| SRS layoffs touch many jobs AIKEN - The 300 Savannah River Site employees scheduled to be laid off this week perform a wide spectrum of duties at the site, from management to research, which could mean the job hunt will be easier for some than for others. A spokesman for the company that runs the site would not discuss details of the layoffs but said, "It's not confined to any particular area or category of job." "It's going to cut across several areas, including management," said Will Callicott, of Westinghouse Savannah River Co. The layoffs weren't announced Wednes-day but should occur this week, he said. The pending round of job losses is a double-edged sword for economic developers. A readily available pool of unemployed people skilled in production can help attract new manufacturers, said Fred Humes, the executive director of the Economic Development Partnership for Aiken and Edgefield counties. "The mix is important to me because I can go to a company and say, 'These individuals will be available, and you don't have to go out and recruit,' " he said. But as the steady decline in employment at SRS continues, there are fears that the site's talented engineers and scientists will move elsewhere to find jobs. That might make SRS less attractive for future Department of Energy missions. The site currently employs about 13,000 people. Developers, including Mr. Humes, are also marketing the Aiken area as a hydrogen research center, based in part on the large number of researchers with expertise in the field at SRS. But an exodus of high-grade scientific talent could also blunt those efforts. Those included in the job separation will receive company benefits based on their years of service, the possibility of extending their health benefits and unemployment payments for up to 26 weeks. The South Carolina Employment Security Commission is working with Westinghouse to help workers make the adjustment, said Kay Britt, the area director for the commission. The unemployment rate in Aiken County was 5.3 percent in January, down from 5.8 percent a year ago, and there is more demand right now for production jobs than those at the professional level. Several large manufacturers, including the Kimberly-Clark Corp., Advanced Glassfiber Yarns and Shaw Industries, which manufactures carpet yarn, are hiring production workers, and there are between 150 and 200 total job openings, Ms. Britt said. She listed only a handful of professional openings, including the need for a microbiologist and a safety manager.
Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 279-6895 or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
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