COVID-19 is forcing the closure of Sub-Zero and Wolf Appliance plants in Fitchburg, effectively laying off more than 1,000 employees as of Sunday, March 22, according to a WARN report filed with the state and dated today.
In a letter to the Department of Workforce Development, Sub-Zero Group Inc, a high-end appliance manufacturer and one of Dane County’s largest employers, reported that the company will release employees beginning Sunday. A total of 1,043 employees will lose their jobs, at least temporarily, as production ceases at Sub-Zero’s production plant at 6061 Basswood Drive in Fitchburg, and Wolf Appliance Inc.’s plant at 2866 Bud’s Drive in Fitchburg.
Layoffs are expected to last “at least” until Monday, April 13, with 112 positions (54 Sub-Zero; 58 Wolf Appliance) not being recalled.
In total, Sub-Zero will cut 469 jobs, while Wolf Appliance Inc. will release 574. Jobs affected include assemblers, fabrication workers, and maintenance mechanics, among others.
“These 2020 business circumstances were not foreseeable,” the WARN letter states, “but we must react in a way that is designed to balance our duty to protect the health of our workforce as much as possible, minimize the spread of COVID-19 across our communities, and respond to the reality that demand for production has gone down and is forecast to remain down.”
