5pins
01-10-09, 05:40
http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=94537200
ATK is trimming its staff in Lewiston, leaving 70 to 80 hourly and salaried employees at the ammunition maker permanently out of work.
The company began telling employees on Thursday, and expected to finish the notifications by Monday, said Amanda Covington, a spokeswoman for ATK in Salt Lake City.
Another 70 to 80 employees who work at an ATK ammunition plant in Anoka, Minn., are losing their jobs, Covington said. "Based on what I know today, we have the right-sized work force to meet anticipated demand, which remains healthy and strong. If market conditions change, demand could go up or down."
The change will leave about 850 employees at ATK, the third-largest manufacturer in the region.
ATK began ramping up production to reduce a "lengthy" backlog of orders in 2006 for sport and law enforcement ammunition, and has made significant progress in trimming the volume of outstanding orders, Covington said. "We still see healthy products in law enforcement, government and some products in commercial and hunting sports."
What ATK is doing is not uncommon in the manufacturing sector, where employers often hire workers to fill a temporary need and then cut them, said Kathryn Tacke, an economist with the Idaho Department of Labor in Coeur d'Alene. "Those are normal things. It's just unfortunate the economy is so bad right now that the people who are losing jobs are going to find that it's that much harder to find work."
Tacke didn't rule out that factors other than a backlog may have affected ATK's decision. "In general, consumer spending is down, particularly on discretionary items such as entertainment or recreation," Tacke said.
Parents who may have purchased a new hunting rifle for their son this year might have opted to buy a less-expensive present and not needed ammunition, or people who shoot targets for fun may be using half as much ammunition, Tacke said.
ATK's action Thursday didn't come as a complete surprise. All employees of the manufacturer took one week of down time at the end of December. It was one of only two temporary shutdowns at ATK's Lewiston site since ATK took ownership of it in 2001. The other was in late 2004.
ATK is trimming its staff in Lewiston, leaving 70 to 80 hourly and salaried employees at the ammunition maker permanently out of work.
The company began telling employees on Thursday, and expected to finish the notifications by Monday, said Amanda Covington, a spokeswoman for ATK in Salt Lake City.
Another 70 to 80 employees who work at an ATK ammunition plant in Anoka, Minn., are losing their jobs, Covington said. "Based on what I know today, we have the right-sized work force to meet anticipated demand, which remains healthy and strong. If market conditions change, demand could go up or down."
The change will leave about 850 employees at ATK, the third-largest manufacturer in the region.
ATK began ramping up production to reduce a "lengthy" backlog of orders in 2006 for sport and law enforcement ammunition, and has made significant progress in trimming the volume of outstanding orders, Covington said. "We still see healthy products in law enforcement, government and some products in commercial and hunting sports."
What ATK is doing is not uncommon in the manufacturing sector, where employers often hire workers to fill a temporary need and then cut them, said Kathryn Tacke, an economist with the Idaho Department of Labor in Coeur d'Alene. "Those are normal things. It's just unfortunate the economy is so bad right now that the people who are losing jobs are going to find that it's that much harder to find work."
Tacke didn't rule out that factors other than a backlog may have affected ATK's decision. "In general, consumer spending is down, particularly on discretionary items such as entertainment or recreation," Tacke said.
Parents who may have purchased a new hunting rifle for their son this year might have opted to buy a less-expensive present and not needed ammunition, or people who shoot targets for fun may be using half as much ammunition, Tacke said.
ATK's action Thursday didn't come as a complete surprise. All employees of the manufacturer took one week of down time at the end of December. It was one of only two temporary shutdowns at ATK's Lewiston site since ATK took ownership of it in 2001. The other was in late 2004.