P&G subsidiary, contractor among companies that laid off 1,300 SW Ohio workers in 2023
As 2023 winds down, Southwest Ohio saw 15 mass layoffs affecting 1,324 workers as companies from various sectors closed down or cut back, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The cuts accounted for 1 in 5 of nearly 6,500 Ohio workers let go in 2023 as documented by what's known as WARN notices filed with the state under the federal Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification Act. While the disclosures don’t tabulate all jobs cut among the economic uncertainty, they generally capture most large worker reductions by employers at single sites, such as factories or office centers.
Among the largest in our region were two related to cutbacks at Procter & Gamble. In May, the consumer products giant disclosed it would shut down a Hamilton subsidiary, iMFLUX, that generated plastic-making technology, eliminating 122 jobs. Then in October, a P&G subcontractor, St. Bernard Soap Co., revealed it would cut 127 jobs, or half its workforce, after P&G disclosed it was cutting back some contract work making bar soap.
Not counted among the job cuts: the temporary layoffs of 660 Ford workers that were idled in October amid the national United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers. Ohio officials say temporary layoffs typically don't require WARN notices.
Some companies' cuts were voluntarily submitted to the state as part of broader layoffs elsewhere, such as by Marina Del Rey, California-based Aspiration, which laid off dozens of workers on the West Coast but cut a single job in Cincinnati.
The cuts come as Greater Cincinnati and Ohio have both more than recovered the jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and overall state and local unemployment st near lows not seen in decades. The jobless rate in Cincinnati was 3.3% in September, while it was 3.4% across Ohio, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Other layoffs affecting Southwest Ohio were:
Honeywell Intelligrated LLC, which said it would cut 223 workers in West Chester.
Webhelp Americas LLC, which disclosed it would layoff 176 employees in Mason.
York Street Fresh Foods LLC, which said it was letting 150 workers go in Sharonville.
Yellow Corp. - West Chester, which disclosed it was cutting 150 workers.
Multi-Color Corp., which laid off 86 workers in Mason; it also disclosed another 56 jobs cut in Norwood.
The Service Cos., which announced 70 jobs eliminated in Downtown.
Honeywell, which disclosed it would lay off 66 workers in Fairfield.
Sensience, which said it would cut 42 jobs in Pleasant Ridge.
Visible Supply Chain Management LLC, which laid off 37 workers in West Chester.
Abercrombie and Fitch Co., which disclosed 11 jobs cut in Sycamore Township.
Arrowhead Engineered Products, which cut 7 jobs in Sharonville.
Aspiration, which eliminated one position in an unspecified Cincinnati neighborhood.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 2023 layoffs: P&G, Honeywell, Yellow Corp. and Abercrombie and Fitch
