400 jobs lost as SC company announces consolidation of 4 manufacturing plants
Fujifilm Manufacturing U.S.A. Inc. announced it will lay off 400 South Carolina employees as it plans to consolidate four Greenwood manufacturing plants.
The consolidation plans will relocate manufacturing to other facilities and third parties and is expected to take place by September 2022, the company said in a news release Thursday. The Greenwood employees learned the news Thursday morning, the company said.
“Market economic trends and a declining demand for many of the products manufactured in Greenwood challenged us to focus on how we adapt our efforts to continue to build a global, sustainable approach for Fujifilm,” President Todd Croker said in a press release.
The market economic trends and declining demand are reflected in Fujifilm’s financial results. In the company’s most recent fiscal year, revenue and income were down 5.3% and 11.3% respectively from the previous year, according to the company’s FY2020 consolidated financial statements.
Fujifilm, a Japanese corporation, has operated in Greenwood since 1988, with a 500-acre campus that produces QuickSnap recyclable cameras, inkjet photographic paper, color photographic paper and digital printing plates, according to the company’s website. The company says it has invested some $1.8 billion in its Greenwood operations over the past three decades.
President and CEO of Greenwood’s Chamber of Commerce, Barbara Ann Heegan, described Fujifilm as “a strong community pillar.” Heegan was among the business and community leaders who reacted to the announcement Thursday, saying the community will look ahead to the future and help those laid-off employees find new work.
As recently as 2019, Fujifilm was expanding its footprint in Greenwood, but recent market trends and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have caused the company to reorganize and focus its efforts on different manufacturing and distribution points, operating flexibility and optimization, according to Croker in a released statement.
Despite the company’s consolidation, Fujifilm says it “will maintain a strong presence in Greenwood with nearly 300 employees” in jobs including warehousing and distribution, information technology, environmental health and safety and more, according to a statement from the company.
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 1:03 PM.