Stanley Furniture announces layoff of 250 employees
By REX BOWMAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Stanley Furniture Co., Henry County's largest employer, announced yesterday that it is getting rid of 250 employees.
The company cited a continuing industrywide slowdown in business as the reason for the layoffs.
Stanley currently employs 1,300 workers in Martinsville and Henry.
The layoffs will begin in December, with some of the cuts occurring in the Martinsville production plant and others in the company's Stanleytown warehouse.
The layoffs are the latest in a decade-long string of job losses in the area's once-booming furniture industry. Coupled with the loss of textile jobs in the past decade, the decline has led to long stretches of double-digit unemployment in the area.
In August, according to the Virginia Employment Commission's latest figures, Henry's jobless rate was 6.4 percent and Martinsville's was 8.9 percent. Statewide, unemployment stood at 3.1 percent.
In a letter to county officials yesterday, the company said it is filing a petition with the U.S. Department of Labor for assistance that would make the 250 laid-off employees eligible for training programs, job-search allowances and income support.
Stanley's move prompted H.G. Vaughn, chairman of the Henry Board of Supervisors, to issue a statement telling the 250 employees that the county is "going all out" to persuade new companies to move to the area.
Stanley anticipates the first round of layoffs will begin Dec. 10.
Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.
Find thousands of Bilingual jobs at LatPro.com.
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Stanley Furniture Co., Henry County's largest employer, announced yesterday that it is getting rid of 250 employees.
The company cited a continuing industrywide slowdown in business as the reason for the layoffs.
Stanley currently employs 1,300 workers in Martinsville and Henry.
The layoffs will begin in December, with some of the cuts occurring in the Martinsville production plant and others in the company's Stanleytown warehouse.
The layoffs are the latest in a decade-long string of job losses in the area's once-booming furniture industry. Coupled with the loss of textile jobs in the past decade, the decline has led to long stretches of double-digit unemployment in the area.
In August, according to the Virginia Employment Commission's latest figures, Henry's jobless rate was 6.4 percent and Martinsville's was 8.9 percent. Statewide, unemployment stood at 3.1 percent.
In a letter to county officials yesterday, the company said it is filing a petition with the U.S. Department of Labor for assistance that would make the 250 laid-off employees eligible for training programs, job-search allowances and income support.
Stanley's move prompted H.G. Vaughn, chairman of the Henry Board of Supervisors, to issue a statement telling the 250 employees that the county is "going all out" to persuade new companies to move to the area.
Stanley anticipates the first round of layoffs will begin Dec. 10.
Contact Rex Bowman at (540) 344-3612 or rbowman@timesdispatch.com.
Find thousands of Bilingual jobs at LatPro.com.
Labels: layoffs, Stanley Furniture, Virginia
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