Around 200 positions at the Tipton Transmission Plant have been permanently eliminated, but Stellantis says it is expected that most of the affected employees will redeploy to other area plants.
Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said one crew of assembly at the plant was removed due to “lower volumes impacted by downtime and other production actions taken as a result of the global microchip shortage.”
She said the company anticipates that most workers on the crew will relocate to other plants, including the new Kokomo Engine Plant, which is scheduled to open by the end of the year.
The decision comes as nearly all local Stellantis workers building 9-speed transmissions have returned to work after months of furloughs due to supply chain interruptions caused by the pandemic.
UAW Local 685 President Matt Jarvis said last month that nearly all the employees were set to return Nov. 1. He said some of those employees — especially those working at the Indiana Transmission Plant — had remained out of work for months.
“It’ll be good to return those people back to work and get the 9-speed back up and running,” he said in a YouTube video.
Stel lant is last week also announced major layoffs at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which builds the Jeep Cherokee. The company said 400 workers would be let go starting in January 2022 due to the microchip shortage.
Stellantis said in a statement that it will “make every effort to place laid off hourly employees in open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority.”
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