Oshkosh Layoffs

Oshkosh Corp. announced today that its defense division will be laying off nearly 1,000 workers this summer due to expected decreases in military vehicle sales.

The company will reduce its work force in Oshkosh, WI, by approximately 700 hourly positions starting in mid-June and will cut another 200 salaried workers through July, the announcement states. The company will be left with 2,800 defense employees after the reductions are complete.

“As discussed on numerous occasions, Oshkosh expects domestic military vehicle production volumes to decline significantly as the year progresses,” the statement reads. “The company’s lower expected vehicle production is due mainly to the reduction in U.S. defense budgets and a return to peacetime spending levels as the U.S. winds down war activities. Daily production volumes are expected to decline by approximately 30 percent this summer.”

John Urias, Oshkosh's executive vice president of defense, called the layoffs “difficult but necessary decisions” given the current business climate. “When other business segments of Oshkosh and many companies in the U.S. were enduring layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs during the Great Recession, Oshkosh Defense was hiring employees and retaining jobs which ended up helping many people manage through that difficult period,” he said in the statement. “However, circumstances have now changed.”

Urias added that Oshkosh has worked to save more than 165 production jobs by enacting various insourcing measures. “The company will be reaching out to the county and state workforce development agencies, as well as local employers to help those affected by the layoffs make the transition to other employment if they so desire,” the statement reads. “The company will continue to build high-quality trucks and trailers, and provide support service and training for its military customers around the clock and around the world.”

Oshkosh is the Army's primary provider of heavy-duty trucks and is the contractor for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle. The company is currently one of three competitors vying for a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle contract.