AUGUSTA, Ga. – Battery company SK Battery America Inc. laid off nearly 1,000 workers at a manufacturing plant northeast of Atlanta on Friday amid automakers’ changing electrification plans and uncertain consumer demand for EVs.
The company said Friday marked the last working day for 958 plant employees, about 37% of its workforce. Impacted workers will be paid through May 6. The plant will continue to employ about 1,600 workers.
SK opened the $2.6 billion battery plant in Commerce in January 2022. The Korean company notably supplied the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup. Ford announced plans to cancel the fully electric version of the truck in December.
The news comes as the U.S. electric vehicle market is at a standstill amid the Trump administration steering federal support away from electrification in favor of more lax automotive emissions policies and a broader agenda supporting the oil and gas industries.
SK Americas spokesperson Joe Guy Collier said in a statement that the workforce reduction was made to align operations to market conditions.
Georgia’s EV footprint
SK and Ford had together previously invested $11.4 billion in joint battery plants in the U.S. The battery maker ended the joint venture in December.
SK has invested significantly in Jackson County in Georgia in recent years as automakers shored up plans to spend billions to develop and build EVs and the federal government under former President Joe Biden supported efforts to build out a domestic EV supply chain.
It had also announced in June 2020 plans to pour $940 million to expand its battery manufacturing presence in Atlanta. At the time, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said the expansion would create 600 jobs.
SK and Hyundai are still jointly building a $5 billion battery factory near Cartersville, northwest of Atlanta.
The state of Georgia has attracted other massive EV manufacturing investments, Rivian’s $5 billion factory and Hyundai’s own $7.6 billion factory complex among them.
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