Denver, Colorado-based Gates Corporation,a manufacturer of power transmission belts and fluid power products, has announced that they are in the process of repurposing their Galesburg, Illinois facility from, hose production to a core compounding mill to produce rubber to be sent to other facilities. This will impact approximately 120 employees over a 14 month time period.
According to a company spokesperson…
“The move to transition, and cut jobs, in Galesburg is not driven by performance or overall financial viability. Businesses are constantly looking at how to be more operational, more efficient, and this happens to be one of those business decisions. The decision to transition the facility from hose production to core compounding, which means the facility would produce the rubber to be sent to other facilities, is a business decision.Approximately 120 union and non-union employees will be let go over the course of 14 months/ It’s simply to further the growth strategy of our business so turning our facility — it was one of our core compounding facilities a long time ago — we’re bringing it back to that to supply the rubber to our other facilities. We will keep the distribution center there. Hose production will be moved to other North American facilities where hose production is more in line with our strategic operations vision for this line of business. The Galesburg Gates facility will have about 100 employees once the layoffs are finished in about 14 months.”
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?