WARREN, Ohio – Furloughed employees will soon return to Ultium Cells’ Lordstown plant.
A company spokesperson said Thursday that employees will begin returning to the electric vehicle production plant July 27. The company plans to recall its temporarily laid-off hourly employees in phases, completing the recall process in mid-August.
Returning employees will complete onboarding, safety training and job-specific training to prepare for production.
“We look forward to welcoming our employees back and continuing to support advanced battery cell manufacturing in the Mahoning Valley,” Katie Burdette, plant spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.
Ultium laid off about 1,300 employees from its Lordstown plant in January, including 448 who were informed the layoff would be indefinite. For workers who were temporarily laid off, Ultium had initially slated June for a recall.
The plant, a joint venture between General Motors Co. and LG Energy Solution, manufactures batteries for GM’s electric vehicles
A downturn in the EV market, due in part to fewer fossil fuel regulations and the elimination of a tax credit for EV purchases, has been blamed for the layoffs.
Ultium announced last week that it has shifted the focus of its Springhill, Tenn., plant toward manufacturing LG Energy’s JF2 LFP battery cells, which are designed as energy storage systems.