TE Connectivity closing Hemet plant, shifting east

TE Connectivity, formerly Tyco Electronics, manufactures connectors and sensors for the automotive, aerospace and defense, med-tech, and home appliance industries. According to a company statement emailed to Hemet’s regional newspaper The Press-Enterprise, the layoffs, which begin this week, have a completion target of October 2020. The company notified California’s Economic Development Department of the closure on Sept. 5. “As a result of a continuing analysis of our industrial and commercial transportation business, TE Connectivity will relocate manufacturing operations and the engineering lab from our Hemet facility to other North American locations,” Quimby said in a statement. The Press Enterprise also reported that terminated workers will receive “severance benefits, notice pay if applicable, benefits continuation and outplacement services,” and are receiving assistance from TE officials in applying for the 200 jobs being created in Tennessee and North Carolina. Last November, the company closed a plant in Oceanside, which affected 360 workers. Publicly traded TE Connectivity recently reported quarterly net income of USD 757 million and increased its stockholder dividend by 4.5%, to 46 cents per share. The company also recently announced plans to utilize USD 1.5 billion to buy back its stock.