A decrease in Nissan’s sales will lead to layoffs at the Canton Nissan plant.
According to Lloryn Love-Carter, manager of corporate communications, the automaker will eliminate one shift each for the production of the Titan pickup truck and cargo vans due to a decline in sales for both models. The elimination of the two shifts will result in an estimated loss of around 700 jobs.
Love-Carter stated that all direct Nissan employees will be retained, and those who may lose their jobs will be contract workers. The layoffs are not immediate as many workers will be transferred to other departments within the plant until mid-March.
A buyout will also be offered to some hourly direct employees who are over the age of 55. The company is attempting to mitigate the number of jobs lost, and they say the outlook for the plant remains strong.
“Nissan is adjusting production capacity at its Canton manufacturing facility to match market demand and maintain healthy inventory levels. While affected Nissan employees will be redeployed to other areas of the plant, we anticipate that there will be some associates who will remain unassigned. The long-term outlook for the Canton plant remains strong, with production of the all-new Altima and planned investment for the next-generation Frontier.”
Currently, the plant employees 6,500 Mississippians, and the plant celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2018.
