Bearings manufacturer Timken will close its Gaffney, South Carolina, plant by the end of 2023, newspaper The State reported on Jan. 17. Approximately 225 employees will be laid off as a result, according to the report.

Timken Corporate Communications Manager Scott Schroeder told the newspaper that impacted employees will receive severance pay and be able to apply for positions at other Timken facilities.

“While difficult, we’re making this change to streamline our operations and restructure our manufacturing footprint to better compete in a global market,” Schroeder told The State.

Timken’s Gaffney plant, which opened in 1971 and once employed over 1,000, had lost jobs over the years, according to Jim Cook, executive director of the Cherokee County Development Board.

“Employment numbers at the Gaffney Timken Plant have dwindled over the years from well over a thousand jobs to currently 250,” Cook told The State. “Many other local industrial employers have job opportunities so hopefully it doesn’t have a significant impact on our unemployment.”

Canton, Ohio-based Timken employs about 18,000 across 43 countries. It had $4.1 billion in sales in 2021, according to its annual report. Timken is expected to report its 4Q 2022/full-year financials on Feb. 6.