Hooker Furniture lays off 25 wood division employees

Worked in operations, warehousing and administration

Staff Staff -- Furniture Today, August 26, 2008

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Hooker Furniture has laid off 25 employees in its wood furniture division here due to the prolonged industry sales slump.

The laid-off workers, who were in operations, warehousing and administration, represent about 9.1% of the division's 263-person workforce.

"We must scale the size of our organization to mirror the amount of business we are doing today in order to remain efficient, profitable and competitive," said Paul Toms, chairman and CEO. "The marketplace will not allow us the luxury of having the same size staff that we did as a larger company."

He said he does not anticipate additional layoffs in the foreseeable future.

"Part of being competitive is to be sure we are an efficient organization, and that our infrastructure is in line with sales volume," Toms added.

The affected employees are being offered severance packages based in their years of service, and the company is working with the Virginia Employment Commission for help with job transition and placement assistance.