About 325 people – nearly half the workforce – were laid off by Hatteras Yachts in New Bern on Wednesday.
It's the most recent in string of cuts Hatteras has made in the last couple of years, forced by what the company’s chairman is calling one of the boating industry's most difficult times ever.
“Every single layer, every single department, every single skill set was affected,” chairman Bill Naumann said.
Naumann says there's no two ways about it -- lagging demand due to the weak economy forced his company's hand.
Wednesday's job cuts, he says, are absolutely necessary to keep Hatteras Yachts afloat.
“At this stage of the game, we're not planning on any short-term recovery,” he said. “So we had to kind of hunker down and put in place an organization that will be able to successfully survive in this kind of climate. And that's what we did.”
In a one-on-one interview with Nine On Your Side late Wednesday afternoon, he said the focus now is on restructuring and resizing the company.
From top to bottom, he says, Hatteras is working to eliminate redundancy in the process it takes to build the company’s one-of-a-kind, world-renown luxury yachts.
Like any cut, he says, this one hurts.
“People that were here 25, 30 years were affected by this move,” Naumann said. “And that's a very, very difficult thing. Really, we're dealing with family today, not employees.”
Naumann says the company hopes that once the economy bounces back, they'll be able to hire back everyone they've laid off.
Watch Eyewitness News 9 Nightside at 11 to hear from workers laid off by Hatteras Yachts. You’ll also hear more on the company’s future plans.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement