120 layoffs at South Carolina plant, some work moved to Upstate prisons, officials say
For the second time this year, Shaw Industries announced it will shut down a South Carolina production plant, laying off another 120 people, the Greenwood Index-Journal reports.
The company is moving some of the work to facilities in two South Carolina prisons, company and state officials told WSPA.
Georgia-based Shaw Industries, which manufactures carpeting and flooring, announced in May that it was laying off 249 people in Central, South Carolina, near Clemson, according to the Index-Journal.
The layoffs announced this week are in Clinton, about an hour northwest of Columbia, the newspaper reports.
The plant in Clinton will shut down by mid-August, WHNS reports.
The company said Clinton workers will be able to apply for jobs at other Shaw plants in the state, according to WHNS.
“Officials at Perry Correctional confirmed the Greenville County prison will help Shaw with the workload,” the station said.
State Department of Corrections officials told WSPA, “the company is renovating facilities at Perry Correctional Institution and is expected to employ about 50 inmates in addition to supervisors from Shaw.”
Shaw Industries, headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, employs 22,000 people around the world, according to the company’s website. It is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is owned by famed investor Warren Buffett.
This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 2:39 PM with the headline "120 layoffs at South Carolina plant, some work moved to Upstate prisons, officials say."
