For those that follow the wake boat makers, this was in the local paper.

Employees say MasterCraft is laying off dozens

MasterCraft Boat Company is headquartered in Vonore, Tennessee.

Published: Jun. 30, 2023 at 11:50 PM EDT

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Several employees told WVLT News they were laid off by MasterCraft Boat Company in Monroe County.

“It’s sad man. I felt a few emotions, anger, confusion, why me you know, and then the sadness seeing people hugging and crying. Walking through there and then looking at your work station one last time before you’re out of there. I am getting emotional right now thinking about it,” said an anonymous employee who was terminated.

This employee wanted to remain anonymous because some of his family members still work for MasterCraft. He said that on June 28, groups of people were led into a meeting with Human Resource Manager Kelly H. Moser, receiving a notice from MasterCraft telling them they were being terminated due to reduction in force and economic conditions posing unprecedented challenges to the marine industry. He said MasterCraft told employees a few weeks before the layoff that the plant would be cutting production from 20 boats a day to 10.

“People were trying to say goodbye you know, a lot of people got ran off, They couldn’t even go tell their friends that they’re out,” the employee said.

He said dozens were laid off and they were mostly factory workers, the people actually building the boats. MasterCraft told employees they could be called back to work in the next three months, but if they weren’t, employees could re-apply. Most of the former employees who reached out to WVLT News declined to do interviews out of fear they wouldn’t be re-called, but many were left wondering how they can survive during this time.

This employee is a single father and is responsible for taking care of his daughter and his mother.

“I take care of my mom, I got her bills to pay and stuff so I got to keep what money I have left and stretch it out until I find somewhere else to go,” he said.

WVLT crews drove to the MasterCraft plant in Vonore and asked a security guard to speak with someone about the layoffs. We were told we just missed human resources. We asked her to call them to come back to give us more information, there was no answer. MasterCraft is now on an eleven day break and when they get back, their first quarter of the fiscal year begins.

Chris Cannon with Tennessee’s Department of Labor and Work Force Development said companies are supposed to notify the state prior to a mass layoffs. He said the department was not notified yet.

“I’d like to say to them to keep their heads up, there’s no point to keep dwelling on it you know. I want to tell the company I’m extremely disappointed. You make quality boats, I figured you’d be a quality top tier company. If you don’t care about your employees but they don’t they could’ve given us a heads up so we could’ve started looking for other work,” he said.

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