Hutchinson Technology to lay off 165 in Eau Claire

Eau Claire, Wis. - Anticipating a net loss in 2007, Hutchinson Technology, a Minnesota-based computer components manufacturer, has announced 165 layoffs at its Eau Claire manufacturing plant, according to a report in the Chippewa Herald.

Job losses at the Eau Claire plant are part of an overall workforce reduction of 500 employees, which also affects plants in Hutchinson and Plymouth, Minn., and Sioux Falls, S.D. The company is headquartered in Hutchinson, Minn.

Workers at the Eau Claire plant, which employs 1,666 people, will be notified of their status within the next two weeks, according to company spokesperson Connie Pautz. Affected workers will be offered a severance package, she said.

The Eau Claire plant makes suspension assembly products for disk drives for the computer industry.

Hutchinson, which cited excess capacity in reporting a $3.6 million net loss, or $0.14 per share, in its second-quarter financial report, says it needs to reduce its cost structure and align staffing levels with demand in order to be profitable in 2008. The company, which had net sales of $170.6 million in the second quarter, shipped approximately 205 million suspension assemblies in the second quarter, down nine percent from the previous quarter and flat with second quarter 2006 sales.

Through the first eight weeks of the fiscal 2007 third quarter, the company estimated a loss of $6 million.

Related stories

• Small Tree Communications awarded $2.85M defense contract

• Cray signs $250M deal to develop supercomputer

• Chippewa Valley firms land more defense work

• Leaders Rally from The Valley