Global firm to cut 320 jobs in Bloomington

Global supply-chain firm ModusLink Global Solutions Inc. plans to permanently eliminate 320 workers from its Bloomington operations after losing a major customer, the firm reported Tuesday to state officials.

The layoffs are expected to begin April 21 and will be complete within a month at the ModusLink facility at 1425 Curry Pike, according a notice received by the Department of Workforce Development. The facility is run by aftermarket subsidiary ModusLink PTS Inc., which repairs televisions and provides replacement components.

Of the 320 positions to be eliminated, six are salaried employees, 187 hourly workers, and up to 127 are contract or temporary workers.

Calls to ModusLink officials for comment were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Previously known as PTS Electronics, the television repair business was founded in 1967, according to the Bloomberg business news service. Its clients include independent service dealers, national retail chains, general line distributors, third party maintenance companies, and corporations in the high-tech sector.

ModusLink PTS Inc. is a subsidiary of Waltham, Massachusetts-based ModusLink Global Solutions Inc. The firm designs and executes global supply chain, logistics and e-commerce programs for clients. It has operations in more than 25 locations in the United States and overseas.

The Bloomington layoffs would be ModusLink’s second major reduction in operations in Indiana in six months. In August, it told the state that it planned to shut down its distribution facility in Indianapolis, eliminating 110 jobs by the end of October.

ModusLink told state officials at the time that the closure of the 96,000-square-foot facility at 7955 Zionsville Road was prompted by the “elimination of our major business for the facility and its transfer to a competitor.”

ModusLink sent the city of Bloomington a warning notice Friday, according to Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan.

Kruzan said the city is trying to determine how many of the impacted employees are from Monroe County.

“This closure is yet another example of the fragile nature of employment in this economy,” Kruzan said in an email. “The larger community suffers due to reduced tax revenue, purchasing power and charitable giving that results from closures such as this one. But most of all, we simply want to support our neighbors and their families as they endure this loss of opportunity.”