Brandi Baldwin, Madison Courier Staff Writer
Rotary Lift laid off 33 employees Thursday as the worsening economy caused the number of orders to drop and the number of workers needed to decrease.
"It was due exclusively to a drop in the number of orders we had," said John Podczerwinski, general manager of Rotary Lift North America and South America. "If orders went up, we would respond quickly to bring them back."
The employees mostly came from second-shift manufacturing and production lines including welders, assembly workers and anyone who was involved in making lifts and shipping them. The laid-off workers make up 8 percent of the Madison Rotary Lift work force.
"These were quality individuals who were good workers," Podczerwinski said. "All of these individuals are eligible for recall."
Rotary Lift has seen a drop in orders because car dealerships have stopped ordering while they wait for the three big car makers, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler and General Motors, to stabilize, Podczerwinski said. The lifts that were typically bought by the dealerships were for their commercial truck maintenance shops.
However, other segments of Rotary Lift are still doing fine, including the area that makes large lifts like the Mach 4 lift for maintenance on school buses and public transit vehicles, Podczerwinski said.
Selling to the government market is helping the company do well, but with most of the commercial market no longer buying, it's still requiring a downsizing in the work force.
Podczerwinski said he believes that Rotary Lift has hit bottom and that business should start picking up again.
This isn't the first set of layoffs Rotary Lift has had in the past few months. In October, the company eliminated 19 salaried staff positions, 18 of them from the Madison office. Between May and October 2008, the company saw a 20 percent decline in orders of vehicle lifts.
Those who were laid off will have some continuing benefits, though what benefits they receive will depend on the job they did at Rotary Lift.
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