KOKOMO, Ind. — Nearly 200 Howard County employees will soon be without work after an automotive supplier announced mass layoffs at two separate Kokomo facilities, becoming the latest instance of closures or layoffs affecting hundreds of Hoosiers workers.
According to notices submitted to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, BorgWarner — an automotive components supplier based in Michigan — will conduct mass layoffs at two facilities located within a block of one another on Morgan Street in Kokomo.
At the BorgWarner facility located at 1501 County Rd E 200 N, 82, employees will be permanently laid off. A number of different positions were included as part of the layoff with manufacturing operators being hit the hardest at 52 employees.
Trialon Corporation, which is owned by BorgWarner, told the DWD that 110 workers will be permanently laid off at their facility — located just a block west of the other affected facility on Morgan Street.
Employees at both facilities have already been notified, according to the notices, with employees estimated date of separation set to be Oct. 22.
The soon-to-be unemployed Kokomo workers join a growing list of Hoosiers who are out of work due to layoffs and closures around the state.
In August alone, more than 1,300 Hoosiers learned they would soon be without a job.
Just this week, Trin, Inc. announced a plant closure in Ashley — located in the northeast corner of Indiana — that will put 155 employees out of work. The layoffs will begin in November and continue all the way until March.
WestRock, a packaging company, announced the closure of its entire Columbus facility last week, which will put 101 employees out of work. These layoffs are set for Oct. 15.
Other layoffs announced in August across Indiana include:
- Alan Ritchey in Plainfield, affecting 242 employees
- Owens Corning in Wabash, affecting 87 employees
- Arrowhead Engineered Products in Jasper, affecting 52 employees
- BWI Group in Greenfield, affecting nine employees
- Aurorium in Indianapolis, affecting 159 employees
- Tyson Foods in Corydon, affecting 368 employees
These layoffs also followed a turbulent July which saw the bankruptcy announcement of Yellow Corp, affecting thousands across the U.S. and hundreds in Indiana.
