DANVILLE, Va. (WFXR) – On February 5, Danville announced it would be cutting 850 jobs at its Danville manufacturing plant.
With more than 2,000 employees, Goodyear has long been one of the top drivers of the Danville job market.
“Anytime individuals are being downsized or repurposed through their jobs, it’s always going to be a challenge for them, the company, the community, and certainly their families,” said Danville assistant director of economic development Kelvin Perry.
In a statement, Goodyear said the move is part of a push to refocus the Danville plant.
“Goodyear previously announced its plans to refocus its Danville facility on mixing and aviation, strengthening the plant’s competitiveness,” the statement read. “This plan includes approximately 850 job reductions, including associates and contracted positions.”
Goodyear went on to say it was committed to supporting impacted employees.
To date, it is still unknown which sectors or employees will ultimately be impacted by the layoffs.
“At this point, they’ve put out that warn letter that they’re expecting a reduction in workforce and once that becomes a little clearer, we’ll know what type of workers will be affected,” said Perry.
Once that is determined, economic development and the city manager’s office can move forward with providing resources to those affected.
Those resources could take the form of job placement or assistance in resume building, to name a few.
“Over at Goodyear, they’re a highly trained, skilled workforce and so we want to make sure that we can bring those resources to the company and certainly to the individuals to make sure they can find suitable employment within the community,” said Perry.
City manager Ken Larking expressed disappointment in the move, also pledging to assist those impacted.
“We are deeply concerned about Goodyear’s announcement that it will be eliminating 850 jobs at its local facility,” said Larking. “We will continue working with Goodyear and our economic development partners to navigate this transition and support those impacted during this challenging time.”
WFXR reached out to the local United Steelworkers president about the situation but he was unavailable for comment.
Goodyear has not yet included a timeline for when the layoffs will take place.