Mercury Marine layoffs

Frank Green · Jun 20, 2024

So on top of inflation which we all know is real but you have sleepy Joe saying it isn't so and jobs being created and people are making more money etc...

Then why is Mercury Marine laying off nearly 400 people from the first go around in April to another almost 300 thru this July?

Costs on everything are up and not everyone is running out buying boats and boat motors right now.

I just see more of this coming down the road in other areas of manufacturing. Not just boats.

Former Mercury Marine employees describe anxiety, confusion after hundreds of layoffs

Former employees at Mercury Marine describe anxiety, confusion after hundreds of layoffs at the company's Fond du Lac headquarters.

www.nbc26.com

kcbird · Jun 20, 2024

Your right, a boat is not a necessity.

mosin46 · Jun 20, 2024

true. there is some truth to the idea that the rich keep the economy stimulated. the middle class doesn't buy yachts and private planes. seems like the super rich destroy it by replacing people with machines/computers. but,i have been accused of being a radical luddite.

theLBC · Jun 20, 2024

people having a hard time putting gas in their cars, so not surprising that they don't have money for a boat.

hafejd30 · Jun 20, 2024

Motor boating can be an expensive hobby

Lightning8 · Jun 20, 2024

Best time to buy a boat, RV, jet ski, jeep. side by side, etc. is when market tanks and people sell their toys at a loss. We are headed that way again.

Son of Dorn · Jun 20, 2024

kcbird said:
Your right, a boat is not a necessity.

I lost my boat in a shooting accident and I can't afford to replace it.

Lost my guns in that boat too, can't replace them either.

mosin46 · Jun 20, 2024

correct. seems to apply here with some guns/optics FS i see.

KYAggie · Jun 20, 2024

Eventually, in the high interest rate high inflation environment we common folks actually live in thanks to lying Jo and his puppet masters, we run out of disposable cash to buy and maintain toys and we stop spending. I agree Frank, stuff like this is the tip of the iceberg we are running into that our lying government claims doesn’t exist. They can say the sky is not falling all they want and lie about “the lowest unemployment ever” and the “plummeting rate of violent crime”, etc; only their brainless sheep drink that cool aid, the rest of us can actually do simple math, see the truth, and yell “fore” as we duck for cover.

I wonder if those people losing their jobs in Wisconsin will let the vote stealers bum rush the election again with boxes of fake Brandon ballets at the last minute in their state like in 2020?? Seems if they are out of work, they might have time to keep a closer eye on things or maybe stage a protest like all the apparently never have to be at work liberals causing trouble all the time.

jbuck88 · Jun 20, 2024

I get it. But I still try to do my part to keep then in business. Spent Father's day weekend burning up some non-ethanol premium. Makes pew pews look cheap.
The new mercury outboards are around 90k each.

mosin46 · Jun 20, 2024

sad. just something else to derange the world of fishing,esp off shore fishing,

HPIguy · Jun 20, 2024

jbuck88 said:
I get it. But I still try to do my part to keep then in business. Spent Father's day weekend burning up some non-ethanol premium. Makes pew pews look cheap.
The new mercury outboards are around 90k each.

View attachment 8442865

When did outboards start costing that much coin? And why? The whole point of outboards were they were easier to service, and replace, and cheaper.

Im2bent · Jun 20, 2024

Mercury FourStroke Outboards from 2hp to 400hp - Page 5

As a certified Mercury Marine Outboard Platinum Dealer, Boat Specialists offers an unmatched level of sales, customer service & satisfaction for Mercury Outboards.

www.boatspecialists.com

camotoe · Jun 20, 2024

And half of them voted for Biden, so they can go fuck themselves.

nikonNUT · Jun 20, 2024

I feel for the folks that lost/are loosing their jobs but I breathe a sigh of relief everyday I go to work knowing that our repair side will stay busy-ish. Want to fix it right? Cool! Want to do the patch, polish, and pray route? Also cool. We get paid either way.

7.62willdo · Jun 20, 2024

I wouldn’t own a mercury in fact this is my boat with twin Honda 250’s

c1steve · Jun 20, 2024

2-3 years ago there was a year long waiting list for new Merc outboards. Note that a 300hp, 4 stroke is about $28,000, not the crazy $90k of some extreme sized engine.

VSP968 · Jun 20, 2024

Mercury Marine makes castings for a bunch of manufacturers.

When I was still working on Harley Davidsons for a living (100 years of tradition uninterrupted by progress) Mercury was making crankcase and cylinder head castings for them.

jbuck88 · Jun 20, 2024

c1steve said:
2-3 years ago there was a year long waiting list for new Merc outboards. Note that a 300hp, 4 stroke is about $28,000, not the crazy $90k of some extreme sized engine.

Come on now. 600hp isn't that extreme. Lol.

