Parsons Technology Development and Fabrication Complex to Close, Cut 100+ Jobs

The odds are good that you have never heard of the Parsons Technology Development and Fabrication Complex.  The complex is described by the company in the following terms, “With an integrated system of design, engineering, fabrication, and testing, Parsons’ Technology Development and Fabrication Complex (TDFC) in Pasco, Washington, excels in delivering first-of-a-kind products from concept to reality. Our elite one-stop shop designs, develops, and fabricates technology for high-end, small-lot production runs that result in unique fabricated items, systems, components, and equipment. Whether it’s for the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, or a contractor working for any federal agency, Parsons is a leader in providing first-class engineering, fabrication, and prototype services that meet rigorous safety and quality requirements. These services often include consolidating various mechanical and electrical processes into modular, skid-mounted systems. We’re also proficient in prototype technology development, systemization, and testing of systems to operational readiness—and evolving this first-of-a-kind technology for the commercial sector.”

Well, at least that was what the idea behind the facility. The company that owns the facility, aptly named Parsons, is getting ready to shut the facility down. The company is going to be closing down the facility, and putting 103 people out of a job, by the end of September. The company notified the Washington State department of labor about the layoffs this week. The layoffs will go into effect on the 19^th of August.  As you may  have imagined already this is more than enough in the way of job losses to qualify as a mass layoff action under the current federal guidelines. For those of you who are not familiar with the idea of a mass layoff action here is a look at how the federal government defines the term, “Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.”

At the current moment the company has not put out an official release about the loss of the jobs when things are shut down. Since the company is closing facilities they are very unlikely to be offering more than the basics. The company has not given any information about what kind of positions exactly are going to be cut and they have not said if they plan on offering any severance or any other kinds of parting benefits to the workers who are going to be put out of a job by this job closure.

This is, of course, not the only manufacturing facility to have job cuts in recent months. For those of you who missed out on our earlier coverage here is an excerpt that will get you up to speed, “Well it looks like the Coryton refinery is getting ready to get rid of its workers, 180 in total, next week in a move that is designed to help the company to work on its fiscal issues. The company is also considering changing the plant over from its current duties to nothing but a storage facility. If that happens then more jobs will be put on the chopping block. On the whole the number of jobs that would be impacted cannot be said with a high degree of certainty, but the facility employs about 900 people currently and should the facility become storage only it is unlikely that the majority of the jobs will be needed by the facility anymore. On the whole the loss of jobs would have a high probability of being more than 800 in total.”