LAYOFFS: NO LOVE AT CASTWELL PRODUCTS

Am I Next? Castwell Products closing.

Skokie, Illinois-based Castwell Products, a fabricator of high-quality precision-tolerance metal castings, has announced that it will be closing its Skokie foundry. Approximately 150 full-time employees will be impacted as the company closes out operations in stages beginning February 2020 with an anticipated final closure during the 2nd quarter of 2020.

According to a company spokesperson, “For the last year Castwell Products, LLC has experienced financial difficulties due to economic changes within our industry. In the past years, we have taken steps necessary to adapt to this new market with our product and process. Unfortunately, this action has not increased profitability. With deep regret, we have begun winding down our business.”

It should be noted that the industry for precision cast parts is undergoing change with new computerized print-on-demand technologies that build complex shapes layer-by-layer.

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?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT MITSUBISHI (02/03/21)

Am I Next? Mitsubishi Electric Power Products closing or selling the plant in Memphis, Tennessee.

FEBRUARY 3, 2021 — CLIMATE CONTROL OPERATIONS IN FRANKLIN, INDIANA DISCONTINUED

The company has announced that it will discontinue the production of automotive air conditioning compressors at its Franklin, Indiana facility beginning in March 2021, and completed by the end of 2021. The cessation of operations will affect approximately 80 employees.

The decision was driven "due to lack of sales and no future business."

NOVEMBER 29, 2019 — Original post …

Warrendale, Pennsylvania-based Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, a manufacturer of power transformers, circuit breakers, and components for electrical transmission systems, has announced that it will be laying off 160 employees at its Memphis, Tennessee manufacturing facility. The company has announced plans to sell the facility in the near future. Since the company manufactures some of the largest transformers and power station circuit breakers which are critical to the nation’s infrastructure and have a relatively long cycle between order and delivery. The company is said to be investigating a sale to a rival transformer manufacturer who may wish to retain some of the targeted employees.

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?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT OLYMPUS CORPORATION

Am I Next? Olympus outsourcing headquarters IT staff to third-party vendor.

Center Valley, Pennsylvania-based Olympus Corporation of the Americas, the iconic Japanese manufacturer of optics and reprographics products, has announced that it will be implementing a new corporate strategy designed to improve profit margins and moving the company toward the medical industry. The immediate impact of the restructuring will be felt by the headquarters IT staff, many of whom will be laid off.

According to a company spokesperson, “Toward the goal of improving efficiencies and reducing costs of our current IT system, we will be transitioning responsibility to a third-party provider for operational IT functions. In Center Valley, this will unfortunately translate into the elimination of some IT positions.”

Not so coincidentally, we find that the changes are being driven by the San Francisco, California-based activist investment company ValueAct Capital whose partner has been added to the Olympus Board.

Olympus President and CEO Yasuo Takeuchi noted, “Our new strategy is the most significant change we have undertaken in decades, and it is designed to strengthen our position as a world leader in the medtech industry.

Rumors abound that the company may shutter its under-producing imaging business could be phased out over the next year. A cautionary tale for employees working in the affected division?

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?