NSK Americas (a division of NSK Ltd., Japan) has reportedly laid off more than 30 from its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters and research/technical center, amounting to approximately 10% of the workforce there.

NSK President Tom Rouse also confirmed that layoffs have been ongoing at the company's bearing manufacturing plants in Clarinda, Iowa; and Liberty and Franklin, Indiana, now totaling 20% to 30% of the workforces there. The plants have also cut back to four-day weeks, working 10 hours.

Starting in the last quarter of 2008, cutbacks at Clarinda, Liberty and Franklin have been accomplished by a combination of efforts. Temporary staffing has been eliminated, early retirement buyouts were offered, unfilled open positions have been eliminated, and finally there have been some direct layoffs.

The company said it does not expect to have to make any additional layoffs or staff cuts, and none are planned.

NSK Steering Systems in Bennington, Vermont has had six rounds of layoffs over the past several months, now totaling more than 200. The factory had employed as many as 550 before auto sales collapsed last year. Bennington's customers include Toyota, Mercedes, and Nissan. Some production had shifted from Vermont to a new facility in Dyersburg, Tennessee, but with minimal employment impact. Dyersburg has been slowly ramping up production, so no layoffs have been reported there.

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