More jobs leave East Tennessee area

From Staff Reports

   Two area businesses have made cuts to their workforce, resulting in a loss of jobs due to movement of labor to Mexico or a decline in product demand because of technological advances, according to company press releases. Greene County's TI Group Automotive Systems is cutting nearly half of its workforce, or 140 jobs, and rolling their assembly line jobs into Mexico, according to company officials. Eastman Chemical Corporation is cutting nearly 5,000 jobs world-wide, and most of those cuts will occur at the Kingsport facility, Eastman officials said.
   Most jobs at Eastman will be cut through attrition. As employees retire, their position won't be replaced.
   The state's unemployment office has reported that 13,800 people were jobless in January, about 1,100 more than the first month of 2003.