Electrolux announced it is eliminating 3,500 to 4,000 jobs companywide over fourth-quarter 2022.
The home appliance and refrigerator manufacturer, which has a plant in Anderson where roughly 2,000 people work, reported supply chain issues, inflation and higher interest rates contributed to an overall dampening of consumer sentiment, particularly in North America, leading to a drop in demand.
“Regarding business area North America, I am obviously very disappointed with our performance,” President and CEO Jonas Samuelson said.
The $35 million operating loss was primarily driven by the North American market, as consumers began to pull back from big-ticket purchases.
The layoffs come just months after Electrolux completed an expansion on its now 1.6-million-square-foot facility in Anderson. The $250 million, 800,000-square-foot plant expansion allowed the plant to build stand-alone freezers, in addition to refrigerators. The facility, at 101 Masters Blvd. in Anderson, was completed last year, and Electrolux transitioned to the new facility in early 2022.
Electrolux didn’t say how many of the job cuts were coming from its Anderson manufacturing plant, but Samuelson said the majority of the targeted cost savings will come from North America.
The plan for turnaround in the North American operations, according to Samuelson, will come from three areas:
- Improve cost efficiency in Anderson and Springfield, Tennessee.
- Leveraging organizational changes that took place in July.
- Optimizing R&D and marketing investments.
Higher inventory levels are also a factor, according to Samuelson, and the company expects market demand to continue to drop in 2023.
The company expects restructuring to have a $364 million to $456 million contribution to its bottom line into next year.
