By Diane Daily
One of the area’s largest employers has just announced a massive layoff. Bloomington’s Catalent plant will reduce its workforce by 400 full and part time employees and all of the affected workers will be notified by the end of the week. A report by the Bloomingtonian says officials at the company have taken measures to avoid the layoffs including several cost cutting initiatives, freezing the company’s hiring process and pausing all non-critical capital expenditures. But the efforts were not enough to successfully cover costs in the current economic climate. Catalent will offer severance pay and job transition support to the affected employees and will try to transfer as many as possible to other open positions in the company.
The first of December ushers in a very busy season at the post office. And it will cost a little bit more to mail our packages this year. For the 2022 holiday season, the USPS says it has made several temporary price adjustments. The increased prices will be in effect through Jan. 22nd for both retail and business customers. According to USPS, the price increases are similar to ones done in past years to help cover extra handling costs. If you’re sending Christmas cards this year, don’t forget the cost of a First-Class Forever stamp is now 60 cents.
Bloomington Transit’s Stuff-A-Bus is celebrating its 23rd anniversary. This year, all donations will go to the Monroe County Department of Child Services. There a few changes have made since last year to in order to protect donors, volunteers and Transit coworkers. A bin will be placed in the front of the door of the bus for contact-free donations. They’ve also created a contact-free shopping experience through Amazon. Stuff-A-Bus will make its first appearance of the year tomorrow at Target. The bus will visit a number of shopping centers and retail locations throughout Bloomington through December 10th. As always, the goal is to stuff the bus full of donated, unwrapped new toys, clothes, books and children’s coats, gloves, and mittens.
