Viking Range Corp. laid off an additional 87 employees Wednesday as a slow economy and housing market continues to take its toll on Greenwood’s largest employer.
Wednesday’s layoff is the fourth since last April and the second in the last two months for the upscale manufacturer of kitchen appliances. Viking let 57 employees go in February, and the latest move brings the total number of laid-off workers to 213.
Bill Crump, director of governmental affairs for Viking, said the layoffs were for the same reasons as those in February. “We are a manufacture-by-order company, and with a slow economy and housing market, we are directly affected.
“Hopefully, things at some point will pick back up and we can go back to full employment,” said Crump, who also serves as executive assistant to Viking President Fred Carl Jr.
Wednesday’s layoffs were across the board in the manufacturing area, Crump said.
Employees were told of the decision Wednesday afternoon, and Crump said it wasn’t an easy message to deliver.
“We’re such a close-knit family company, and it’s really hard when we have to let anybody go,” he said.
Crump said it’s personal to both the company and employees. Viking also has many families who are employed there, which makes it even harder because it affects everyone.
“Viking is continuing to feel the ill effects of this economic downturn,” Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood Leflore Industrial Board, said this morning. “But they remain our biggest employer.”
Wednesday’s layoffs represent more than 6 percent of the Viking workforce. Before that, Viking had employed 1,223 workers in Mississippi and 1,389 overall.
The vast majority of its Mississippi operations are in Leflore County, where Viking maintains its headquarters, operates four manufacturing facilities as well as an assortment of hospitality businesses.
Curry said she is confident that Viking n as well as the entire Greenwood area n will make it through these tough economic times.
Ronnie Robertson, the industrial board’s chairman, said, “What we’ve got to do is try to maintain the environment and the infrastructure and workforce and those things that will definitely be in play when the economy turns around.”
In the short term for the affected Viking workers, the state offers assistance through its rapid response team, which includes the WIN Job Center and the Mississippi Development Authority, Robertson said.
Greenwood Mayor Sheriel Perkins said she hates to hear of another layoff at Viking or any other company. She spoke with Crump and attributed the job loss to a lack of custom orders coming in from all over the country.
“I want the citizens to know that the economy is hurting throughout the United States, and the problems are not unique to Greenwood,” she said.
Perkins will leave for Washington Friday for a National League of Cities conference and will meet with members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation. They will discuss how to start getting new jobs here through the stimulus package and other efforts.
News Editor William Browning and Staff Writer Charlie Smith contributed to this report.
