Airbag maker Autoliv has laid off 7 percent of its local work force due to the major downturn in the automotive market. Company spokeswoman Kathy Whitehead told the Deseret News on Wednesday that the company was forced to make cuts to its production, development and technical staff because "in January alone, light vehicle production decreased more than 40 percent year over year."
Because Autoliv provides parts on a "just-in-time" basis to the vehicle manufacturers, this decrease correlates directly to customer demand, she said.
"When an industry experiences that kind of a market decline, it's just natural that suppliers are going to be forced to make adjustments," she said.
Whitehead said that the layoffs affect 7 percent of the company's nationwide work force of 37,500 people. She said that Autoliv employs approximately 3,300 people in Utah — about 250 workers across the five facilities in the state were affected by the cutbacks.
The company has operations in Promontory, Tremonton, Brigham City and two plants on Ogden.
"This action has taken place over the past two weeks," Whitehead said. Some workers are being asked to take mandatory furloughs, while others have taken severance packages.
About 200 employers are currently on furlough, she said. The leaves range from a week to 90 days, she added.
She said that the company is optimistic that production in the auto industry will rebound in the latter half of the year, which could result in increased production at Autoliv.
"We will clearly benefit from maintaining a strong and financially stable customer and supplier community," she said.
She added that Autoliv is hopeful that the federal government's recently approved economic stimulus package may boost the sagging car industry's fortunes.
"We hope that this will lead to a period of restructuring and will lead to a robust economy," Whitehead said.
E-MAIL: jlee@desnews.com