Fitchburg-based
Sub-Zero Group Inc. notified state officials this week that it plans to temporarily cease operations and lay off more than 1,000 employees at its Sub-Zero and Wolf facilities in Fitchburg, near Madison, due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Sub-Zero and Wolf are upscale kitchen appliance brands.
A total of 1,043 workers will be laid off, 469 at Sub-Zero and 574 at Wolf. The employees are manufacturing workers, including 526 assemblers and 375 fabrication workers, according to the company’s notification to the state.
On Sunday, March 22, the company plans to shut down its operations at the Sub-Zero and Wolf plants until at least April 13. The employees will be laid off on March 22 and most are expected to be recalled to work on or after April 13, the company said.
“These 2020 business circumstances were not forseeable, but we must react in a way that is designed to balance our duty to protect the health of our workforce as much as possible, minimize the spread of COVID-19 across our communities, and respond to the reality that demand for production has gone down and is forecast to remain down,” the company said in a letter to the state.
