Sub-Zero lays off 27 salaried employees
Sub-Zero Inc./Wolf Appliance Inc. (www.subzero.com) has cut more jobs at its Fitchburg headquarters as a result of lower market demand for its products.
The maker of high-end appliances has laid off 27 salaried employees and eliminated 16 open positions in addition to previously announced reductions in hourly production workers.
"It was a general reduction across all departments really as a follow-up to what we had done earlier in April," said Chuck Verri, vice president of human resources.
The most recent cuts were for jobs in the company's Fitchburg headquarters and in its facility in Phoenix, Ariz. Many of the hourly layoffs announced earlier this spring were expected to be at the company's Fitchburg headquarters.
In a recent e-mail message to employees, Verri said there could be additional adjustments.
"As we continue to monitor fluctuations in product demand, and as has occurred in the past, there could be additional adjustments to production," Verri wrote in the message. "While layoffs are very unpleasant, it is important that we act to manage the business."
Early this spring, the company told its workforce that it would eliminate 235 jobs by June. These additional layoffs were announced in mid-May.
In addition to these cuts, the company will hold off building a new dishwasher division in Richmond, Ky., for about 18 months. The company had expected to break ground on this new facility this spring with production anticipated by 2010.
In a March letter, Verri explained that demand has been lower than expected for Sub-Zero/Wolf products. As a result, inventory had been accumulating. It's a situation he doesn't expect to change soon, according to that letter.
"It is well documented that the economy is in decline," Verri stated in the letter. "The appliance industry has been experiencing a serious decline in retail sales since the later part of 2007."
Demand for Sub-Zero/Wolf's luxury freezers, refrigerators, ovens and cook tops has also been "very low," according to Verri.
Verri said today that while demand remains down for the firm's luxury appliances, the company is optimistic about the second half of the year.
File photo
Sub-Zero, which makes high-end appliances like those shown in this mini-museum, is laying off more employees.
