Kilgore Flares Company will lay off 127 employees in Toone, Tenn., with the workers' last day set for Oct. 31. The company notified workers Tuesday and then disclosed the cut Wednesday in a WARN notice.
The layoff reaches nearly 130 people at a single Hardeman County manufacturing company, a sharp hit for a workforce tied to a plant that designs and builds infrared decoys used to train military aircrews. That detail makes the cut harder to square: the company’s product is specialized, but the notice still points to a significant reduction in staff.
WARN notices are used when employers announce mass layoffs or plant closings, giving workers advance notice before jobs end. In this case, the notice gives a date but not a reason, and it does not say whether the loss of 127 jobs is permanent or whether any workers may be brought back later.
For the employees, the count is now fixed and the deadline is not far off. Oct. 31 is the last day on the schedule, and until then the biggest unanswered question is why Kilgore Flares Company is cutting so deeply at the same time it is still operating.
