Swisher to lay off 15 percent of workforce

[thelakelander]

More manufacturing jobs leaving the area:

About 15 percent of the workforce at Jacksonville-based Swisher International cigar manufacturers will be losing their jobs over the next few weeks.

Officials with the company headquartered in the Springfield area off 16th Street announced about 150 hourly Swisher employees will be laid off.

Creasman acknowledged company officials instituted the layoffs directly due to government regulation and taxes in the United States and some operations are being relocated to the Dominican Republic.

"We've been adversely impacted by numerous government regulations and taxes that primarily came in 2009 as a result of the Supplemental Health Insurance program," Creasman said, adding no employees from Jacksonville are relocating to the Dominican Republic and all Swisher hires in that country will come from the indigenous population.

full article: http://jacksonville.com/jobs/jobs-local/2012-05-31/story/swisher-lay-15-percent-workforce-jacksonville-cigar-manufacturing

[peestandingup]

They're going to be letting go more than that from what I hear. Not now, but eventually. I heard from someone who works there that the company is gearing up to be mostly automated & are just waiting for the employees who have been there for many years to retire. They're not hiring & probably never will be again.

Speaking of which, Automated & the Internet is gonna kill lots & lots of things that used to give people jobs. Like, to the point where we're gonna have to rethink society I believe.

[fsquid]

it's evolution

[mtraininjax]

The Tobacco tax is hurting them too. But hey, their product contributes to poor health. Sorry to hear people losing their jobs, but if the end product was something that contributed in a positive manner instead of smokes, there would probably be a different story in employment. But we all know that cigars are less dangerous than cigarettes?

[strider]

Instead of worrying about what they produce, we need to be worrying about the jobs going to another country.  I recently got told that Bacardi is moving lines over to India because they can produce their product there, ship it back, pay the duties, ETC. and still be cheaper than producing it in Jacksonville.

By and by, if you eliminate the taxes from the $12.00 bottle of rum, do you know how little it would cost? (hint - not much more than a bottle of Coke)

Swisher was expanding not long ago.  It now sounds like they are not, or are going fully automated. The latter at least will keep some dollars here in Jacksonville.  The former means losing an 100 year old business here in Jax.

[mtraininjax]

By and by, if you eliminate the taxes from the $12.00 bottle of rum, do you know how little it would cost? (hint - not much more than a bottle of Coke)

Which is why we go to the Bahamas for our cheap buzz on our cheap cruise and get blasted on cheap rum.

The fact that only 20% of Americans are still smoking is at the real issue, less and less each year, as you are seen as a pariah who lurks on the outskirts of parking lots or properties, a far cry from the Mad Men era when smoking was part of the office. Now, good luck finding that in an office, but it IS promoted at Swisher.

But hey, I hear Africa is a growing 3rd world area for these types of products. So shipping jobs overseas for this product and other low tech, highly commoditized items is probably going to be more and more the normal.

[Tacachale]

As a pipe smoker I wish that the anti-cigarette crusade would do more to distinguish between different kids of tobacco consumption. The health issues related to cigarette smoking are well known and well dispersed in the media; it's less well known that pipe smoking, as well as cigar and hookah smoking, are much less dangerous and problematic. Hell, even hand-rolled cigarettes smoking is less dangerous than the brand-name crap. None of it is good for you, to be sure, but it's bad for you in varying levels.

Cigarette smoking is terrible for you, however, tobacco itself has been cultivated and consumed in North America for many hundreds of years. We shouldn't relish destroying the entire industry simply because in the relatively recent past we've managed to popularize a particularly unhealthy use of the substance.

[ChriswUfGator]

When you get down to it it's the chemicals that cause the biggest part of the problem in cigarettes. They have urethane and formaldehyde as preservatives, and they've had every pesticide known to man, including DDT, saturated into the growing fields over the years, they have flavor additives, nicotine additives, etc., that were approved by the FDA without any study as to whether the byproducts produced when you burn them are safe, which is a rather large oversight to say the least, the list just goes on and on. I agree there are unique issues to commercially produced cigarettes that don't necessarily carry over to other forms of tobacco.

