Officials, who cited an alignment of the Powder River Basin (PRB) mine’s workforce with customer needs for the decision, said the impacted employees are both hourly and salaried.
While the company did not indicate whether the layoffs would be permanent, it did note that it had already been trying to minimize staffing impacts by adjusting its resources and relying on natural turnover. Peabody has offered workers severance as well as outplacement support.
“While our asset position and contracting strategies give us relative strength, we are taking these actions to match production with customer demand,” Peabody President-Americas Kemal Williamson said. “We regret the impact of these actions on our employees, their families, and the surrounding communities.”
About 1,150 will remain employed at NAR post-cut. In all, Peabody has 1,500 miners working in the PRB region, which includes the Rawhide and Caballo complexes.
NAR alone produced 109 million tons of coal last year.
As Peabody noted in its announcement, the region has fared better than other coalfields, primarily due to cost advantages.
“[T]he company [also] believes the decrease in shipments is leading to stockpile reductions in excess of prior expectations,” officials said.
