- Admin
- #1
This was sent to me today
A sharp slump in the worldwide sales of golf balls will force the layoff of 169 employees at the Acushnet Co.’s Titleist ball plants and its custom shop, the company announced this morning.
Spokesperson Mary Lou Bohm said that employees were called into meetings during their shifts today to hear the news. The cuts, which will take place gradually, amount to about 11 percent of the local work force of about 1,500.
The cutbacks will affect Ball Plant 2 in Dartmouth, which makes the 2-piece Titleist NXT; Ball Plant 3 in New Bedford, which makes the Pro-V1; and custom operations in New Bedford and Fairhaven.
Bohm noted that golf equipment is “discretionary income,†and spending is down sharply in the current worldwide recession. Once the economy recovers, the company hopes to call back many of those being laid off, Bohm said.
“The golf ball industry is experiencing a more severe market contraction than our original forecasted decline for 2009,†said Jerry Bellis, president of Titleist Golf Balls. “The combination of golfers’ reduced golf ball consumption and declines in corporate spending on golf have caused a decrease in global demand. To align our production with marketplace conditions, we have unfortunately needed to make adjustments in our golf ball plant staffing.â€
Today’s announcement follows a decision by the company in February to lay off 100 salaried workers worldwide, with another 100 taking buyouts. That was 12 percent of the company’s worldwide work force.
In August of 2008, the Acushnet Co. announced that production of its flagship Titleist Pro-V1 ball will partly be moved to a plant somewhere in Asia to be closer to those markets, while production locally would be cut 20 percent and 100 jobs eliminated by attrition, with no layoffs.
In May 2008, a total of 50 local ball plant jobs were eliminated as Titleist reconfigured Ball Plant 3 in the New Bedford Business Park, and trimmed production in response to a soft market and increased competition.
A sharp slump in the worldwide sales of golf balls will force the layoff of 169 employees at the Acushnet Co.’s Titleist ball plants and its custom shop, the company announced this morning.
Spokesperson Mary Lou Bohm said that employees were called into meetings during their shifts today to hear the news. The cuts, which will take place gradually, amount to about 11 percent of the local work force of about 1,500.
The cutbacks will affect Ball Plant 2 in Dartmouth, which makes the 2-piece Titleist NXT; Ball Plant 3 in New Bedford, which makes the Pro-V1; and custom operations in New Bedford and Fairhaven.
Bohm noted that golf equipment is “discretionary income,†and spending is down sharply in the current worldwide recession. Once the economy recovers, the company hopes to call back many of those being laid off, Bohm said.
“The golf ball industry is experiencing a more severe market contraction than our original forecasted decline for 2009,†said Jerry Bellis, president of Titleist Golf Balls. “The combination of golfers’ reduced golf ball consumption and declines in corporate spending on golf have caused a decrease in global demand. To align our production with marketplace conditions, we have unfortunately needed to make adjustments in our golf ball plant staffing.â€
Today’s announcement follows a decision by the company in February to lay off 100 salaried workers worldwide, with another 100 taking buyouts. That was 12 percent of the company’s worldwide work force.
In August of 2008, the Acushnet Co. announced that production of its flagship Titleist Pro-V1 ball will partly be moved to a plant somewhere in Asia to be closer to those markets, while production locally would be cut 20 percent and 100 jobs eliminated by attrition, with no layoffs.
In May 2008, a total of 50 local ball plant jobs were eliminated as Titleist reconfigured Ball Plant 3 in the New Bedford Business Park, and trimmed production in response to a soft market and increased competition.
