2017 Harley-Davidson Layoff
Back in November 2015, Harley-Davidson told its York County, Pa., employees that a production realignment was underway. The news finally arrived Thursday when Harley reported it would move production of its Softail cruisers from the York Vehicles Operation plant in Springettsbury Township, Pa., to Kansas City, Mo.
The byproduct of this realignment is the layoff of 118 workers in York—110 hourly employees and eight non-production employees. The layoff will begin June 23, and continue through the end of July, Harley reports. Last fall, Harley also laid off over 100 workers from the York plant.
When complete, about 800 employees will remain in the York Harley-Davidson facility—drastically down from over 2,000 back in 2009. Harley says it is consolidating all production of its cruisers to the Kansas City plant, which will grow by 118 workers when the realignment is complete.
The York Harley-Davidson layoffs were announced shortly after Harley-Davidson reported its first quarter financial results. Harley reported it sold 55,049 motorcycles in Q1 2017, down 4.2% from Q1 2016.
As part of the report, Harley-Davidson also announced its 10-year growth strategy, which focuses on five objectives:
- Build two million new Harley-Davidson riders in the U.S.
- Grow international business to 50 percent of annual volume
- Launch 100 new, high-impact motorcycles, which begin with the new Street Rod and Road King Special
- Deliver superior return on invested capital for Harley-Davidson Motor Company (S&P 500 top 25%)
- Grow the business without growing its environmental impact
