Viewpoint: Layoffs test community resiliency

Layoffs are taking place everywhere.

There are layoffs in Salem, Mass., in the education sector. BellSouth's recent deals have it considering large-scale layoffs. DET Energy Corp in Detroit is planning 1,200 layoffs. General Motors Corp. cut 30,000 jobs last year.

Still, when layoffs -- or worse, plant closings -- happen closer to home, it stings more.

Last year, Cape Shoe Co. closed its Cape Girardeau doors after a five-year attempt by owner Eli Fishman. Fishman called it an experiment, saying he wanted to reverse the trend of sending U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas. He only used U.S.-made materials, but not enough people bought the shoes.

The first part of this year hasn't gotten off to a much better start, with more layoffs announced.

In February, Ceramo laid off 77 workers; 17 were full time and 60 were part time. That left only about 40 full-time workers at a company that had employed more than 100 people in the past.

Owner Vernon Kasten Jr. didn't make the decision easily. But he said the company never fully recovered from business it lost as a result of the 2003 tornado that caused several million dollars in damage to the business' manufacturing building and two warehouses. That cost him 12 weeks of manufacturing and many of customers went elsewhere for their red, clay pots and never came back.

There were other factors: increasing natural gas prices, the installation of new automated equipment and a decision to shift from seven days of operation a week to five.

Then, in early March, BioKyowa announced it was cutting its workforce by 25 percent next year as part of what it calls a "major reorganization" to help it lower prices and keep pace with global competitors.

So next January, about 37 of the 145 workers at the Nash Road amino acid facility will be laid off. BioKyowa went above and beyond what some businesses do by announcing the layoffs a year early and offering employees the opportunity to participate in a voluntary separation program.

Both BioKyowa and Ceramo felt the layoffs were necessary to trim the business down, keep costs down and keep their plants viable. Dana Corp., which has a facility in Cape Girardeau, has filed for bankruptcy protection for its U.S. operations.

It is still shocking to some that large plants have layoffs. There seems to be a false sense of security when it comes to big factories. They, at cursory glance, appear immune.

If they invest millions of dollars into opening a plant, the plant -- and the jobs -- will be around for the long haul. It doesn't always work out that way.

There should be some concern that several major companies are laying off large numbers of employees. We can no longer assume that the jobs will always be around.

Layoffs of this sort always test a community's mettle. It sends the newly unemployed scurrying for jobs. It causes the business that laid off the employees struggling to re-organize and rethink the way they do business.

And it may even be a red flag for a business that is considering coming to town. If that business couldn't make it, why should mine?

We can hope that community and business leaders have developed a business environment that attracts new ventures and fosters growth of existing business.

That way, when layoffs happen, we weather them.