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Laid off from Yokohama Tire.

Yokohama Tire made passenger tires in Salem, Virginia from 1989 until 2026. Its earlier cuts at the plant were partial, and Yokohama tied each to production and inventory. In 2026 it planned a staged wind-down through September, then closed the plant in March after a deal with the union.

What we know about Yokohama Tire severance and layoffs

  • 533 jobs on Yokohama's January 16, 2026 notice to Virginia for the Salem plant
  • About 16 billion yen to close Salem, below the 20 billion Yokohama first assumed
  • 50 Salem layoffs announced in October 2016, all workers with five years or less
  • 31 indefinite layoffs of hourly union workers announced at Salem in January 2015
  • About 100 Salem jobs in a three-week phase-out begun in February 2002

The most recent Yokohama Tire layoff we've found

In September 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative invoked the USMCA's Rapid Response Labor Mechanism to review whether workers at Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mexico, a tire facility in Coahuila, were being denied freedom of association and collective bargaining. The step followed the Salem closing and the layoff of nearly 600 American workers, the Labor Department said.

What Yokohama Tire layoffs have meant for employees

Salem had been getting smaller for years before the closing. The plant, which dates to the 1960s, employed 1,050 people at its 1996 peak, according to the city, as Cardinal News reported. A 2002 cut was to leave slightly more than 1,000, by Modern Tire Dealer's count. Tyrepress put the headcount at 910 in 2015, and about 571 people worked there when the 2026 cuts were announced. Production was cut in 2019, a slide in Yokohama's August 2026 results briefing shows, at a plant Modern Tire Dealer credited with capacity for 25,700 passenger tires and 1,100 light truck tires a day in its January 2026 report. In one former worker's account to WSLS, output fell from 20,000 to 21,000 tires a day to 7,500 by the time he left after more than 30 years.

The 2015 and 2016 layoffs went by the union contract, and both times the people let go were among the plant's most recent hires, as Tyrepress's October 2016 story and its earlier one report. So workers with longer service kept their jobs through both rounds. The 2026 plan went further and ended with the plant closing outright.

Because the hourly workers were union members, Yokohama said in January that it had to consult Local 1023 before finalizing any closing, and in a letter the local posted, the company called it possible but unlikely that those talks would modify or delay its plans. The two sides did change the plans, by speeding them up. A tentative agreement on February 20 moved the plant's closing to March 18, WSLS reported, ahead of a January schedule that had tire production possibly running into July and the plant closing September 17. Yokohama said that day it was still working out the final details with the union, and the station reported that workers had to stay employed through the closing date to qualify for benefits it didn't specify. Yokohama closed the plant in March, before the quarter ended, after talks that moved faster than it expected, the company said on its May 2026 results call.

Smooth negotiations brought the closing's one-time cost down to about ¥16 billion from the roughly ¥20 billion Yokohama had assumed based on other recent plant closings, the company said on the same call. It also expected the closing to improve profit by cutting costs, by about ¥700 million in 2026 and ¥6 billion to ¥7 billion from 2027.

If you were an hourly worker laid off at Salem, the deal also changed the document Yokohama pointed to for your layoff benefits. In January it pointed hourly employees to the existing union contract, and by March Yokohama Tire's closing announcement pointed union members to the effects agreement negotiated for the closing. Salaried staff were under company policy in January, as all non-union employees were in March.

When the cuts were announced, Salem's economic development director said the city's priority was connecting affected workers and families to workforce services and support programs, working with regional and state partners. If you haven't filed in Virginia yet, you can start a claim with the steps in Virginia unemployment benefits. Anyone sorting out health insurance after the paycheck stopped can look at how COBRA works, and anyone thinking about another line of work can look through retraining after a layoff. If a new employer wants to know why the Yokohama job ended, you can borrow a line from explaining a layoff and put the plant closing in a sentence or two. People still working at other Yokohama sites can watch our WARN tracker for any new notice from the company.

A sourced history of Yokohama Tire layoffs

  • March 2026, Salem plant closes under a union deal

    After Yokohama and the plant's union agreed on an earlier closing, Yokohama Rubber set the closing for March 18 and counted about 570 employees affected, offering outplacement support through local agencies and the union. Its president confirmed the March closing on a May results call.

  • January 2026, 392 Salem layoffs planned, closing considered

    Yokohama Tire announced about 392 Salem layoffs tied to a production cut starting in March, and said the plant could close September 17, Modern Tire Dealer reported. Its January 16 notice to Virginia listed 533 jobs, our WARN tracker shows.

  • October 2016, 50 Salem layoffs to streamline production

    Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia said it would lay off 50 Salem workers over a few weeks to streamline production and inventory. All had five years or less with the company, Tyrepress reported, citing WDBJ7.

  • January 2015, indefinite layoff of 31 hourly Salem workers

    The plant's president announced the indefinite layoff of 31 hourly union workers, each with 14 months or less at the plant, to streamline production and inventory. Salem then employed 910 people, 718 of them Steelworkers, Tyrepress reported.

  • February 2002, phase-out of about 100 Salem jobs

    Yokohama Tire began phasing out some 100 Salem jobs over three weeks to adjust inventory and production to a slowing market, it said. Slightly more than 1,000 workers were to stay, Modern Tire Dealer reported.

What to do if you're laid off from Yokohama Tire

Yokohama Tire layoff and severance questions

What severance has Yokohama Tire given laid-off employees?

For the 2026 Salem closing, Yokohama Tire's announcement said layoff benefits for union members would follow an effects bargaining agreement it negotiated with the Steelworkers, and those for non-union employees would follow existing company policies; the agreement's details weren't disclosed. The union posted that employees would be paid through March 31, WSLS reported.

How many workers lost their jobs when Yokohama closed the Salem plant?

Yokohama Rubber counted about 570 employees affected by the March 2026 closing, and a September Labor Department release put the layoffs at nearly 600. The first plan named 392 layoffs out of about 571 workers, Cardinal News reported, and our WARN tracker puts 533 jobs on the notice Virginia received.

Why did Yokohama close its Salem plant?

Yokohama Rubber said the plant's reliance on aged equipment and outdated production methods worked against future production targets built around premium and large-diameter tires, and its president told investors on a May 2026 call that Salem had particularly high production costs. In January, Yokohama Tire had cited expiring product lifecycles and lower demand for other products made at the plant, Modern Tire Dealer reported.

Is Yokohama replacing the Salem plant with one in Mexico?

Yokohama Rubber's president called its new plant in Mexico, with mass production planned for 2027, the major replacement of the Salem plant on a May 2026 results call. The Mexico plant would initially take over 2 million passenger tires a year from the closed Salem plant at 55% lower production cost, the company's chairman said at an August results briefing.