DocRDS · Jun 20, 2024

as a "yoot" with a middle class family, we could afford a nice boat for weekends and such. 100HP motor, we all could ski, fish, whatever.

With car and boat prices now, I'm hard pressed in a upper middle class to find money for such things. Inflation is a bitch.

Still trying to convice my son he doesn't need a 70k fishing boat with a 200HP engine. That's just stupid. Like showing up to a rimfire match with a 33XC. We've lost our minds.

krw · Jun 20, 2024

And what I think is stupid is all these people financing boats for 20yrs. Aint everbody can afford $100,000 bassboats. And then pay luxury tax on it and then pay insurance. If you can’t afford high dollar toys dont buy them!!

jbuck88 · Jun 20, 2024

Boats are stupid right now. Bought mine 4 years ago. I blew my mercury motor and the only way I could buy a motor during covid was to buy a boat with it.

So the northriver i bought, which has zero changes since 2020 is 83% more expensive. There is no way in hell it should be 118k for a base boat with no electronics or even guages.

ggmanning · Jun 20, 2024

I am seeing no shortage of Mercurys in coastal NC........Tons of manufatcturers use them as OEM. Yamaha guy myself but just saying Mecury has made huge strides in units hung in the last 10 years. Boat prices are nuts. Could sell my offshore boat and bayboat for what I paid for them over 10 years ago. Crazy. Sit on our dock and watch one after the other of 350,000 to 1.2 million dollar center consoles roll up the ditch.

Kadams1563 · Jun 20, 2024

Look at the motorcycle industry, the sport car industry, any other hobby industry. All taking a hit because people don’t have that disposable income anymore.

If you don’t believe that go speak to your people in the service industry and how they don’t get shit for tips. I for one don’t tip near as much as I used to.

Combine that with how EVERYONE wants a fuckin tip now days. No joke last week DR appointment when I went to pay co pay it asked me to tip. Lmao.

sirhrmechanic · Jun 20, 2024

Son of Dorn said:
I lost my boat in a shooting accident and I can't afford to replace it.

Lost my guns in that boat too, can't replace them either.

You win the Internet today!

Sirhr

M4orturnate · Jun 20, 2024

Kadams1563 said:
Look at the motorcycle industry, the sport car industry, any other hobby industry. All taking a hit because people don’t have that disposable income anymore.

If you don’t believe that go speak to your people in the service industry and how they don’t get shit for tips. I for one don’t tip near as much as I used to.

Combine that with how EVERYONE wants a fuckin tip now days. No joke last week DR appointment when I went to pay co pay it asked me to tip. Lmao.

My rule is if I order standing up no tip

Kadams1563 · Jun 20, 2024

Exactly how I feel.

7.62willdo · Jun 20, 2024

ggmanning said:
I am seeing no shortage of Mercurys in coastal NC........Tons of manufatcturers use them as OEM. Yamaha guy myself but just saying Mecury has made huge strides in units hung in the last 10 years. Boat prices are nuts. Could sell my offshore boat and bayboat for what I paid for them over 10 years ago. Crazy. Sit on our dock and watch one after the other of 350,000 to 1.2 million dollar center consoles roll up the ditch.

That’s because Grady white and Boston whaler both use mercury as their OEM motors the most prolific boats on the east coast…….

ggmanning · Jun 20, 2024

Not here. Onslow Bay, Parker, Yellowfin, Regulator, Fountain, Freeman, Cape Horn etc NC SC and Fla boats by far. GW is NC and we see a fair amount but not among many fisherman. BW very rare down here.

jbuck88 · Jun 20, 2024

Brunswick owns a bunch of boat companies as well as mercury. So makes sense to use their own motors as oem.

Short-bus · Jun 20, 2024

Hard times are comin', and i'm not being sarcastic. It's gonna take a little time to get there, but we're headed there. Best thing you can do for yourself, is eliminate as much debt as you can, and unload as many financial liabilities as you can over the next year.

Branden

Atomic_Lobster · Jun 20, 2024

hafejd30 said:
Motor boating can be an expensive hobby
View attachment 8442863

But it's a lot cheaper if you are Amish

hafejd30 · Jun 20, 2024

Atomic_Lobster said:
But it's a lot cheaper if you are Amish
View attachment 8443136

Rocketvapor · Jun 20, 2024

Math doesn't add up. 100 plus another 300 is about a 10% reduction.
How many did they lay off or add in Mexico?

Inifinty · Jun 20, 2024

If cows wont be allowed to fart in the future, no one will be allowed a personal boat either.

The board rooms know the skinny.

Bullfrog08 · Jun 20, 2024

Lightning8 said:
Best time to buy a boat, RV, jet ski, jeep. side by side, etc. is when market tanks and people sell their toys at a loss. We are headed that way again.

Feel like ive been reading this theory for 10 years, yet all those things continue to get more expensive, not less.

