NJ close to 8,000 layoffs announced this year, with news from Amazon, Panera and more

Just short of a full year, retail giant Amazon decided to end a pilot program for same-day deliveries.

The change means about 300 delivery drivers based in New Jersey will be looking for new jobs.

Last summer, Amazon announced a fleet of Kia Soul crossover SUVs would be used by some of its Delivery Service Partners.

Amazon cuts pilot program for same-day deliveries, impacting NJ

The end of the Kia program includes KRP Transport, out of Burlington, which announced the layoffs in June, effective by mid-September.

In place of the Soul drivers, Amazon was shifting these deliveries to gig workers, or "flex" workers, Bloomberg reported.

The KRP Transport cuts were among several larger announcements statewide in recent months.

By early July, there were over 7,900 layoffs posted this year in New Jersey under the “Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.”

Read More: New Jersey considers ban on non-compete agreements for workers

Panera Bread shutters a remaining fresh dough site in Fairfield

Also in June, Panera Bread announced it was laying off 201 employees in Fairfield, where it has had a fresh dough facility.

The company has been slowly closing all such sites, including the Essex County facility at 5 Evans Street in Fairfield.

Since last year, Panera has increase its use of products that arrive "half-baked" at its fast casual restaurants to be finished on-site in ovens, Nation's Restaurant News reported.

Bahama Breeze restaurants in four New Jersey towns shut down

Other New Jersey layoffs recently announced include 327 staffers at four Bahama Breeze restaurants.

Those locations were in Woodbridge, Toms River, Wayne and Paramus.

In a somewhat ironic development, Ranstad U.S. posted 236 layoffs out of Secaucus, effective by August.

The company provides "outsourcing, staffing, consulting and workforce solutions within a range of areas, including "engineering, accounting and finance, healthcare" and human resources.

An Instagram post last year by Randstad USA offers advice for people who find themselves laid off.

WARN allows for some exceptions, when layoffs are "due to unforeseeable business circumstances, faltering companies, and natural disasters."

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