At least once every two weeks, in my Indiana bankruptcy blogs, I try to include a report on employment in our state of Indiana. That’s because developments in the central Indiana job markets relate in a very real way to my Indiana bankruptcy law practice. People who come to me for help are usually suffering extreme financial difficulty because of some combination of these “Big Four Financial Foes”:
* Divorce
* Medical Expenses
* Small Business Failure
* Job Layoffs

News about big layoffs, during the past two to three years, has tended to come out of the manufacturing sector, and has affected blue-collar workers. To an extent, this trend is ongoing. Furnace maker Carrier has just laid off 300 hourly workers in Indianapolis. In Evansville, Accuride announced it will be eliminating 392 positions. Meanwhile, Monaco Coach, an Oregon company, is laying off the majority of its remaining Indiana workforce, which will cost 700 jobs in northern Indiana. ASF-Keystone is reducing its workforce in Hammond.

Recent news, though, confirms a trend I’ve been seeing during the past months of more white collar layoffs. Huntington Bank just announced it’s cutting 500 positions, an unknown number of which will be here in Indiana. Allison Transmission has cut 43 salaried jobs at its Indianapolis headquarters. “Layoffs are hitting white-collar workers at Clarian and Cummins, a sign that the recession is thinning salaried ranks,” says the Indianapolis Star, adding that Midtown Community Mental Health Center is eliminating twenty jobs.

Every day of course, I’m hearing first hand accounts of the effects on families of all these downsizings and layoffs. With bankruptcy law offices serving 38 different central Indiana counties, many of the clients who turn to me for help in filing bankruptcy have been victims of the very trends I’ve mentioned (see my earlier blog “Indiana Employment and Unemployment Impacts Bankruptcies“).

I’ve been taking note of positive news as well, because successful emergence from bankruptcy almost always means having income-generating work. Even Chapter 7 bankruptcy filers who have had many of their largest debts discharged need to regain their financial footing, while Chapter 13 filers need to keep up with their debt repayment plans.
Jobs and fewer job for rebuilding after bankruptcy

The Indianapolis Housing Agency received five bids from private companies to develop land for federally subsidized apartment housing in the city’s downtown. Meanwhile, the largest active construction project in Indianapolis, the four-hotel JW Marriott complex is beginning to rise. Around the state, the Indiana Live Casino is opening its permanent facility March 13th. In Anderson, where one of my four bankruptcy law offices is located, Nestle’s Factory and Distribution Center officially opened, and they are in the process of hiring 300 workers. All these things are sure to mean new job opportunities. And, from the vantage point of this long-term Indiana bankruptcy lawyer, building spells rebuilding after bankruptcy!