Layoffs are hitting three companies with facilities in Fayetteville, Henderson and Goldsboro, according to mass layoff notices filed with the state of North Carolina.

The details from North Carolina Business News Wire:

Sykes Enterprises to lay off 377 employees in Fayetteville

By Charlie McGee

FAYETTEVILLE — Sykes Enterprises Inc. is laying off 377 employees at a site in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at the start of July, according to a filing with the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

The layoffs will take effect July 7. Among the employees being terminated, Sykes stated that 336 are customer service agents, and 15 are team leaders.

The mass layoff will include individuals from 18 different positions at the site, indicating a potential shut-down of operations at the Fayetteville site.

The company, based in Tampa, Florida, sent notice of the upcoming layoffs May 8 to the N.C. Department of Commerce. That notice was in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies to give a 60-day public notice of mass layoffs.

According to the notice, the layoffs “may be permanent or temporary.” The company said it is working to transition as many employees as possible to its virtual call center business Sykes Home.

“In order for our employees to transition successfully to working from the comfort of their own homes, we are providing some of the necessary equipment,” the company stated.

“The decision to make such business changes is never easy, but we are hopeful that many of our current Fayetteville employees will find the opportunity to grow with us,” said Jen Gudenkauf, vice president of human resources, North Carolina, in a letter to the state.

The Sykes employees being laid off will not be able to use seniority to bump other team members out of their positions, as they do not have collective bargaining representation.

Sykes Enterprises opened a call center in a former retail store on Skibo Road in 2013. Initially, about 150 people worked there initially. The Sykes work force in Fayetteville increased to more than 500 after it built a 500,000-square-foot center on Raeford Road and merged the two operations.

Founded in 1977, Sykes engages customers with services that include handling billing inquiries, dispatching roadside assistance and health care. The company connect with customers globally through communications such as phone, social media and online self-service.

According to Bloomberg.com, the company has around 55,000 employees.

North Carolina has seen 4,645 employees laid off through WARN notices in 2018. North Carolina’s 2018 WARN summary can be found here.

Staples Contract shutting Henderson facility, firing 100 employees

By Charlie McGee

HENDERSON – Staples Contract and Commercial Inc. plans to permanently close its facility in Henderson, North Carolina, and soon begin a process of laying off approximately 100 employees at the location.

The company said the layoff process at 1133 Poplar Creek Road will begin on July 13, according to a filing with the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Employees will be terminated “over a period of several months,” and the terminations will be permanent.

Staples Contract and Commercial notified the Department of Commerce of the upcoming layoffs on May 7. The notice was in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies to give a 60-day public notice of mass layoffs.

Employees at the Henderson facility will not be able to use seniority to bump employees at other Staples sites out of their positions. This is because those employees are not represented by a labor organization.

Staples Contract and Commercial is a subsidiary of retailer Staples Inc. It offers business products and services to large enterprises, including commercial businesses, government organizations and educational institutions.

Cooper-Standard to lay off 125 in Goldsboro

By Chris Roush

GOLDSBORO — Automotive parts supplier Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. plans to lay off 125 workers in Greensboro, North Carolina, according to a filing with the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

The Novi, Michigan-based company plans to begin the layoff of July 16 and complete it by July 30, according to the filing with the Division of Workforce Solutions.

The layoffs are at two locations — 280 Woodland Church Road and 308 Fedelon Trail. Almost all of the layoffs — 122 — will occur at the Fedelon Trail location, according to the filing. The workers are not represented by a union.

The company also operates a warehouse in Greensboro at 800 N. William St.

In a statement about the Goldsboro layoffs, the company said:

“Cooper Standard continually analyzes plant utilization across its manufacturing footprint. Regional vehicle production and customer orders are some of the key considerations in determining plant utilization. Runout of existing business has impacted the needed employment levels at the Goldsboro facility. The company will work with employees, appropriate government agencies and communities, to provide services to help make the transition for all affected employees as smooth as possible.”

In 2011, the company received $157,400 in funding from the One North Carolina Fund to expand its operations in Greensboro. The company agreed to create 137 jobs and invest $17.9 million in the plant by the end of 2012. According to state data, it actually invested $20 million and created 270 jobs.

Cooper-Standard’s Goldsboro facility began operations in 1984 and expanded in 1997 to include the second facility. At one time, both facilities employed more than 400 full-time staff and focused on extrusion, notching and molding processes for the automotive weather-strip market.

Cooper-Standard’s products include rubber and plastic sealing, fuel and brake lines, fluid transfer hoses and anti-vibration systems. The company employs more than 32,000 people globally and operates in 20 countries around the world.

A company spokeswoman did not immediately reply for comment on Tuesday.

The layoffs were filed with the N.C. Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies to give a 60-day public notice of mass layoffs.

North Carolina’s 2018 WARN summary can be found here. These are the first layoffs in Wayne County in 2018.

This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism