Firebaugh to See Significant Job Cuts

FRESNO COUNTY, CA — Firebaugh is a small town dominated, like many towns in California’s central valley, by agriculture. So the fact that tomato farming and packing company Garguilo Inc will be cutting 262 jobs is particularly unwelcome news here. The cuts represent more than 33 percent of Garguilo’s workers and a significant percentage of the total workforce in this town of 6,000. According to City Manager Jose Antonio Ramirez, the layoffs are a “devastating loss.”

The layoffs are somewhat surprising as agriculture has been relatively resistant to the recession that has crushed other sectors of the economy.