Plymouth Tube Co. plans to eliminate 11 positions at its
East Troy plant in late February and another six positions could be put if customer demand does not improve, according to a notice filed with state officials.
The initial cuts would leave the company with 56 employees at the plant, which provides stainless steel tubing for the aerospace industry.
“These reductions are an inevitable result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact to our customers’ demand,” Lori Janny, administrative manager, wrote in the notice.
The company, which is based in Warrenville, Illinois, has been able to move some employees to other facilities. Plymouth Tube also serves the automation, chemical, industrial, heavy equipment, performance racing, oil and gas, power generation and space propulsion markets.
The East Troy plant already saw a reduction in staff of 23 in April as the pandemic set in, plus production shut-downs in the weeks of May 25, June 15 and July 6. Long-term furloughs were implemented Oct. 19 and plant shut-downs took place the weeks of Nov. 23, Dec. 21 and Dec. 28.
“It was always our desire to bring all staff back to work after customer demand stabilized and business reopened,” Janny wrote. “However, the length and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, its economic impact on the aerospace industry, and foreseeable impact to customer demand has regrettably driven the necessity for an overall permanent reduction in staff at Plymouth Tube’s East Troy plant.
The notice says that if reduced customer demand continues for the next three or four weeks the additional six jobs will be cut.
The initial job cuts include four finish operators, three drawbench operators, two maintenance technicians, an inspector and a lab technician.
