Global hearing aid company WS Audiology is moving production of its Signia hearing aids to Mexico, a change that will mean the shuttering of a Piscataway manufacturing and distribution center in 2023, the company announced Friday.
As many as 189 employees could lose their jobs, according to a federal WARN notice filed with the state.
WS Audiology, in a news release, said it will open a 94,000-square-foot Americas Manufacturing and Distribution Center in Mexico to serve its customers throughout North and Latin America.
A new headquarters office for the brand’s nonproduction employees will be announced in the near future, the company said.
“The industry we serve continues to evolve, presenting us with challenges and opportunities to best meet the needs of our partners and their patients,” Mike O’Neil, Signia’s president, said in a prepared statement. “For us to grow, expand and remain the valued business partner that we are to our customers, we must always meet the challenge of change with solutions that enhance our value to the customers we serve.
“The Americas Manufacturing and Distribution Center enables us to better manage our Americas supply chain and improve the service we provide to partners and customers in the region.”
The company said the move aims to improve customer support programs in the face of global supply chain disruptions. The company is also phasing out China-based Signia production for the Americas region.
WS Audiology was formed in 2019 through the merger of Sivantos and Widex, and produces brands including Widex, Signia, Rexton, Audio Service and Vibe. It employs 11,000 people globally. Signia was founded in 2016.
WARN notices normally cover mass layoffs or facility closings as part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1989.
