Briggs to cut 112 jobs, 3rd shift assembly
By KRISTIN TAYLOR
Staff Writer
Citing a softer demand for its equipment, Briggs & Stratton Corp. is cutting more than 100 jobs from its Murray facility.
Briggs Plant Manager Rodney Bohannon said the layoff is expected to begin Nov. 27 and will eliminate 112 jobs - or slightly less than 10 percent of the total employment. He said the 1,130 local employees were informed Friday and over the weekend about the cutback.
“This is unfortunate but given the market conditions unavoidable,” Bohannon said.
This is the fourth recent cutback among the national corporation. Other layoffs have come at the Milwaukee, Wisc.; Rolla, Mo.; and Auburn, Ala., plants. In August, 146 people lost their jobs at the Rolla plant. About 200 employees were effected by a September layoff at the Auburn facility.
Murray's layoff is attributed to the softer demand for lawn and garden equipment and retailers' efforts to maintain reasonable inventory levels in the distribution channels at the end of the selling season. This is consistent with industry forecasts that indicated shipments of lawn and garden equipment by original equipment manufacturers would be down for the 2006 season.
“This is a direct effect of the seasonality of our business,” Bohannon said.
Bohannon said the layoff will eliminate the third-shift assembly line, leaving the Murray plant to assemble engines only on two shifts. He said the third shift was added about three years ago.
In its 21st year in Murray, Briggs & Stratton has had seasonal cutbacks in the past, but Bohannon said this is the first since the local plant was revamped four or five years ago. Six percent of the 110 salaried positions - meaning six or seven positions - at Briggs in Murray were eliminated in February was part of the company's global workforce reduction to create better cash flow.
Briggs & Stratton is the largest manufacturer of small, air-cooled engines for lawn and garden and other outdoor power equipment. The company also is the largest producer of generators and pressure washers in the United States.
Story created Oct 23, 2006 - 11:31:53 EDT.
|
