Thanks to an old Google Alert I had set up at least a year ago, I read today that my former employer, the company that laid me off nearly two months ago because they wanted to “lower the head count,” received $282,000 in job creation tax credits from the state of Pennsylvania this past December.
This company didn’t create any jobs. They did the complete opposite of that. In the name of cutting costs, they eliminated jobs. How on earth do they get a tax credit for something they clearly never did?
Even before I was laid off, the company in an attempt to save money, was forcing all employees to take one week off each quarter without pay. How can they be allowed to do this when they are receiving tax credits because they are supposedly creating jobs?
I find things like this to be extremely disappointing and more than just a little demoralizing.
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Yikes- this is all too familiar. New York businesses can get “Empire Zone” status and get all sorts of tax breaks, with zero accountability. Do it right and you can get millions in breaks while creating no jobs. Or one. or changing one character in your name. Or stop being “Inc” and become “LLC”. The state pays through the nose and doesn’t monitor shit about the program. The Syracuse paper investigated, exposed the corruption, and the state so far has done nothing. People mock New Jersey for being corrupt, but NY is right there, just as bad and getting worse.
But when it’s your former employer, that’s gotta suck to read.
Hang in there, Old Man.
@Lee B.: Thanks. There may be some light at the end of this proverbial tunnel. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Call the Attorney General’s Office. Send them the evidence. Raise merry hell.