JLG lays off 100

May 15, 2009|By KATE S. ALEXANDER

McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. -- JLG Industries continued reducing its work force this week, despite recently securing a multimillion-dollar government contract.

The manufacturing company laid off 100 administrative and production employees this week --Â including some at its plant in Fulton County --Â bringing its total labor reduction to 45 percent in North America, said Ann Stawski, vice president of marketing for Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Corp., JLG's parent company.

The company does not release the number of layoffs at specific plants, she said.

To date, JLG in Fulton County has eliminated 871 positions. In Bedford County, 65 positions have been eliminated since June 2008.

"The recessionary economy has impacted residential and commercial construction and it is continuing to impact our access equipment segment, which includes JLG," Stawski said. "JLG has eliminated positions and implemented other cost-reduction measures, including furloughs and pay adjustments to offset this impact."

The layoffs and mandatory one-week furlough took place this week at JLG plants across North America, she said.

"We have alerted local work-force development agencies to assist those employees who lost their jobs this week," Stawski said. "We want to thank all those employees for their service."

Despite an April announcement by JLG that it secured a $33.7 million government contract to build 214 All-Terrain Lifter Army System (ATLAS) II telehandlers, Stawski said the access segment of Oshkosh continues to struggle.

JLG, a global designer and manufacturer of aerial access equipment, receives most of its business from the private sector, which has seen sharp declines since 2008, Stawski said.

The company began cutting back production and reducing labor last summer.

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