LSC Planning Job Fair For Employees Before Closure
LSC Planning Job Fair For Employees Before Closure
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
LSC Planning Job Fair For Employees Before ClosureLSC Print Solutions may be closing its Warsaw Division plant in September, but it’s planning to provide support to its employees to find new jobs.
A copy of the local government notice of plant closing pursuant to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act on Tuesday stated that the first date of separation for LSC Print Solutions Warsaw Plant is expected to be between Sept. 10 and Sept. 24. Approximately 525 employees will be separated.
In an email Wednesday from Melissa Noebes, senior vice president, LSC Print Solutions, she said on Tuesday LSC Print Solutions announced plans to exit the gravure printing platform due to the continuing steep decline in demand for long-run catalog and magazine printing.
“We are closing the company’s last remaining gravure print facility, which is in Warsaw, Indiana, in September. We will be working closely with all affected team members to help them through this difficult time. We’ve already been in touch with Mayor (Joe) Thallemer, and also the Kosciusko County Economic Development Corporation. We plan to call on local businesses and other printing companies to join us for job fairs on-site. In addition, we will provide severance packages, employment counseling, resume writing workshops and a host of other support services,” she said.
Local companies interested in joining the LSC Print Solutions job fairs can send a message to letstalk@lscprintsolutions.com and they will be added to the invite list.
“This was a very difficult decision to make, as LSC (and its predecessor RR Donnelly) were once recognized as the leader in the U.S. gravure printing market. Over the last few years, the industry in the U.S. has gone from 20 plants down to just three. In the last six years, the catalog market has dropped 65%, while ink and paper costs have risen 55% and 30% respectively. The press equipment isn’t manufactured anymore, and parts are hard to come by,” Noebes stated.
“Think of the Sears catalog, Parade Magazine, or the weekly Toys-R-Us newspaper insert we grew up with – they were all once produced on gravure presses, and now they are all gone. These are just a few of the many examples of the catalogs and magazines that are no longer in circulation … and no longer support the gravure printing industry. Others (like Rolling Stone) have converted from the tabloid-size format printed on gravure presses to the standard-size magazine printed on offset presses. There are so many magazines and catalogs today that are either out of print or have so drastically reduced page counts and circulation sizes that offset makes much more sense economically.”
Noebes said none of the employees were surprised by the announcement Tuesday. Many have spent decades with the company and are highly skilled press and bindery equipment operators. They know the industry very well and have seen where it’s been heading for some time now. If it were only for the talent and dedication of the employees, she said they would still be in operation. Unfortunately, the business they need to keep the plant running isn’t there.
“We sent our employees home yesterday (Tuesday) with pay, to give them time to process this difficult news. Today (Wednesday) we are on-site with corporate leadership and an HR team to answer any employee questions, and also to begin the process of setting up computer rooms and meeting spaces where employees will be able to learn resume writing skills, submit job applications with coaching and take advantage of the additional support we will be providing through our resources and through the county and state. We plan on maintaining a full corporate support staff onsite throughout the coming weeks to ensure the needs of our employees are met,” Noebes said.
She said LSC will be organizing job fairs on-site with paid time off so participating team members can connect with local job opportunities.
LSC Communications began in 2016 when R.R. Donnelley, the commercial print and logistics company, decided to divide its services into three separate companies, according to the LSC website. In 2020, LSC was acquired by Atlas Holdings.
LSC had two plants in Lancaster, Pa., which closed earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Thallemer said he was told the building was sold to a developer. He was assured that the developer will try to fill that building with other industrial companies so the building will not sit idle and go dark.
After LSC closes in mid-September, they will have until the end of the year to get their equipment out, Thallemer said he was informed, and shut down.
