Aerial Boom Lifts

Genie Industries lays off 120

Lift manufacturer Genie Industries eliminated most temporary positions and laid off 120 full-time workers Tuesday, including unspecified layoffs in its Redmond and Moses Lake facilities.

The Redmond company, owned by heavy-equipment manufacturer Terex, based in Westport, Conn., is not disclosing how many temporary jobs were cut.

The temporary positions were run through staffing agency AeroTek, which declined to comment.

Genie's Redmond and Moses Lake plants, which produce aerial lifts, articulating booms and scissor lifts, are still open and employing about 3,000 people.

Genie-brand products are also made in England and Italy, and in April the company announced plans to begin manufacturing in China.

Spokeswoman Melinda Zimmerman-Smith said Genie's business is cyclical like the industries it serves, mainly construction. "It's an unstable market with increasing fuel and raw-material costs," she said Thursday.

Source: The Seattle Times