Job Losses at Hanesbrands
With declining sales and profits in the first quarter of 2009, underwear and casualwear maker Hanesbrands Inc. is trimming 250 jobs from its work force, In mid-April, the Winston-Salem, N.C.–based company employed 14,500 around the world. Hanesbrands saw its first-quarter net sales ending April 4 decline 13 percent to $857.8 million. The company had a net loss of $19.3 million in the first quarter, compared with a profit of $36 million during the same period last year. Innerwear sales declined 6 percent during the quarter, while outerwear and hosiery were off 21 percent. Despite the slow economy, Hanesbrands will start production Oct. 12 at its new knit textile manufacturing factory in Nanjing, China. The plant is Hanesbrands’ first company-owned fabric-manufacturing facility in Asia and will support the business’s sewing facilities in Southeast Asia.
