As part of its merger with Hitachi Heavy Industries — and in response to a slowdown in demand for large power generators — Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems is streamlining its management and administrative staff across the country.
The cuts affect approximately 20 people at the Savannah Machinery Works, said Jim Williams, senior vice president at Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems.
“It’s standard procedure, when you merge two companies, to do an assessment of facilities and staff to see if there are any duplications, any place where we can streamline operations,” he said. Most of the positions we eliminated across the country were management and administration overhead, and the majority of them were offered early retirement.
“Our plant hasn’t been here long enough to have people eligible for that.”
Savannah Machinery Works currently employs a little more than 300 people.
“We have been as high as 340 direct, full-time positions and we still feel we’re on track to have between 350 and 500 by the end of 2016,” Williams said, adding that, while the market is currently slow, the company is healthy.
“Right now, we have no plans for future cuts in staff.”
After delivering its first 300-ton commercial gas turbine less than two years ago, the Savannah plant — Mitsubishi’s first turbine production facility in North America — has built seven more of the massive turbines from its 500,000-square-foot factory set on a 120-acre campus on the Pooler megasite.
