Some sixty to seventy jobs created at Federal Mogul in Smithville within the last year due to flooding in Thailand will soon be returning to Asia, according to Jim Burke, director of corporate communications for Federal Mogul.
Those jobs, along with the loss of 120-125 others being re-located to Mexico will have an impact on the workforce here, still Federal Mogul intends to keep approximately 700 jobs with no plans of pulling up stakes in Smithville. “We did notify our employees that we will be moving some of our work to other facilities, but relative to the entire workforce in Smithville, its only a small amount,” said Burke.
According to Burke, the creation of those jobs here from Thailand was never intended to be permanent. ” Due to the flooding in Thailand, we moved some of that work to Smithville for a period of time. That move was never expected to be permanent. We do a lot of work for customers in Asia so it makes more sense to move those jobs back to Asia, which is where they came from in the first place about a year ago,” said Burke.
As for the relocation of jobs to Mexico, Burke said those will be moved for “logistical reasons”