IOLA, Kan. — Gates Corporation will be laying off about 30 percent of the workforce at their Iola Plant before the end of the year. KANSASWORKS received a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice Thursday regarding employees at the facility on the south edge of Iola will be impacted by the layoff.
According to information provided to the Kansas Department of Commerce, this reduction is tied to the complete cessation of HFM, or automotive hose manufacturing operations at the site though some unrelated positions will also be cut. Most of the affected employees will be laid off on December 1st, with some to end employment January 1st.
A Rapid Response Effort is being put in place to assist employees at the Gates Iola plant Thrive Allen County economic development director Camille Lavon told the Iola Register in Saturday’s edition one part of the response is organizing a job fair for impacted employees which will also include other large manufacturing facilities in the area. This is expected to take place sometime in November.
Gates has had a presence in the Iola area since the mid 1970’s.
