Olathe, Kan. — Garmin confirmed it will lay off 141 employees by the end of the week, representing 5.6 percent of the company’s work force.
A spokesman said the layoffs, confined to the Kansas City area, were due to the on-going recession. They affect various departments including human resources, marketing administration and operations.
Garmin rival TomTom cut 115 jobs globally in January, reducing its global workforce by 7 percent.
Sales of personal navigation devices (PNDs) were growing by triple digits in unit sales last year through July, but they were knocked flat in 2007 by the recession, according to The NPD Group.
