Rowan County Layoffs (Winston-Salem, Hickory, Kannapolis: unemployment, live, move)

[mm34b]

Truck manufacturer Freightliner said today it would lay off up to 1,180 workers at its assembly plant in Cleveland, NC. due to falling orders. The plant currently has more than 4,000 workers and is the largest employer in Rowan County.

[Carolina_native]

Originally Posted by mm34b

Truck manufacturer Freightliner said today it would lay off up to 1,180 workers at its assembly plant in Cleveland, NC. due to falling orders. The plant currently has more than 4,000 workers and is the largest employer in Rowan County.

You report the "unreported news." I heard about this on the news at midday, but you wont hear much else about it. Bad image for NC.

Lots of people talk about the job growth in NC, but the real jobs 'blue collar' jobs are dying, and they have been in the past decade. So most of the people who lived here all their lives are laid off while other companies move in that hire outsiders. Hence high unemployment, and it leaves people scratching their heads as to why there is so much job growth but still unemployment.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by Carolina_native

You report the "unreported news." I heard about this on the news at midday, but you wont hear much else about it. Bad image for NC.

Freightliner has a history of ups and downs. Several years ago there were predictions that the whole factory would close and a large number of jobs were eliminated in preparation. Then, from somewhere, a contract for a fleet of trucks was obtained, and some of the people were hired back.

Lots of people talk about the job growth in NC, but the real jobs 'blue collar' jobs are dying, and they have been in the past decade. So most of the people who lived here all their lives are laid off while other companies move in that hire outsiders.

White collar, too. When Wachovia - First Union had their "merger of equals" (that pleasant fiction was kept up for quite a while. in reality, FU <--- hehe bought Wachovia) there were thousands of jobs lost, though most of that was owned up to attrition. I heard that another department is being eliminated from Wachovia, though that news is being kept low key.

And then there's the insidious creep-creep of outsourcing. IT jobs, call center jobs, help desk ... those are being sent overseas.

Hence high unemployment, and it leaves people scratching their heads as to why there is so much job growth but still unemployment.

*shrug* You read about Dell opening a plant in Winston-Salem, Google in Hickory, the bio-tech campus in Kannapolis. New jobs are being generated, but 600 jobs in Hickory does not replace the thousands of jobs lost in the furniture industry.