Wisconsin defense contractor laying off 450 workers

Oshkosh, WI, United States (4E) – The Oshkosh Corporation in Wisconsin has recently announced it will cut 450 jobs in its defense division due to lower demand from its military customers.

According to an Oshkosh Corporation spokesman John Daggett, “these are never easy but we will also help those employees affected by this January layoff to make a transition to other employment.”

The layoffs will start over a three week period, beginning January 11th until the 25th.

Daggert added that Oshkosh will still employ 3,500 employees in Oshkosh after the layoffs. The decrease affected about 11 percent of the division’s overall local workforce.

Company officials said that reduction have become necessary mostly because the demand for their military-style trucks has gone down as American troops pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Daggerts explained that “two wars are ending, domestic military production volume is going to decrease in 2013 and the fact is the budgets are really moving back down to peacetime.”

In a statement, union leaders said they are very concerned not only about the impact to the membership, but also the family members and the surrounding community.

“The union will continue discussions with the company on these matters to lessen the burden as much as possible,” they stated.

Company and union leaders are also exploring the possibility of offering early retirement to long-term workers.

---

---