Tait Towers announces layoffs as entertainment industry stalls

Tait Towers Manufacturing laid off 257 employees from its corporate headquarters in Lititz at the end of March.

The global firm, which specialized in designing and producing stages for live events, announced plans  lay off a large percentage of its more than 900 employees in a WARN notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. The layoffs are a mixture of temporary and permanent workers, but the company did not indicate how many employees aren’t expected to return.

Prior to the layoffs, Tait employed 900 people in 14 offices and has worked on projects for clients such as The Olympics, NASA and National Geographic.

In the notice, Tait wrote that the layoffs are a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the hit the life entertainment industry has taken since states began closing non-essential businesses.

“As our live event clients adapt to the new reality of prohibitions of public gatherings and restrictions on travel, we’ve seen an increasing drop-off in most aspects of our business,” the company wrote in the WARN.

WARN notices, short for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices, must be filed with the state Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industries by any business with more than 100 employees that plans to lay off or furlough workers.

Prior to announcing the layoffs, the company wrote in a press release that it was “ready, willing and able” to deploy emergency resources during the pandemic, noting that its employees’ experience in building portable and temporary structures could be used to manufacture ventilators, hospital beds, desks, medical relief beds and more.

Tait Towers Manufacturing was not available for comment.