Published: November 18, 2008 06:23 pm      

Changes by Shaw at Calhoun plant to cost 125 jobs

Dalton-based Shaw Industries said Tuesday it will change production at a Calhoun plant, resulting in 125 job cuts.

Shaw will contract with a Calhoun-based company for cutting, sewing and packaging at rug facility Plant 7G, allowing Shaw to focus on tufting, dyeing and coating. The departments will remain open through the middle of January 2009. Shaw did not identify the company.

Shaw officials said they hope to place affected employees at other Shaw locations. Representatives with the Georgia Department of Labor will come to the plant to explain benefits, provide out-placement services and retraining.

“Current market conditions, among other factors, make it difficult to predict how many displaced people may be successfully placed during the coming months,” according to a news release from Shaw.

Last month, company officials said they would cut 3 percent of Shaw’s Northwest Georgia work force through layoffs and attrition through the end of the year. The company employs approximately 15,000 to 16,000 in Northwest Georgia, an official said.

Shaw is the world’s largest broadloom carpet manufacturer and has more than 30,000 employees overall.