Manufacturing company in El Paso to lay off 110 employees

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- According to Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems, the company will lay off 110 employees.

Officials told ABC-7, the facility located at 6500 N. Desert Blvd. will be permanently closing.

The company website says it is the world’s leading automotive wiring harnesses and components manufacturer. The company supplies electronic components like electronic control units and center panels.

Manufacturing operations will stop in June and the facility is scheduled to close in June 2024.

Company officials said the decision was made because of business reasons including customer design changes and manufacturing requirements.

Employees will be laid off in four different phases.

The first 46 employees will be laid off beginning March 31, 2023.

14 employees will be laid off on April 28, and 30 other employees on May 26.

The remaining employees will be laid off around October.

"SEWS management provided earlier notice to associates in April of 2022, of the planned
closure, to give associates and their families time to prepare for this action. SEWS is trying
to place as many impacted associates as possible into other open positions within the
company," said general manager Matt Adams.

Adams said the company will provide a severance package.

Tom Fullerton, professor of economics at UTEP, said major layoffs are happening in the manufacturing industry nationwide.

But Fullerton said the industry is growing in El Paso. A large part involves employee demographics.

"El Paso is aging just like the rest of the United States. On average El Paso has a younger cohort than most other places of the country, and El Paso also has a bigger workforce that is more available," he said.

He said the manufacturing industry is expected to grow this year.

Bianca Cervantes, the Communications Director at Workforce Solutions Borderplex, said only the west side location will be impacted. The company's customer service center in east El Paso will remain open.

She said Workforce Solutions Borderplex has a rapid response team that is deployed when mass layoffs like this occur.

Cervantes said each employee is personally assisted before the layoffs happen.

Additionally, employees are also asked about their skills and their current pay. They are also helped with the application process, so they can find a job before the layoffs occur.

The first session will take place Tuesday at the Sumitomo facility. 20 employees will be assisted.

Cervantes told ABC-7, despite the facility closing the manufacturing industry is still prevalent in the El Paso region. She said it won't be difficult for impacted employees to find jobs.

"It's got continuous growth-- which is 10% or more in the next 10 years. It also tells us that there are several annual openings that we can anticipate 20 or more every year in this industry," she said.

She said 160 jobs in the manufacturing industry are currently open.

Sumitomo's announcement comes after Helen of Troy announced in January that it is laying off ten percent of its global workforce.