Layoffs

HAGERSTOWN Volvo Powertrain North America's decision to lay off 142 workers at its Washington County plant next month is indicative of a global slowdown in heavy truck production caused by less construction, lower consumer spending and other factors, local economic officials and industry analysts said Friday. The layoffs will be effective Jan. 5, the day the plant is scheduled to cut transmission production by about a third and engine production by 25 percent, Volvo spokeswoman Ilse Ghysens said Friday.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- The Berkeley County Commission on Thursday adopted a work-force reduction policy and delayed an expected vote on layoffs for at least a week. The policy adopted applies to county employees who work in departments under the direction of the County Commission. It does not apply to the sheriff, county clerk, circuit clerk, assessor or prosecuting attorney. As of Thursday, 49 full-time employees would be subject to the policy, according to the commission's human resources director Alan J. Davis, who presented the policy to commissioners.

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- Although Tyco Electronics announced this week that it will lay off 2,500 employees worldwide, corporate officials would not discuss what - if any - impact will be felt at the Waynesboro plant. The local plant, which employs 230 people, differs from others operated by Tyco Electronics in that it makes the tools later used elsewhere to wire components of computers, appliances, handheld devices and flat-screen televisions. "This has been a productive facility for them," said L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County (Pa.)

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The first round of layoffs at JLG Industries sent the unemployment rate up nine-tenths of a percent in August to 7.8 percent, yet that was still below the highest level for 2008 in Fulton County, according to preliminary figures from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. JLG, Fulton County's largest employer, began a series of planned layoffs in August that are expected to end in October and will result in several hundred people being idled by the slumping domestic and European markets for construction equipment, according to company officials and employees.

WAYNESBORO, PA. - Navitor East this week announced staff reductions at its Clayton Avenue facility, but the manufacturer of business cards, letterhead, envelopes and presentation folders says it will be bringing in workers from a Hagerstown plant by the end of the year. "We made this difficult decision after careful review of our customers' needs and the operational capacity to support them," General Manager Linda Cox said in a statement dated Wednesday. "As a result of the reshaping, Navitor East is well-equipped to respond to these needs and compete in the markets we serve.

McCONNELLSBURG, PA. - A continuing slump in the market for construction equipment is the reason JLG Industries will cut 220 positions in North America next month, according to company officials. Last week, JLG announced layoffs affecting 220 people in its McConnellsburg, Bedford and Shippensburg facilities in Pennsylvania, along with plants in Orrville, Ohio, and Oakes, N.D., Vice President for Global Marketing Kirsten Skyba said Friday. The new round of reductions will take effect Oct. 3 and are considered "indefinite" in that they could be permanent unless and until market conditions change, Skyba said.

McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. -- A continuing slump in the market for construction equipment is the reason JLG Industries will cut 220 positions in North America next month, according to company officials. Last week, JLG announced layoffs affecting 200 people in its McConnellsburg, Bedford and Shippensburg facilities in Pennsylvania, along with plants in Orrville, Ohio, and Oakes, N.D., Vice President for Global Marketing Kirsten Skyba said Friday. The new round of reductions will take effect Oct. 3 and are considered "indefinite" in that they could be permanent unless and until market conditions change, Skyba said.

McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. -- More layoffs are scheduled for Fulton County's largest employer later this month and in early October, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. An employee of JLG Industries said this week that workers were informed last Friday that about 150 people would be laid off Oct. 6. That would be in addition to about the same number that the company plans to lay off at the plant Sept. 26. "Our Rapid Response (Team) folks say that that information is correct," said Justin Fleming, a Department of Labor and Industry spokesman.

HAGERSTOWN -- First Data Merchant Services in Hagerstown has laid off 10 employees, company spokesman Arch D. Currid said Thursday. The layoffs were announced Thursday. The 10 positions are being eliminated in Hagerstown and consolidated to other First Data locations, Currid said. Currid said he did not know when the layoffs would take effect. Thursday's layoffs are the latest for the credit card processing company's Hagerstown offices, where more than 200 employees have lost their jobs in the last two years.