Electrolux fired 658 staff, contract workers in 2018

Electrolux fired 254 full-time employees and 404 contract workers in the year leading up to last month's closure announcement, according to a company report filed Friday.

The Annual Performance Report was submitted to the Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County, then released to the public Friday afternoon.

Under the terms of a 15-year paymentin-lieu-of-taxes incentive the company received in exchange for bringing its oven manufacturing plant to Memphis, Electrolux agreed to create 1,240 jobs. After the hundreds of firings, there were 534 employees left when the closure was announced Jan. 31.

The PILOT incentive reduced the company's city property tax obligation by 90 percent and its county property taxes by 75 percent.

The report also showed that Electrolux made just under $500,000 in PILOT payments in 2018. On Wednesday, Shelby County Assessor Melvin Burgess said Electrolux's property was valued near $40 million but was likely worth $100 million more. Understaffing at the assessor's office led to the massive value calculation error, he said.

The undervalued property assessment meant that Electrolux owed more in PILOT payments than it paid.

The assessor's office will re-evaluate how much the property is worth within the next 10 days to determine how much Electrolux will owe until it leaves Memphis.

According to EDGE, despite the firings, Electrolux still qualified for the PILOT because of the investments the company made to open the plant. The company initially estimated the Memphis investment would cost $195 million, but later reported that it cost more than $321 million.

Electrolux received more than $188 million in state and local incentives to build the factory.