Whirlpool to lay off 440
| By Mitch Traphagen Oct 16, 2008 - 11:37:22 PM | Email this article Printer friendly page |
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 The Whirlpool plant in Middle Amana produces bottom freezer refrigerators sold under Whirlpool, Amana, Maytag and other brand names. The plant employs approximately 2,000 people. On Thursday, Whirlpool announced 440 employees will be laid off by Oct. 20, with some layoffs occuring as early as this week. Mitch Traphagen Photo |
Spokeswoman Jill Saletta says the layoffs are the result of sagging market conditions. The company informed workers of its plans Thursday.
The layoffs will comprise more than 20 percent of the more than 2,000 workers at the plant, which was part of Whirlpool's acquisition of Newton-based Maytag in 2006.
The majority of the cuts will be effective Oct. 20, with some coming a week earlier.
``It's a really tough time,'' Saletta said. ``I'm fairly confident we're not the only ones.''
The Associated Press initially reported the move comes just five months after the Benton Harbor, Mich.-based company hired 120 workers to meet demand for new models and staffing issues caused by summer vacations and that total hiring for this year was approximately 300 employees. Whirlpool, however, could not confirm the additional employment numbers. Workers at the plant, however, did confirm that hiring was taking place as recently as the past few weeks.
One manager within the plant, who requested anonymity, suggested the layoffs have more to due with the global credit crisis rather than the East Iowa economy specifically. The manager believed that consumers are increasingly having difficulty obtaining credit for appliance purchases.
In 2006 upon Whirlpool’s acquisition of the plant from Newtown-based Maytag Corp., Iowa made available nearly $5 million in loans to the company as part of an effort to expand the plant. At the time, company officials expected employment to near 2,900 by the end of this year. According to the Iowa Department of Economic Development, the company has not yet taken advantage of those funds. They have until next year to meet the required employment requirements.
According to Whirlpool, 110 of the employees will be laid off voluntarily, with 60 expected to have taken place earlier this week. The 330 remaining lay-offs will be involuntary.
Last month, Whirlpool announced plans to layoff 700 workers from their Ft. Smith, Arkansas facility. River Bend Industries, based in Ft. Smith, has been a supplier to Whirlpool. According to Bill Collins, General Manager of Iowa’s two River Bend operations, the situation with Whirlpool should not have an impact at either Victor or North Liberty facilities.
“The two Iowa plants do not currently mold for Whirlpool,” Collins said. “We have won some new business and the tools for these new projects are currently being built which should impact us later this year or the first part of 2009 - which would be an increase in production for us.”
According to Collins, there have been a total of 18 layoffs at the Riverbend facilities in Iowa but that is mainly due to the increased flexibility created by changing production over to a 12-hour, seven day per week schedule. With projected increases in new business, Collins said the company is looking forward to bringing those employees back on board soon.
“Overall things are going really good for River Bend,” he said.
Collins went on to say that he is not aware of any cutbacks in Ft. Smith due to the Whirlpool layoffs there.
The Whirlpool Middle Amana plant produces bottom-freezer refrigerators sold under Whirlpool, Amana, Maytag and other brand names.
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