Courier-Times Staff Report
The slow economy was named as the reason for another New Castle layoff on Thursday morning.
About 15 people were laid off from their jobs at Carquest Products. Two employees among the 15 said the company at 299 East County Road 300S cut positions in both the warehouse and its offices.
Shortly after one employee arrived at work at 7 a.m., he was told that employees' names were drawn at random for the layoff. Another employee said each person was notified one by one without anyone else knowing about it.
The company's hours had already been cut from 40 to 35 per week for the past month, both said. Those chosen to be laid off had varying amounts of experience with the company.
Employees received severance pay based on their time of service as well as vacation hours. An employee said he was told the layoff was permanent.
The human resources department referred comments to a corporate spokesperson, who could not be reached on Thursday or Friday.
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