Auto part manufacturing company to lay off 400 workers in Middle, West Tennessee

More than 400 workers will lose their jobs in June with the closure of two automotive seat manufacturing plants in West and Middle Tennessee.

Adient will permanently close its facilities in Henderson and Maury counties by June 27, according to notices submitted to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development earlier this month.

The company began layoffs of the 95 workers at its Columbia manufacturing facility in Maury County on April 17. Layoffs of the 320 workers at its Lexington plant in Henderson County began April 21.

Adient operates three other Tennessee manufacturing plants in Athens, Murfreesboro, and Pulaski, according to its website. A representative for Adient could not be immediately reached for comment.

Employees at the Columbia plant are represented by United Automobile Workers Local 1853 in Spring Hill. Union representatives were not immediately available to comment. Lexington facility employees did not have union representation. The Southwest Local Workforce Development Area rapid response team will coordinate services for affected employees, according to the notices.

Adient invested $23.5 million to expand its Lexington facility in 2020, pledging to grow its workforce there to 330 employees. It was the company’s second “significant investment” in Henderson County since 2018, according to a January 2020 announcement from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD).

About 8,000 people lived in Lexington in 2020, according to the census. Lexington Mayor Jeff Griggs declined to answer questions about the closure, but said in a statement that “the City of Lexington is committed to providing resources and support to those impacted by this closure.” 

State records show the company was offered $2.5 million in grants for its first expansion of the Lexington facility in 2018.

The state’s economic development arm offered Adient a $155,000 grant for a 62-employee expansion at its Murfreesboro plant in 2024 and a $90,000 grant for a 90-employee expansion at the Columbia facility in 2019.

A representative for TNECD did not immediately respond to a request for more details on the grant agreements.

Open positions remained posted on Adient’s website for its Murfreesboro and Pulaski locations as of 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The company will host a conference call on May 7 at 8:30 a.m. eastern time to discuss its 2025 second-quarter finances.