Tuesday, January 6, 2009

BMC West And Les Schwab

The building materials provider BMC West announced on Monday that it was going to close its Sherwood office and slash an undetermined number of local jobs. The number of job lose has not been finalized yet. The Sherwood office had 109 employees and up to 105 of them will begin being laid off on March 2nd. Though the company says that it will try to retain as many as it can, but those looking to transfer are going to have to wait as the company revises it's business plan in the next two months. Building Material Holding, BMC West's parent company had been a fixture on the Forbes Fortune 1000 list, with the company posting profits of over $300 million from 2003-2006. However, in 2007 they posted a loss of $313 million. According to Stan Wilson, Building Material Holdings president, Portland's sagging construction market made it a target for reduction.

Elsewhere in the Northwest, Les Schwab has eliminated 65 jobs in the Prineville area. However, the company plans to bring back at least 38 of the workers when the economy improves. Jodi Hueske, a Les Schwab executive said that they are selling, loading, and hauling fewer tires which effects everyone. Les Schwab had moved it headquarters to Prineville from Bend last month. They left behind around 600 employees to work in the tire distribution center there. Prineville is located in Crook County, which had the state's highest unemployment rate in November at 12.4%

So Portland, tell us if you were effected by the these recent job reductions in the state. If so, you can always find help here at the Employment Guide. You can also leave your comment in the section below.

No comments: