Mercury employees react to 1,700 short term layoffs

About 1,700 hourly employees will be affected by short-term layoffs at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, according to Lee Gordon, a spokesperson for Mercury's parent company Brunswick Corporation.

• Employees say they were surprised about the announcement and are nervous about the future.
• Affected employees will lose eight weeks of work, broken up into two week increments.
• Asked if more layoffs are coming, Mercury said it will "continue to monitor demand."

The news comes after the company laid off more than 400 employees earlier this year.
A memo to employees obtained by NBC 26 shows that from early July through November, affected hourly workers will each lose eight weeks of work, broken up into two week increments.

Gordon said the 1,700 employees won't be paid during the short-term layoffs that take place in two-week increments, but they can apply for unemployment.

I spoke with several workers who are going through the layoffs, including a man whose identity we agreed to disguise to protect his job.

"It's really going to cut into a lot of people with budgets," the employee said. "Some friends that I know work there are going to fall behind on child support because they're not making the money they they would normally be making."

He said even if he collects unemployment, he’ll only get about half of his paycheck. He said he's looking for another job, but is struggling to find one that will pay as much as Mercury and is near Fond du Lac.

"It's going to hurt a lot of people, especially in the pocketbook... there's just no way to make up the difference," the employee said.

In a statement, Lee Gordon said: "Mercury continues to grow market-share around the world and still employs thousands of people in Wisconsin and will continue to do so – but right now, it's not sufficient to fully offset the overall market headwinds."

I asked them if more layoffs are planned, and Gordon said they'll continue to monitor demand and make adjustments accordingly.

In the meantime, workers say they’re anxious about the future.

"We're gonna get through it," the employee said. "But we're never, ever gonna be the same."