Skyjack Lays Off 100 Workers

May 21, 2008 • More than 100 people were laid off earlier this month at Guelph, Ontario-based Skyjack Inc., Linamar Corporation's industrial division, according to a report in The Guelph Mercury. The temporary downsizing came after an unrelated termination of less than 10 other Skyjack employees earlier in the month, according to a company spokesperson.

Skyjack confirmed earlier this month that 105 people were temporarily laid off as the result of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, the Mercury reported. Both office and production employees who work on the rough-terrain lift product line were affected. The scissor lift is produced at the plant, which employed 825 people before the layoffs.

 

According to Crystal Roberts, a Linamar spokesperson, only the scissor lift product line was affected. “They've slowed production on it, resulting in these temporary layoffs,” she told the Mercury.

 

She described the layoffs as “relatively temporary” and said there are plans to bring outsourced work back into the company in order to get people working again.

 

“The issue is that the U.S. customers have slowed their purchasing power because of the economics in the U.S. right now,” she said.

 

Less than 10 Skyjack employees were terminated earlier this month, but Roberts declined to provide a specific number or discuss details of the firings. She said the terminations were not related to the temporary layoffs.