By Annie Goeller, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Another of the county's biggest employers was forced to lay off workers this year because slumping auto sales reduced orders for parts.
Early this year, NSK Precision America cut its second shift and laid off temporary workers, said Chris Swartwout, director of human resources for NSK Americas.
The decision was brought on by a decline in demand from automakers the company supplies. As auto sales dropped, demand from the automakers for supplies also fell, he said.
Swartwout would not provide the number of workers the company has laid off but said the number would be fewer than 100.
The news isn't the first for Johnson County, where many of the top employers are in the automotive industry.
In early March, KYB Manufacturing, another automotive supplier in Franklin, cut its work force from two shifts to one. The plant manager said the company has cut about 45 percent of its work force over the past year.
Trussway Ltd. has announced plans to close its Franklin plant this year.
Workers in Johnson County, and specifically in Franklin, have felt a big impact from the automotive slowdowns, said Cheryl Morphew, executive director of Johnson County Development Corp.
"We've got a number of companies tied to automotive manufacturing, and so it is impacting us more," she said.
Officials at NSK believe the layoffs will be temporary, but they aren't sure when workers could be called back.
NSK, which largely supplies Honda, Toyota and Chrysler with automotive bearings, employed 400 workers as of 2007. Swartwout would not provide the number of people currently employed at the plant.
NSK did not notify the state of any cutbacks through notices required for mass layoffs, which typically are required if a company with 100 or more workers closes or lays off 50 or more people, said Marc Lotter, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The decision to cut the second shift was a first for the Franklin plant since staffing reached full levels after the plant opened in 1993, Swartwout said.
Officials began considering layoffs and cutbacks late last year, as the demand decreased at the Franklin plant, he said.
Nearly all the second shift has been cut, although a few workers may have stayed on for one line of parts that has continued production for three shifts, he said.
Along with the layoffs, the plant has had shutdowns, lasting days or a week, to reduce staffing as needed, Swartwout said.
NSK is feeling the same impact as companies across the country that are slowing down because of lagging automotive sales, he said.
"Any decisions are going to be based off an analysis of the requirements of our customers and driven by the demands of our customers," he said.
When business returns to normal levels, the company expects to go back to three shifts and to again hire temporary workers, he said.
But no one is quite sure when that will happen, he said.
He has heard conflicting information from national economists, with some saying the country hasn't seen the worst of the recession yet and others saying the worst has gone and the economy should soon rebound.
"We listen to everybody, and we really can't say there is a consensus of whether, within the automotive industry, the declines have stopped," he said.
Morphew said she has heard from local companies that believe that they might have weathered the worst of the recession.
Now, they need to stay steady, she said.
Not all of the county's businesses focus on automotive manufacturing, Morphew said.
Johnson County also has businesses that are in manufacturing plastics and medical devices, which helps diversify the local business base, she said.
Recently the county has been attracting other types of businesses, with none of the new businesses in automotive manufacturing, Morphew said.
Local leaders are trying to recruit businesses in other industries, but some prospects for new businesses considering the area have an automotive focus, Franklin Mayor Fred Paris said.
That's good news because it shows that companies believe the economy will improve and they will thrive again, Paris said.