Is it a shock that Batesville Casket Company is cutting 100 jobs, or is this foreshadowing the future of the big B? Last week we learned that Aurora Casket acquired two smaller casket companies, we are seeing a large sector of funeral homes turning to less expensive Chinese caskets, and in October of 2011 we witnessed the launch of Genesis Casket company, a homegrown low cost, high quality casket product. It seems like the deck is stacked against Batesville more so now, than ever before. Of course Batesville isn’t the first industry company to cut jobs, but they are one of the biggest. I hope I am wrong, but I don’t think this will be the last time this year we hear about Batesville cutting jobs.
Read the article below and share your thoughts. Is it a shock that Batesville is cutting 100 jobs?
BATESVILLE, IN — The Batesville Casket Company is cutting 100 jobs, its entire second shift, starting in March.
FOX19 spoke with two employees facing pink slips who wanted to remain anonymous but say they were expecting the move.
“We all knew this day was coming we just didn’t think it was coming this soon,” says a 13-year veteran utility worker.
“I still got to go through the process of finding out where I’m at in seniority and whether I’ll be there or not. It’s still heartbreaking that I’m gonna lose all the people I’ve worked with,” he says.
The company explained the cuts, “As part of our continuous process of maximizing production capabilities to meet the needs of our customers.”
The company will shift a portion of its production between facilities in Batesville, IN and Manchester, TN. There will be a slight increase in the workforce for the Manchester plant but the net loss is about two percent of the company’s entire North American workforce.
“It’s never easy to make a decision like this, and we will support our associates throughout the process to help make the transition as smooth as possible,” says Kim Dennis, president of Batesville.
“As longstanding members of the Batesville community, we continue to make investments in our manufacturing facilities and in innovative, growth-oriented products and services that give families more ways to honor their loved ones.”
A seven year employee has no chance of keeping her job working in production.
“It’s hard, I don’t know what I’m going to do, there’s not a lot of jobs in this area,” she says.
The cuts, she says, already has people talking about shutting down the entire plant, a move that could severely impact the entire town.
“It is what makes Batesville, if Batesville Casket were to shut down it would be a ghost town,” she says.
“Batesville Casket was the large company in this town so it’s definitely going to hurt everybody in this town not just the people who work there but everybody’s going to suffer from this shutdown.”
