L.E. Jones, a prominent company in the manufacturing sector, has recently announced a significant reduction in its workforce.

Economic conditions continue to impact L E. Jone in a negative way. The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has been hard hit over the past eighteen months with several indicators showing flat to declining trends depending on geography.  Manufacturing in the Northeast and Midwest is especially sluggish.  U.S. employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revised shows over 90,000 manufacturing jobs lost over the past twelve months compared with the originally reported 24,000 in gains. Slowing global demand, excess inventories and post-Covid buying patterns account for the pullback. The company had hoped the present economic conditions would be temporary.  However, a steady decline in customer orders over the past year and future demand guidance now shows that a cyclical downturn is at hand. Accordingly,L. E. Jones notified all employees that it plans to discontinue work on weekend shifts and reduce its overall production workforce by approximately 15-20 percent in line with revised and lower customer order levels. These changes, along with others, will better position the company to move forward through this downturn and provide for growth in the future as work on R&D for new materials and enhanced manufacturing processes for customers remains in place.