Whirlpool officials have partially confirmed reports that the company’s Fort Smith plant will cut up to 300 jobs beginning in September, but officials are reported to not be commenting on a potential temporary shutdown of the plant.
Whirlpool employs about 1,350 at the plant, with about 150 of those being salaried (management) positions.
Jill Saletta, director of external communications for Whirlpool, issued the following statement when asked about the possible cuts.
“The Fort Smith Division yesterday announced that approximately 40 – 50 salaried positions will be eliminated in order to better align with production levels. We will offer severance and a variety of support services including outplacement service to those whose jobs will be eliminated, however we will not be sharing specific details regarding severance. We expect to notify those whose positions will be eliminated by the end of August.
“Yesterday’s announcement affects salaried positions only, however, we anticipate there will be an hourly layoff that will coincide with an anticipated schedule change in September, although no estimate of the number affected has been made yet.
“As we have said previously, the company continues to evaluate all options and will take all necessary steps to help ensure that it remains competitive in what remains a very dynamic marketplace.”
“Regarding the suggestion of plant shut down or volume, we won’t comment on rumor and speculation,” Saletta stated in her response.
Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool chairman and CEO has said in a recent earnings statement that, “Consumer demand for appliances was significantly lower in the second quarter, which negatively impacted our global unit volumes.”
“Late last year, we took actions to restructure our business, aligning our capacity and resources to lower demand levels. Our results reflect these actions, and we will continue to execute our plans to address this volatile global economic environment.”
It would appear that, like many other appliance manufacturers, that Whirlpool are having to cut costs in order to survive the current downturn in sales.