Sean the Nailer · Jun 20, 2024

Ours has a s/b chevy engine, running an "inboard/outboard" and we think it is reliable'er than outboards. Puts out some good hp and gets our 'home away from home' (yes, we live on it) up and planing quite well.

It really is something, when you're "piloting" a house. No, it's not a houseboat.

OREGUN · Jun 20, 2024

I don’t know man, I spent my $250 annual hobby budget on 3 pounds of powder. I guess no Merc for me.

jbuck88 · Jun 20, 2024

Bullfrog08 said:
Feel like ive been reading this theory for 10 years, yet all those things continue to get more expensive, not less.

Been looking for a small bunk house style travel trailer for hunting out of. Prices are starting to come down. However they are selling pretty fast when priced at what is call normal. Shopping in the $6-10k range and have missed multiple in the last couple weeks. I would also add that at most of the over priced ones have loans on them.

RUTGERS95 · Jun 20, 2024

HPIguy said:
When did outboards start costing that much coin? And why? The whole point of outboards were they were easier to service, and replace, and cheaper.

ridiculously expensive and not sustainable

Hobo Hilton · Jun 20, 2024

HPIguy said:
When did outboards start costing that much coin? And why? The whole point of outboards were they were easier to service, and replace, and cheaper.

About the time an ounce of gold increased in price. A USD don't buy much.

Hobo Hilton · Jun 20, 2024

Bullfrog08 said:
Feel like ive been reading this theory for 10 years, yet all those things continue to get more expensive, not less.

The US Government is artificially keeping the economy going. That is unsustainable.

Go here and see what is happening.

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

tadawson · Jun 20, 2024

c1steve said:
2-3 years ago there was a year long waiting list for new Merc outboards. Note that a 300hp, 4 stroke is about $28,000, not the crazy $90k of some extreme sized engine.

Better, but still batshit crazy expensive . . .

Dead Eye Dick · Jun 20, 2024

kcbird said:
Your right, a boat is not a necessity.

Speak for yourself. Take away AnnaEleise and Brenda would kill me, not that I would be terribly happy about not having her myself. Heck, she’s been a member of the family since 1990, and now sailing again after Hurricane Laura did its absolute best to destroy little Anna.

Dead Eye Dick · Jun 20, 2024

AnnaEleise, in her berth on the lift, silhouetted by the moonlight this evening.

ironman56 · Jun 20, 2024

A boat is just a hole in the water that you throw money into .

nikonNUT · Jun 20, 2024

Dead Eye Dick said:
Speak for yourself. Take away AnnaEleise and Brenda would kill me, not that I would be terribly happy about not having her myself. Heck, she’s been a member of the family since 1990, and now sailing again after Hurricane Laura did its absolute best to destroy little Anna.

View attachment 8443232

Fuckin' blow boater!

I'm picking at ya man, don't hate. I did have one come in my shop wanting some new plexi hatches machined and asked the cost. I was slow and figured I'd just stack them all and cut them all at once so I quoted him $100.00 (This was 25 years ago) for set-up, a simple program, and a trim in the CNC and he said "Wow! That's kinda high." I told him just becuase the wind was free didn't mean everything else is.

Sean the Nailer · Jun 21, 2024

BOAT stands for:

Break Out Another Thousand

And this is why My Lady and I do ALL the work on it, ourselves. Some things may take a few YEARS to get done, but they do get done and the 'living on the water' is really nice living.

jbuck88 · Jun 21, 2024

It's B.O.A.T. if your lucky or B.O.A.T.T. if you aren't.

LuckyDuck · Jun 21, 2024

I don't have much to add to the discussion and my words likely won't be of any comfort to the Mercury Marine employees impacted by this, but this has to be terrible for them considering the boom they had just a few years ago. I'd have to imagine many of them expanded their lifestyles (aka expenses) assuming that some of that profit 'trickled down' to them if by no other means than the OT they likely were pulling during that time.

Not so eloquent of words- but damn I know that's an absolute bitch right now and I reckon I can surmise how they're feeling as that's a bit of a niche career field impacted. I suppose I can intellectually grasp why it's happening but that doesn't help answer how they're going to feed their children next month which is what I assume many of them are worried about at the moment.

Unfortunately- and I hate to say it but I project there's going to be a bit more of our country in this position before the year ends and that... well that also supremely sucks for them (not meant as a 'slight' either). And the ones not directly impacted by the first wave of this- well they're going to feel the affects too wondering if they'll be next on the proverbial 'chopping block'. That's likely going to have an impact on production and create a gravity 'suck'.

I'd like to be a 'glass half full person' but while I sincerely do sympathize with the MM employees today, I can't but worry if this isn't just one indication of the storm clouds coming our way. Thoughts and prayers for the MM folks and their families tonight.

-LD

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