As the coronavirus spreads through the U.S., automotive suppliers in Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio are laying off hundreds of workers in response to state shutdowns due to the pandemic.
Greenville Technology Inc., a subsidiary of Moriroku North America, notified the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family services of a temporary layoff for 540 hourly workers at its locations in Greenville and Marysville, Ohio, due to the state’s stay-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Due to the sudden and unexpected nature of the virus outbreak, the timing of the government-mandated shutdown announcement, and its adverse effect on our business operations, we were prevented from providing notice sooner but provided this notice to affected employees as soon as was practicable, which was on or before Friday, March 20, 2020,” Moriroku said in the notice.
The layoff also affects workers at Moriroku’s location in Anderson, Ind., the notice said.
The state of Indiana has not yet received a WARN notice from Moriroku about the Anderson layoffs, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development told Plastics News in an email.
Representatives at Moriroku and Greenville Technology Inc. did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Just days before Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a stay-at-home order April 2, multiple auto suppliers in the state announced temporary layoffs.
Toronto-based ABC Technologies Inc. filed two WARN notices with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development March 26 for layoffs of 887 workers.
The layoffs include 207 workers at ABC Technologies’ Salga Plastics Inc. location in the same county and were effective March 20.
However, in a twist on the WARN announcement, the company announced April 3 that it had formed a new medical devices business unit “to help address the critical medical supply challenges posed by the global coronavirus pandemic.”
The new business unit will develop and manufacture products including ventilators, face shields and masks. The company said it expects production to start April 10 to produce more than 100,000 ventilators annually.
Takahata Precision Tennessee Inc. filed a notice with the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development March 27 for a temporary layoff of 222 employees.
The layoff was effective March 25. Takahata could not be reached for comment by Plastics News.