If the risk were just in smoking a plant, why is there minimal or no cancer risk for pot smokers? Because the stuff is generally grown without pesticides and a bunch of additives. Like tobacco used to be before the advent of megabusiness farming. On the other hand, it's hard to feel bad for the tobacco companies, you can't argue they didn't do this to themselves. Scary thing, the U.S. food supply has about as many issues with it as cigarettes at this point.

Not that this has anything to do with the job loss issue, just a side rant.

[RiversideLoki]

Swisher's products have fallen out of favor with tobacco smokers in general. I can't remember the last time I was wanting a cigar and said "hey, lets go buy a box of Swishers!" The only time I've seen their products purchased at the corner store around the street where by the guy in saggy pants with the bag of doritos. And we know he wasn't in it to enjoy the tobacco.

This thread is making me crave a La Aroma De Cuba Mi Amore right now... to tobacco cove, I go!

[mtraininjax]

Cigarette smoking is terrible for you, however, tobacco itself has been cultivated and consumed in North America for many hundreds of years. We shouldn't relish destroying the entire industry simply because in the relatively recent past we've managed to popularize a particularly unhealthy use of the substance.

People are going to smoke, that is a given, the numbers are down, but there are still going to be new smokers. Just as people will be eating more and more processed food and foods with high levels of sugar that will continue to contribute to Obesity. The risks and healthcare implications for Obesity are far greater than smoking, because Obesity is hitting every generation, from the womb to just before the tomb. Where are the warning labels on sugary foods that this stuff can kill you, like we have in cigarettes?

[strider]

Let's imagine for a moment that instead of Swisher Sweets being a cigar, Swisher Sweets was a well like candy bar and instead of the bottle of rum being 12.00 it was Coke .  Would the comments here be different?  Would you not suddenly start complaining about the sin taxes driving businesses away? And that is what is happening.  It is the sin taxes, the EPA extra special regulations and the greed of many who are taking jobs from the US to other countries.

But let's just worry about the fact that smoking tobacco is bad for you.  At least when we are all on the streets because there are no jobs left, we won't have lung cancer.  Or will we anyway?

[If_I_Loved_you]

"Creasman said the layoffs were due to government regulation and taxes in the United States and that some operations are being relocated to the Dominican Republic.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/jobs/jobs-local/2012-05-31/story/swisher-lay-15-percent-workforce-jacksonville-cigar-manufacturing#ixzz1xUdcQsTH"

My question is if The Great Mitt Money gets in office in Nov 2012? Would Swisher change it's mind in future layoffs because Mitt Money would help the poor struggle corporations with Taxes?

[ben says]

When you get down to it it's the chemicals that cause the biggest part of the problem in cigarettes. They have urethane and formaldehyde as preservatives, and they've had every pesticide known to man, including DDT, saturated into the growing fields over the years, they have flavor additives, nicotine additives, etc., that were approved by the FDA without any study as to whether the byproducts produced when you burn them are safe, which is a rather large oversight to say the least, the list just goes on and on. I agree there are unique issues to commercially produced cigarettes that don't necessarily carry over to other forms of tobacco.

If the risk were just in smoking a plant, why is there minimal or no cancer risk for pot smokers? Because the stuff is generally grown without pesticides and a bunch of additives. Like tobacco used to be before the advent of megabusiness farming. On the other hand, it's hard to feel bad for the tobacco companies, you can't argue they didn't do this to themselves. Scary thing, the U.S. food supply has about as many issues with it as cigarettes at this point.

Not that this has anything to do with the job loss issue, just a side rant.

Couldn't agree more, Chris.

[mtraininjax]

New regulations for cigar manufacturers, from the FDA??? Maybe Swisher saw the writing on the wall???

http://jacksonville.com/business/2012-06-21/story/fda-ready-roll-out-new-cigar-regulations

[Tacachale]

That is ridiculous. A solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist. This would be devastating for, for instance, local cigar bars that sell single premium cigars. Is that really a health hazard serious enough to warrant a government crackdown?