Cree Fires 300 Contract Workers

A human resources company for Cree has fired 319 contract workers that work for the LED company in Durham, North Carolina, U.S., according to a news & observer report.

The recruiting company Green Resources has said the lay offs to the North Carolina Department of Commerce last week.

Changes in Cree work force arose from a headcount reduction, Mikio Anderson, Greene vice president of human resources, wrote to the state agency.

The reduction was attributed to Cree business operation changes, especially the stop of production of an older generation product, and a new generation product to be produced overseas, explained Anderson.

Cree issued a statement explaining its "contract workforce has historically fluctuated to match our business needs. Our Cree employee human resources remain strong and continues to grow."

The company also said "the employees affected by these adjustments are temporary employees, and are not Cree regular employees."

Cree said that it typically involves "initial product design, development and early production in-house," then as volume increases, "we utilize our contract manufacturing workers as appropriate to increase efficiency. We are leveraging our existing contract manufacturing workers who have operations in North America and overseas.”

The company will continue to use contract manufacturing workers, but "The high-value functions remain in Durham."

Cree has a work force of 6,800 employees globally, including 2,600 workers in U.S. Contract workers are not included in these figures.

Greene Resources reported that 287 of the affected employees would be fired on Feb. 2, and the remaining will be fired March 1.

The leading U.S. LED manufacturer has reported disappointing revenue figures for three consecutive quarters. The company reported revenues dropped marginally from $415.1 million in 2013 to $ 413.2 million for 2Q15.