Mass layoffs of more than 1,500 workers at BlueOval SK to start February 2026
More than 1,500 layoffs at Kentucky’s BlueOval SK will begin next year on Feb. 14.
The electric vehicle battery plant was the result of a now defunct joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and South Korean battery supplier SK On for U.S. production of EV parts. The two companies announced the split Dec. 11 amid a slowdown in demand and decreasing value in their investment in EVs.
The joint venture’s end means BlueOval SK will cease operations at the Hardin County plant and all employees will be terminated on or shortly after Feb. 14, 2026, according to a notice sent to the Kentucky Career Center as is required by the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
The Dec. 15 notice lists 1,218 hourly employees and 300 salaried employees as those “affected by the permanent closure and permanent termination of employment at the plant.”
Most of the hourly layoffs, 738 employees, are production operators, followed by 142 quality operators and several other positions. The majority of the salaried layoffs are 62 production supervisors, followed by 40 manufacturing process engineers and a number of other roles.
“Although operations are expected to cease prior to February 14, 2026, some employees may be required to work some or all days between now and the date of their terminations,” the notice said. “Supervisors will be notifying the employees under their supervision when they are required to work.”
Facilities at BlueOval SK will be converted to manufacture a special kind of lithium-ion cells, battery energy storage system modules and 20-foot modular data center containers. Once the split of the joint venture is final, a subsidiary of Ford will take ownership of the Kentucky plant just outside Elizabethtown for the energy storage system business.
None of the employees impacted by the plant’s closure and subsequent job loss are represented by a union, the notice said.
Those being terminated will continue to be paid and receive benefits for 60 days after receiving their own termination notices, but they have no bumping rights, meaning senior employees cannot replace less senior employees.
In August, workers at the plant held a two-day, secret ballot election to join the United Auto Workers. By a margin of 11 votes, the union claimed victory even though 41 votes were challenged.
When ballots are contested, the National Labor Relations Board cannot certify the union vote without a hearing to determine legitimacy of challenged votes, especially if they could sway the results. Attorneys representing BlueOval SK and the UAW asked the labor board to reschedule a hearing before the joint venture split and a restructuring plan was put in place.
The union vote took place Aug. 26 and 27, just days after the first battery rolled off the assembly line and months after workers first requested the labor board allow the election. Following signing union authorization cards in November 2024, workers detailed an uphill battle to the election, alleging anti-union campaigning from their employer.
Ford’s new energy storage business will have 2,100 employees. The facilities under the BlueOval SK joint venture were expected to employ 5,000 people, a job target that was the crux of the project receiving tax incentives from the state.
As with any company that makes operational changes that impact its original incentive agreement with the state, terms for Ford are being renegotiated.
The automaker and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear have encouraged those impacted by job loss to reapply for employment with Ford once they become available to support the manufacturing of energy storage systems.
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