People, please stop thinking you know everything that happens behind these companies closed doors, the only people who know this are the ones on the inside. And they are the ones who are suffering, if you have no commpassion for those who are losing their jobs, whether it be the pizza delivery boy or a gm employee, then just keep your nose out of the business you don't know. Please.

Actually, when Lear first started they were paying $8.50 and hour. My ex worked there and he would talk about people hog ringing their hand and his hands were torn and so sore, some days they'd be full of bandaids! They EARNED their money....

I think it is quite interesting the comments and comparisons about Lear/GM. Lear is NOT GM....They have the UAW and thats about all thats the same. Lear was NOT offered buyouts/not getting sub-pay/and not a penny in severence pay. They are getting a closed door and unemployment.

Thanks to the NAFTA agreement; they are getting unemployment and education expenses since their jobs were lost LOST to another country. But remember the UAW did not get them anything in regards to this layoff and the company isnt giving them anything/offering anything either. Unlike GM.

bingo, unidentified! great post!

jvldude: The bitter book educated but unknowledgeable, condescending, and generalizing crowd like yourself need some facts. First off the folks at Lear didn’t start off making good wages. In the beginning they were hand stretching leather seats, using 5lb pneumatic torque guns/hog ring staple guns, and screw guns in producing 500 seats or more per shift. If a seat required a job, which needed five screws, that’s 2,500 screws a shift in addition to other task in less than minute. This was done for a wage less than 10.00 dollars per hour and often times 60 hours per week. Hands needed to be iced or soaked in cold water just to get them moving again for the next shift. It took many years of blood, sweat, and negotiations to get to this point. In addition, I would add that we have quite a substantial number of two and four year college graduates working at our facility both on the line and in various non union jobs. Moreover, quite a few workers at Lear have certificates in other non white collar fields. Lastly, there is a substantial amount of quality control, shipping and receiving, HR, engineering, materials maintenance, IT, and other various non production positions being eliminated. All of these people either educated or not, will be losing their jobs. You sound like some former supervisors, who like many, couldn’t handle it and ran off crying or got fired. Don’t carry the bitterness with you your whole life and be thankful you aren’t losing your job. One never knows when one of these Lear people you chastise now will become your boss, your contractor, your heating repair man, or your computer technician. People are people.

The comments on here are somewhat hidious No matter what wage or job you have it is important to the individual and to lose it is to lose it... Also are the employees at hardees going to get 2 plus years unemployment N O T !!! and school nope I personaaly think that yes it is hard times at GM LEAR and all the companies affected but IT IS ALSO HARD ON LOWER WAGE EARNERS TO! I am fortunate and have a job not affected by this and am very grateful, we have a fair wage and low cost for good insurance, the people with jobs now need to be at work and do a decent job as a lot of companies will look at work ethics and attendence and the slackers need to think about missing or doing just enough to get by.

A Job is a Job is a Job. Whether they pay minimum wage and no bennies and require no skills or they need you to have training and offer cushy benefit packages, loss of a job sucks no matter WHAT you do.

So to the people talking about how some jobs don't count... bite it. You want job security?
Become a cop, a mortician, run for office or join the military.
There will always be crime, death and politics.

I think it is sad when ANYONE loses a job whether it be Hardee's or anywhere. You cannot rip on the fact that they only make $6 an hour. Jobs are going to get harder to find all around! Everyone is going to feel the crunch from these "layoffs" because people aren't going to have the money to blow on nonsensical items anymore. And yes, J-ville is a huge auto town and it WILL affect everything.

One more thing, I bet you also believe the plow drivers deliberately DON'T plow your street too.....

jvldude....you are turning green. The green eyed monster is taking over, you better readjust your trousers!!

To mollyd5:
I'm sorry, but my husband did not work this week so we are not sure what's happening at Blackhawk??

My husband and I are in our early 50's. My husband happens to be one of the employees that will probably be cut at Lear. He has worked their for over 13 years and is a very hard worker. He also would complain about how lazy some people are and are on comp all the time just to get out of work. But here now the good workers have to suffer along with the bad. It would have been nice if they could lay of all the workers who were abusing the system and making the hard workers pay for it.
But don't kid yourself Janesville people, these layoffs will trickle down and affect everyone here eventually. One thing I would like to say is that my husband and the other hard workers deserved every penney they worked for. To all you deserving hard working people that are losing your jobs, I will pray for you all.

Once again, there are other educated and uneducated folks that live and work in Janesville whom contributed to the local economy. I happen to be working more and more and spending a fair amount on goods and services. So why don't the pompous GM and Lear's folks get it though there head, THEY DO NOT MAKE OR BREAK JANESVILLE. Try going back to school or finding a trade to work up though like most of us who EARNED the good wages we have.

Hardees didn't close overnight, they have known that hardees would be closing for over three months already.

according to the labor dept. each job loss effects 26 other jobs ie dept. store ,grocery,fast food/restaurant,bartenders, housekeeper, car wash, etc, etc. With that being said. with Gm guttin 750 x 26=19500 jobs thats a whole lot of jobs, Gm is the only one cutting jobs in rock county either, UNIted Industries in Beloit, the company in Orfordville, the list keeps getting bigger everyday.

doc0430 - I don't think you can use the analogy of Hardees when referencing this story. If you close Hardees overnight, you can easily find another job at $6.00 an hour. If you eliminate jobs at GM and Lear, the financial impact is much greater. You can leave Hardees one day and walk over to Del Taco the next. If doesn't matter if you saw it coming or not, all Lear and GM jobs support families, where as Hardees has maybe 2-3 jobs (manager, asst. manager) that can actually support a family. Get real.

While at least you saw it coming, its not like it happened overnight like Hardee employees did! Lear has been saying there will be layoffs and cutbacks for quit A while now....

warm.. if it were your job and your family you would be "whining" too! You have no heart!