HR Director for Rubbermaid Says Job Additions in 2012

The Newell Rubbermaid Company could be bringing about 250 new jobs to the Winfield area this year in 2012. The announcement was made by a spokesperson for the company.

The human resources manager, Brandi Biddle, had made a previous announcement about the company and how it will be adding at least 200 jobs. Biddle now says, “It will be closer to 250.” These new jobs will actually be coming from the Rubbermaid plant which is located in Greenville, Texas. The plant will be closing in July.

As of right now, the Winfield Rubbermaid plant is unsure as to how many of these new jobs will actually be full time. They will not know this information for quite a few months. Biddle says, “The majority of them will meet seasonal, temporary needs.”

The Winfield Rubbermaid produces coolers, containers, home storage building and package coolant known as Blue Ice. As of right now, the company has about 555 employees but this number is expected to grow as new jobs will be added.

The peak employment for the Winfield plant increased in the months of March through July. Biddle has made an estimate that the plant could possibly employ more than 850 people during its height of seasonal production during the summer.

However, Biddle says that managers of the Winfield plant may not know how many of these jobs will be full-time until the ending of 2012. Machinery will be sent to the Winfield plant from the Greenville plant that is now closing. New product lines will also be used along with sorting out the requirements for employees which will take some time.

A spokesperson for the Newell Rubbermaid Company in Atlanta, Georgia has said that their decision to close down the plant in Greenville and move the jobs to Winfield was made after a lot of thought and analysis was put into the company.

In the meantime, David Doolittle has said that the decision to move the plant from Greenville to Winfield was a wise decision, especially because the company will be able to expand the manufacturing in Winfield without actually having to build an entirely new building. This will save the company a lot of money.

Rubbermaid will, however, be building a 500,000 square-feet warehouse in Winfield but will not need to build a new manufacturing area. The company will still be investing more than $25 million into the Winfield operation.

About the decision, Doolittle says there are several factors that helped the company make the decision to move the plant from Greenville to Winfield. Such factors include electric power rates and transportation. While these factors played an important role in the decision, Doolittle has said, “There are a number of factors.” He also says, “I really can’t point to one.”