Texas layoffs continue across the transport, manufacturing and oilfield industries, according to a new round of worker reduction notices to state officials on Friday.
It is the third round of mass layoffs announced by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) since March 31 under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
According to reports, U.S. Silica Sandbox Solutions, Sun Coast Resources, FTS International and Yazaki North America are among the businesses in the transport and manufacturing industries that have conducted layoffs in recent days.
U.S. Silica Sandbox Solutions announced it was laying off 105 employees at its operation in Midland, Texas. The company hauls frac sand to fracking wells in the Permian Basin of West Texas.
“As a result of the unforeseeable, dramatic downturn in business caused by the coronavirus natural disaster and steeply declining oil prices, (U.S. Silica) initiated a series of group layoffs at the Sandbox Logistics site in Midland,” the company said in its WARN notice.
Sun Coast Resources, a tanker truck hauling company, laid off 70 employees at its truck yard in Midland.
“The combination of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and the crude oil price war initiated by the governments of Russia and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks have wreaked havoc on the energy industry as well as the entire U.S. economy,” Sun Coast officials said according to state filings.
FTS International, an oil services company with a fleet of trucks carrying sand and other materials needed for frack wells, announced it was furloughing 59 employees at a facility in Longview, Texas.
“This furlough, resulting from unforeseeable business circumstances will last at least six months and may turn into a permanent separation from employment,” FTS officials said.
Yazaki North America said it is laying off 43 employees at its facility in El Paso, Texas. Yazaki makes wire harness parts for Daimler, General Motors, Honda and Toyota.
While Yazaki is not a freight or logistics company, its automotive parts manufacturing affects cross-border freight shipments.
More than 2,700 oil and gas workers across Texas also lost their jobs according to state filings on Friday. The companies announcing layoffs included Halliburton Energy Services, Baker Hughes and NexTier Completion Solutions.