About 300 logistics employees affected by change in operations at Whitestown facility

Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation invested nearly $16.5 million into its 369,000-square-foot Whitestown facility at the All Points at Anson development near Interstate 65. (Image courtesy Rockwell Automation)

Nearly 300 employees at Rockwell Automation in Whitestown will be affected when the company’s contract with a Switzerland-based logistics company ends in May, but they are likely to have an option to continue working at the facility.

Kuehne+Nagel Inc. said in a notice to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development that it will cease operations with Rockwell Automation when the contract between the companies terminates May 10.

A total of 294 employees with Kuehne+Nagel will have the option to work for Miami-based Ryder Logistics when it assumes management of the distribution and warehousing facility at 4255 S. 500 E., said Eric Taylor, regional human resources manager with Kuehne+Nagel.

“All those hourly employees will have an opportunity to transition over to Ryder when they choose to as long as they stay in good standing throughout the end of our contract with Rockwell,” Taylor told IBJ.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act requires employers to provide 60 days of advance notice when a mass layoff will occur.

The employees, who are not represented by a union, were notified March 10.

Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation invested nearly $16.5 million in the 369,000-square-foot facility at the All Points at Anson development near Interstate 65. The facility opened in 2019.

Rockwell Automation employees 22,000 people worldwide.