Philips Lighting ending manufacturing in Fall River

Philips Lighting will cease manufacturing operations in Fall River.

According to a statement by spokesperson Melissa Kanter, as the lighting industry continues to transform at an accelerated rate, Philips Lighting has made the very difficult decision to stop production at the Fall River facility at 631 Airport Road and transfer it to another location outside of Fall River. This change was made to enable the company to optimize production and supply in order to remain competitive and provide customers with the service and quality that they expect. Production will shift to their manufacturing facility located in Monterrey, Mexico. They will begin shifting production later this year and manufacturing operations will stop in Q1 of 2019.

Employees were told in a 1:00 p.m. meeting Friday and were sent home afterwards.

This change will result in a reduction in workforce, however a group of employees that are not part of manufacturing operations will continue to stay on site at this time. Approximately 160 jobs connected to production and product development are impacted. Philips will work with the local union and government officials to assist these employees with placement and/or retraining programs.