The Virginia Department of Transportation announced today it will lay off 450 hourly employees statewide next month.

When Qimonda North America laid off 500 workers and cut off their pay, health insurance and other benefits this week, the company may have violated a federal labor law.

Miriam Martinez, president and chief financial officer of Qimonda North America, stood before employees this week and shared the news: the Henrico County plant was closing. There would be no severance and no extended benefits. The crowd was dumbfounded. Grown men cried. Most had an hour to collect their belongings.

In December, LandAmerica Financial Group officials hailed the sale of its primary title-insurance subsidiaries as a way to save jobs while the parent company was in bankruptcy. But the transfer of 5,500 LandAmerica employees to Fidelity National Financial Inc. didn’t work out well for many workers. By the end of January, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company had cut 1,500 jobs, or 27 percent of the work force it inherited from the purchase of LandAmerica’s subsidiaries—Lawyers Title Insurance Co., Commonwealth Land Title Corp. and United Capital Title Insurance Co.

After Fidelity National Financial Inc. bought out LandAmerica Financial Group Inc.‘s primary title insurance subsidiaries, the Florida company cut 27 percent of the inherited workforce.

The show must go on. Despite slashed budgets, layoffs and myriad financial woes, the Richmond arts community says it will do whatever it takes to keep the lights on, seats filled and galleries bustling. No one is expecting any kind of a bailout. “We’re supposed to be creative,“ said Paul A. “Gus” Stuhlreyer, general director and CEO of Virginia Opera. “We get paid to be creative. Now we have to be creative.“

Cultural arts have a billion-dollar economic impact in Virginia. Research by Virginians for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts shows that arts and cultural activities create millions in income, produce millions in labor compensations and provide fulland part-time jobs for state residents. More than a third of paid admissions come from out-of-state visitors.

A day after global employers announced more than 60,000 layoffs, companies with Virginia operations said jobs would be cut in the state. The announcements include 650 hourly workers at Volvo Trucks North America in Southwest Virginia, 120 hourly jobs at a roller bearing manufacturer in Petersburg, 70 positions at a cabinet maker in Culpeper and 18 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. jobs in Radford.

Henrico County-based MeadWestvaco Corp. is closing a plant in Connecticut and eliminating about 190 jobs in its envelope business within two months. The reductions are part of a broader cost-cutting plan the packaging and paper products company announced last week. That plan includes cutting about 2,000 jobs, or nearly 10 percent of MeadWestvaco’s global work force, and closing or restructuring 12 to 14 manufacturing plants to save the company $250 to $300 million by mid-2010.

Some employees have started clearing out of Circuit City Store Inc.‘s corporate headquarters in Henrico County as the company liquidates its stores. They were seen moving boxes to their cars in the late morning and early afternoon. The retailer said dozens of employees were told yesterday that their services are not needed. A U.S. bankruptcy court judge on Friday ordered the company to liquidate its 567 retail stores.

WellPoint Inc., a major employer in the Richmond area, said yesterday that it will cut about 1,500 positions, becoming the latest health insurer to take what analysts see as a tough-but-necessary step to cope with the recession. The Indianapolis-based insurer will eliminate about 3.5 percent of its staff, which totals more than 42,000. The cuts include 900 positions that are currently unfilled and 600 employees.

Employees at VCU Health System were told yesterday by administrators to tighten their belts or layoffs might be necessary. Health system administrators have been holding town hall meetings with employees this week to ask for cost-cutting. “The unprecedented economic recession is presenting financial challenges across the nation and in all industries, health care included,“ said Dr. Sheldon Retchin, VCU Health System chief executive officer.

The Cumberland County public school system might have to lay off six employees July 1 as it deals with a shortfall projection of more than $615,000 in next year’s budget,

The faltering economy has claimed seven more victims. The Science Museum of Virginia is laying off seven employees out of a full-time staff of 72, effective Feb. 1.

Employees at Genworth Financial Inc. are finding out this week just who will lose their jobs. The Henrico County-based insurance company is in the process of notifying 1,000 employees, or about 14 percent of its worldwide work force, that their jobs will be eliminated.