PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A major job cut is hitting Portland as Daimler Truck is moving manufacturing operations to the Carolinas, leaving nearly 400 employees facing layoffs.
KOIN 6 spoke with a Daimler supervisor, Ryan Schulenberg. He said after dedicating more than three decades of working at the Daimler truck facility in North Portland, he now has to look for a new job along with nearly 400 of his co-workers. He said breaking the news to his team was hard, saying he and many of his coworkers have worked there their entire adult lives and there are few other manufacturing jobs in the city to apply for.
“You watched every single person’s heartbreak,” said Schulenberg. “One of my best friends at the place said, ‘what am I to do?’ I’m 55 years old, and this is what I’ve done my whole life.’ So, yeah, I worry about them,” he said.
Daimler is relocating its manufacturing facility to North and South Carolina, joining a growing list of businesses leaving Oregon, expanding in other states, or laying off large numbers of their staff. Since 2020, Oregon has ranked in the bottom half of the country for real GDP growth, according to the state’s Employment Department…