Harley hogtied, cuts staff 8%
Written on April 19, 2008
Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc. is cutting 8% of its work force and says jobs will be lost at its headquarters in Milwaukee and at its largest plant, in York, Pa.
Chief Executive Jim Ziemer says he hopes employees will take retirement packages.
He says there will be 370 union production jobs cut in the next few months. That’s because the company is reducing bike shipments due to sales declines in the weakening U.S. economy.
Ziemer says 80% of those cuts will be in York.
Harley also has plants in Kansas City and Wisconsin. Ziemer says it’s not clear how many jobs will be lost in those places.
Harley’s also cutting 360 nonproduction jobs, and Ziemer says many of those will be at headquarters in Milwaukee.
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