Despite rising demand for hurricane-proof windows, PGT Innovations cuts entire shift, without notice.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: November 27, 2024
Host: Amid booming demand for hurricane-resistant windows, local manufacturer PGT Innovations is laying off more than 100 workers at its Venice plant. Here are the details.
PGT commercial: PGT manufactures the nation’s leading impact-resistant windows and doors. The products are tested to withstand the most stringent of building codes. All windows and doors are tested for impact using a nine pound 2x4x6 beam traveling at a speed of 50 feet per second. The beam strikes the PGT WinGuard window; the glass cracks on impact, while the inner layer …
Johannes Werner: This is from a commercial by PGT, describing their products. The manufacturer is one of the largest private employers in Sarasota County. But earlier this year, the homegrown company was taken over by Pennsylvania-based Miter Brands, and now it has apparently eliminated an entire shift at its Venice plant, according to employees.
In anonymous posts on layoff.com, employees estimate the number of hourly workers let go at the Venice plant at between 120 and 150. One PGT employee said there were police officers when he arrived at the plant last week. At a meeting, managers announced that all jobs on the D shift were eliminated. The laid off workers were promised a year-end bonus, but there was no offer of re-employment elsewhere in the company, or of severance pay.
The move came after the company that recently took over PGT notified state authorities they will lay off 225 workers at the New South Windows plant in Tampa. New South Windows Solutions was bought by PGT four years ago.
Miter Brands, the Pennsylvania-based company that took over PGT early this year, gave two months’ notice to their Tampa workers. The Venice workers were not as lucky. One eight-year employee of PGT said on layoff.com that he was at a recent leadership meeting where local management said there were no plans to eliminate the D-shift: “I guess the people on D shift are now going to have to get a lawyer and if we can sue for our two months of pay that we were supposed to get before we were let go. Messed up to do this to people at this time of the year.” The D-shift layoffs include all glass, assembly and warehouse workers. More layoffs at Venice may be ahead, as Miter has told employees it is moving all PGT aluminum production to their Miami location early next year.
None of the posters on layoff.com responded to our inquiries before deadline. Miter Brands did not respond to questions from WSLR either. Miter is not obligated to report the Venice layoffs to authorities because they affect fewer than one-third of the 2,000 employees at that location.
Apparently, the company is targeting salaried employees for cutbacks as well. One of the anonymous layoff.com posters said Miter Brands told senior managers to compile a listing of salaried jobs across all locations in Florida, Arizona, and California that could be eliminated before Christmas. The goal is a 10-20% reduction in salaried positions, to meet next year’s budget. The same poster said the company will ask remote employees to return to the office, with the goal of reducing headcount in IT, accounting and customer service.
In a statement sent to other news outlets, Miter said the Venice layoffs respond to economic conditions. However, new construction in Florida is still booming, and demand for windows keeps rising, trade publication Window + Door said earlier this year.
“Sentiment in the industry is strong, with many companies investing in product development and their sales organization to grow market share and expand geographically”, an industry analysis published in January said.
PGT’s specialty are hurricane-safe windows. New construction aside, the manufacturer has been benefiting from retrofitting, thanks to insurance industry and federal programs. Impact-resistant windows have been installed in some 50,000 homes in Florida and the Southeast, and that number keeps rising fast.
One of the anonymous layoff.com posters said layoffs around Thanksgiving are a recurring pattern at Miter.
“Once they get their budget numbers after the third quarter, they realize they went over budget. In order to salvage their bonus, they lay off to bring their numbers back in line.”
Reporting for WSLR News in Sarasota, Johannes Werner.
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