Make wishtv.com your home page

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — A North Carolina-based company is laying off nearly five dozen employees in Henry County.

In a notice to the state, Hickory Springs Manufacturing said the decision is the result of “unforeseen business circumstances associated with COVID-19.”

A total of 59 employees will be laid off, representing about half of the location’s workforce. The layoffs are expected to be permanent and the affected employees do not have bumping rights.

Hickory Springs manufactures furniture and bedding products for a variety of industries, such as transportation, healthcare, packaging and government.

The company did not state whether the affected employees will receive any sort of assistance.

Coronavirus links

Indiana coronavirus timeline

With information from the Indiana Department of Health through March 4, 2021, this timeline reflects updated tallies of deaths and positive tests prior to that date.

NEW CARLISLE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — ArcelorMittal is detailing additional layoffs in northern Indiana as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a notice to the state, the steelmaker says it has temporarily let go 18 employees from its I/N Tek LP facility in New Carlisle.

The first layoff at the site occurred on Sunday. The company says it expects the temporary, unpaid layoffs to last less than six months.

I/N Tek is a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Suitomo Metal Corp. in Japan. The facility is a continuous cold-rolling plant that produces sheet steel, according to the company’s website. 

The plant employs more than 500 in New Carlisle.

ArcelorMittal on Wednesday provided the notice to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. It is the latest in a series of layoffs the steelmaker has made at its various Hoosier facilities.

Throughout the month of April, the company has notified the state of a total of more than 730 layoffs across its facilities in Burns Harbor, East Chicago and New Carlisle.

As part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, employers in Indiana are required to provide notice to the state 60 days before a major workforce reduction. However, due to the pandemic, most of the many businesses conducting layoffs or furloughs are doing so with little to no notice and notifying the state as soon as possible.