ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606240036
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Ingersoll-Rand Co. said Friday it will eliminate 80 jobs at its rock drill division in Northeast Roanoke County when it transfers some work to other company plants.
The company said it hopes to accomplish the job cuts by this fall with early retirements and voluntary separations but that layoffs are a possibility. The job cuts, which are expected to be completed by Sept. 30, will leave the Roanoke County plant with roughly 420 employees.
Work related to the manufacture of air-operated hoists and tools, such as hammers and drills, will be transferred to other Ingersoll-Rand plants now dedicated to Ingersoll-Rand's tool and hoist business, the company said. Once the transfer is complete, the plant here will be dedicated to its core business, the manufacture of rock drills and related products.
Work being moved accounts for about 25 percent of production time at the Roanoke County plant, said Rick Zimmerman, the company's vice president and general manager of the rock drill division.
The transfer of the work is part of a move across most of Ingersoll-Rand to focus the company's plants on their core lines of business, Zimmerman said. "While this change in our organization has painful consequences, we are confident that this sharpened focus on our primary business will position the rock drill division more securely for future success," he said.
Workers who are 55 and have at least 15 years' service with the company are eligible for early retirement, Zimmerman said. Those who elect early retirement or to leave voluntarily will be offered continuation of some benefits as well as financial advice and help in finding another job, he said.
Zimmerman refused to give pay rates for the jobs being eliminated.
The company said that the number of layoffs that will be necessary, if any, will depend on how many workers decide to leave voluntarily. Although the company's rock-drill business is sound, the plant is not in a position to make up the jobs that will be lost with the transfer of the tool and hoist business, Zimmerman said.
Ingersoll-Rand Co., based in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., has more than 41,000 employees worldwide involved in a wide range of businesses, including the manufacture of air compressors, construction and mining equipment, tools, off-highway vehicles and industrial machinery.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines KEYWORDS: JOBCHEKby CNB