Released on January 26, 2009

JL French Automotive Castings Inc., Sheboygan, Wis., has laid 479 workers off from two of its plants and is planning to consolidate operations at those plants from three shifts to two.

The company’s Sheboygan, Wis., diecasting operation will lose 299 workers, and its Glasgow, Ky., facility will reduce its numbers by 180. Vice president of human resources Tim Kellner said in a press release that “further job reductions” may be announced by mid-February, when meetings will take place to discuss reducing the plants’ shifts. Kellner declined to offer further comment.

A number of the employees involved in the layoff had already been temporarily laid off for an extended holiday shutdown. According to the JL French press release, the permanent layoff is the result of the rapid decline of orders from automakers.

“The speed with which our customers have been reducing their own production expectations has been surprising,” Kellner said in the prepared statement. “Our orders are directly connected to the vehicle build schedules of the domestic automakers. Their recent projections of a 28% reduction in 2009 vehicle production off of a level that was already below 2007 levels causes a large ripple effect to suppliers like JL French.”

JL French makes aluminum diecast automotive parts, including oil pans, engine front covers, engine blocks and transmission cases. The company’s Ansola, Spain, operations were unaffected by the layoff.