Industrial Employment Down

Some unwelcome numbers on manufacturing.

Maine’s industrial employment shrank 2.6 percent over the past 12 months according to the 2008 Maine Manufacturers Register, a compilation of state industry published annually by Manufacturers’ News Inc. MNI reports Maine lost 2,120 industrial jobs and 24 manufacturers since December 2006, a greater loss compared to the slight employment drop MNI reported for the state a year ago.

The industrial directory’s last report cited a negligible industrial employment drop of 287 jobs between 2005 and 2006. Manufacturing employment had been declining in the state for several years prior, with MNI data showing a loss of 14,921 jobs or 15 percent between March 2001 and November 2005.
…
Sectors losing employment include furniture and textiles/apparel, with each sector down 14 percent. Paper and allied products are down 2.9 percent; printing and publishing, down 1.8 percent; and chemicals, down 7.1 percent. Sectors showing growth include industrial machinery and equipment, up 4.2 percent over the year. The instruments and related products sector, which includes search & navigation equipment, measuring devices and medical instruments, is up 459 jobs over the year (20 percent).

- ReliablePlant.com

Pittsfield to lose 150 jobs, but gain 200

A shoemaker is closing its factory, while a call center is opening a new center in Pittsfield.  The shoe company is moving the work to its Texas factory.

Nearly 150 people will lose their jobs when a shoe factory in Pittsfield closes.

SAS Shoemakers blames a reduced demand for penny loafers and other styles produced in the central Maine plant for the closing, which is scheduled to be complete by the end of the summer.

The San Antonio-based company says it makes sense to move the Maine production to  its expanded facilities in Texas.

- A.P.

Global Contact Services will open a new contact center in Pittsfield. The company provides telephone communications services to major national corporations in insurance, financial, telecom and political fields. The center’s target opening date is April 1.

“This is welcome news in a community that is going through unanticipated job losses with the announced closure of the SAS shoe manufacturing facility,” said Senator Collins (R-Maine). “I assured Mr. Alcorn that his company will find
terrific, hard-working employees in the area who are eager to help his business deliver the very best customer service.”

- WCSH6