A US company now announces painful layoffs in Kansas, affecting nearly 1,700 employees in the state, per a WARN notice.
General Motors has announced significant temporary layoffs at its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, as it prepares to cease production of the Chevrolet Malibu sedan.
The company has filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice with the Kansas Department of Commerce, informing them that 1,695 employees will be affected by the job cuts.
Under the WARN Act, employers with over 100 full-time employees are required to provide a 60-day notice before laying off 50 or more workers at a single location.
The layoffs are part of GM’s transition as it invests approximately $390 million to retool the Fairfax facility for the production of the new Chevrolet Bolt EV.
GM spokesman Kevin Kelly stated, “To facilitate the installation of new tooling, employees will be placed on a temporary layoff until production resumes in mid-2025.”
This move reflects the company’s efforts to adapt to changing market demands while transitioning its production capabilities.
However, GM isn’t the only company who has advised of upcoming layoffs in Kansas.
Below is a list of other businesses laying off in Kansas this year:
- OPmobility. 72 job cuts advised on 9/18.
- Penske Logistics. 70 job cuts advised on 9/16.
- Vermillion Incorporated. 21 job cuts advised on 9/3.
You can search for layoffs in your state here, or follow our layoff news for updates.
Also Read: Cisco Now Profits Billions And Makes Thousands of Unexpected Layoffs
Layoff and Unemployment Report
Applications for unemployment benefits now surge to new highs, a sign that the white-hot labor market is starting to cool off.
First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 231,000, the highest level since August, per CNN.
Thursday’s data also showed that the number of continuing claims, or applications from people who have filed for unemployment for at least one week, was 1.78 million.
That’s an increase of 17,000 from the prior week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The latest numbers come less than a week after the monthly jobs report showed the US economy added just 175,000 positions in April, less than economists expected and a steep drop-off from prior months.
US employers have now added an average of 245,500 jobs per month, versus 2023’s 251,000-per-month average.
Still, hiring remains strong.
Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%, it as seen the 27th consecutive month that the jobless rate has held under 4%, matching a streak last seen in the late 1960s.
Weekly jobless claims data tends to be volatile but, while one week’s worth of data “does not a trend make,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.
“We can no longer be sure that calm seas lie ahead for the US economy if today’s weekly jobless claims are any indication.”
“Company layoffs are picking up, hinting at caution on the part of companies as they weigh the outlook for the second half of the year,” he wrote in a note Thursday.
The Federal Reserve has been battling inflation by raising its key lending rate in the hopes of slowing the economy.
While the labor market has so far resisted those efforts, remaining white hot for the past 18 months despite 11 rate hikes from the central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that demand has “cooled from its extremely high level of a couple of years ago.”
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Economics said in a note earlier this quarter: “We’d need to see at least a month of elevated readings to convince us that the trend really has turned.”
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