Reduction in Fleetwood's work force
Allied Recreation Group is blaming “seasonality and market conditions” for eliminating more than 50 hourly full-time workers at its Decatur plant – even though first-quarter sales in the RV industry rose 8 percent.
A spokesman for the company said Monday the job cuts are manufacturing positions that paid at least $14 an hour.
Allied Recreation Group makes the Fleetwood RV brand and is a subsidiary of Allied Specialty Vehicles of Orlando, Florida. The company lists its annual revenue at $1.7 billion. It has 23 brands under its umbrella and 5,600 employees nationwide, including Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Kansas.
Allied Recreation employs 1,100 workers in Decatur.
Decatur Mayor John Schultz said he understands the reasons for the job reductions, but that doesn’t make it any easier to digest.
“Any layoffs are not good,” Schultz said. “I do know that companies have to make adjustments based on seasonal factors and their production schedule.”
Shares of RV manufacturers are entering a period characterized by seasonal weakness, even as sales are rising. If the decadelong market pattern holds this year, it could present an opportunity for bullish investors, industry watchers say.
May was the busiest month for wholesale shipments in each of the past four years, according to data from the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association in Reston, Virginia.
Wholesale shipments of new towable campers and motorized RVs rose 7.9 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, according to figures from the RV association. That puts the industry on track to achieve total shipments of 387,000 this year, about on par with the pre-recession peak reached in 2006, according to Mac Bryan, a vice president at the trade group.
A spokesman for the company said Monday the job cuts are manufacturing positions that paid at least $14 an hour.
Allied Recreation Group makes the Fleetwood RV brand and is a subsidiary of Allied Specialty Vehicles of Orlando, Florida. The company lists its annual revenue at $1.7 billion. It has 23 brands under its umbrella and 5,600 employees nationwide, including Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Kansas.
Allied Recreation employs 1,100 workers in Decatur.
Decatur Mayor John Schultz said he understands the reasons for the job reductions, but that doesn’t make it any easier to digest.
“Any layoffs are not good,” Schultz said. “I do know that companies have to make adjustments based on seasonal factors and their production schedule.”
Shares of RV manufacturers are entering a period characterized by seasonal weakness, even as sales are rising. If the decadelong market pattern holds this year, it could present an opportunity for bullish investors, industry watchers say.
May was the busiest month for wholesale shipments in each of the past four years, according to data from the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association in Reston, Virginia.
Wholesale shipments of new towable campers and motorized RVs rose 7.9 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, according to figures from the RV association. That puts the industry on track to achieve total shipments of 387,000 this year, about on par with the pre-recession peak reached in 2006, according to Mac Bryan, a vice president at the trade group.
