BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Two Minnesota-based companies confirmed dozens of recent layoffs Thursday, impacting workers here and across the globe.
Bloomington-based The Toro Company, a top designer, manufacturer and provider of lawn care supplies for over 125 countries, confirmed about 1% of its workforce was recently let go.
A company spokesperson told KARE 11 that Toro currently employs about 11,000 people globally, 100 of whom were part of the layoffs.
“While always difficult decisions, we did a reduction in workforce that affected approximately 100 employees in total, across our entire global workforce," Toro told KARE 11.
Meanwhile, at Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, around 150 employees have been let go, 60 of whom work in different capacities in Minnesota. A spokesperson for the utility company, which operates in six states, said the move was partially due to rising inflation costs and supply chain disruptions, among other issues.
"To ensure we build a more efficient, streamlined business, we are focused on having the right organizational structure in place to advance our strategic priorities," a representative for Xcel said in a statement.
"As part of these efforts, we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce, impacting about 150 employees or about 2% of our non-bargaining workforce... This decision allows us to align our organizational structure with evolving business and customer needs to ensure we’re positioned to succeed over the long term."
According to the U.S. Labor Department, Minnesota was one of four states with the biggest increase in first-time unemployment claims last week. Although officials say that jobless claims nationwide are trending upward, they are still below historical averages.
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