340 Locals to Lose Jobs with Manufacturing Plant Closure

About 340 employees will lose their jobs when the Hawkins plant closes.Photo byMy Rusk County / My Northern Wisconsin

JELD-WEN notified employees on Thursday, April 11, 2024 that they will be closing two manufacturing locations. One is in Vista, California. The other is in Hawkins, Wisconsin.

Hawkins manufactures wooden windows and has about 340 employees at the plant. Most employees will no longer be employed at the plant by August 2024 with the full closure by March 2025. That operation will be consolidated into the facility in Rantoul, Illinois. The cost will be about $24 million to consolidate but will improve income by $7 million.

According to a press release, JELD-WEN said they made the decision to “simplify its North American windows operations.” The company says this is a step in JELD-WEN’s transformation, which will strengthen the foundation of the company for profitable growth in the future.

Caryn Klebba, the head of global public relations, stated the company values the contributions of its employees who will be able to apply within the company in any open positions at other sites.

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