Hundreds of jobs lost at London automotive facility

Brose North America is downsizing its London, Ont. facility — resulting in the elimination of more than 300 jobs.

In a statement issued Thursday, the company said, “Due to a combination of internal and external factors, Brose North America will downsize its London, Ontario facility. This decision will eliminate most of the onsite positions, more than 300 roles, by the end of 2023 as seat production lines transition from London to other locations.”

The statement goes on to say, “Order losses and significantly lower production volumes have created overcapacity in several of our plants, leading to high structural costs... auto manufacturers are further increasing pressure on prices and requiring suppliers to shift production to lower cost countries.”

“I wish to express my deep gratitude to our London colleagues for successfully creating a benchmark organization in its more than 17 years of operation...We took every measure to protect employees and will provide support to all those impacted during this difficult transition. We will work tirelessly to reassign as many eligible employees as possible to other Brose locations,” said President, Wilm Uhlenbecker.

Brose is the fourth-largest family-owned automotive supplier. The company employs 30,000 people at around 70 locations in 25 countries.

Ashley Conyngham of the London Economic Development Corporation says the announcement is not very surprising given the hardships of the past two years.

“Its unfortunate news but not surprising given the global challenges in the automotive industry with parts shortages, supply chain issues and ongoing cost pressures,” she said in a statement to CTV News London.

Conyngham did say however, that employment opportunities are popping up, such as the London & Area Works job fair on Sept. 20 at White Oaks Mall.

She adds that the London Economic Development Corporation will do their best to assist affected workers.

“We will work with Brose and the impacted workforce over the next year to help transition to other growing employers in our area. Maple Leaf Foods, Amazon, GlenDimplex and a number of other facilities in that area are looking for workers,” she says.