fund an investment firm to help more businesses grow.
Speaking of cycles, perpetual layer-offer United Airlines is planning to add 2,600 jobs in the Chicago area, using the folks to help manage a newly expanded fleet of Boeing jets expected to start rolling in next year.
Jobs, Glorious Jobs
Communications Advisor at FedEx Services
Ah, our favorite things — communications and logistics. It’s a full-time fully remote job (“under minimal supervision,” praise be) so the search is wide, but that means you get to see the salary range: $6,486.20-$9,847.69/mo. S/O states with salary transparency.
Global Marketing Director, Climate and Sustainability at Boston Consulting Group
Will the job involve greenwashing corporate initiatives? Almost definitely. Will you be compensated accordingly? Also yes. Push for incrementally better action, then use the surplus of your salary to donate your way out of the bad feelings.
Inspiration of the Week
“If there is a great creative tradition in Chicago, it is in that unerring sense of potential and place.”
—This dive into Chicago’s arts’ scene scratches all our little civic-pride itches by spending time with the makers that make Chicago a place of beauty, not just labor. We’ll be taking the next few weeks off for the holidays — may we all use these long-short days at the end of the year to think about what the potential of this place might allow us to do in 2023.
Forward this email to anyone who recognizes potential. They can sign up here for a place to realize it twice a month.
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