Honestly, walking into a factory where you’ve spent years of your life, only to find out most of your friends are losing their jobs right before Christmas, is a special kind of gut punch. That’s the reality for the folks at the Mersen plant in Columbia. While the headlines usually talk about "restructuring" or "industrial footprints," the actual story on the ground in Maury County is a lot messier.
The Mersen Columbia Tennessee layoffs didn't just happen out of nowhere. It was a perfect storm of a slowing EV market, a sudden unionization victory, and a corporate pivot that left local workers feeling like they’d been traded in for a newer model. If you’ve been following the news, you know Mersen is a global giant in advanced materials. They make isostatic graphite, which is basically the "secret sauce" for everything from semiconductors to electric vehicles.
But in December 2024, the holiday spirit in Columbia was replaced by a massive wave of furloughs and job cuts.
The Numbers That Hit Home
Let's look at what actually went down. It wasn't just a few people getting a pink slip. Mersen announced a furlough of 80% of its workforce at the Columbia facility. On top of that, 25% of the staff faced permanent layoffs.
Effective December 15, 2024, dozens of families lost their primary source of income and, perhaps more crucially, their healthcare coverage. It’s a brutal timeline. This happened just as the company was bragging about record-setting financial performance on a global scale.
The plant, located on North Main Street, had recently celebrated a $70 million expansion. You might remember the ribbon-cutting photos with Governor Bill Lee. At the time, it was touted as a massive win for Tennessee workers, backed by over $500,000 in public subsidies and tax breaks. Seeing those same workers ushered out the door months later felt like a betrayal to many in the community.
Why Is This Happening Now?
If you ask the corporate office, they’ll tell you it’s a market problem. Mersen’s CEO, Luc Themelin, and other executives pointed to a "contrasting global market environment." Basically, the Electric Vehicle (EV) market slowed down faster than anyone expected in late 2024 and throughout 2025.
Because the Columbia plant was heavily focused on the isostatic graphite used in EV batteries and semiconductors, the drop in demand hit them hard. The company decided to "rationalize its industrial footprint," which is a fancy way of saying they consolidated their U.S. operations back to their older, established site in St. Marys, Pennsylvania.
But there’s another layer to this. Just weeks before the layoffs were announced, the workers in Columbia did something historic: they voted to unionize. They joined the IUE-CWA (International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers). They wanted better safety, clearer pay scales, and a path for temp workers to become permanent.
The union isn't buying the "market slowdown" excuse as the sole reason. They’ve filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Their argument? Mersen is retaliating. They claim the company hired a notorious anti-union law firm and then pulled the plug on the Columbia workforce right after the vote was certified.
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A Community Under Pressure
Columbia isn't just a dot on a map; it’s a town that has bet big on manufacturing. When a major player like Mersen pulls back, the ripple effects are felt at the local diner, the grocery store, and the schools.
What makes people particularly salty is the taxpayer money involved. Local leaders like Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles and Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder worked hard to bring Mersen to town. Now, there are loud calls from the union and local advocates to "claw back" those subsidies. The logic is simple: if you take public money to create jobs and then cut them, you shouldn't get to keep the cash.
The 2026 Outlook: What’s Next?
So, where does that leave everyone today? As we move through 2026, the situation remains tense. Mersen has recently secured new contracts, including a $10 million deal with the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency to supply synthetic graphite. While that’s good for the company’s bottom line, it hasn't necessarily brought the jobs back to Columbia yet.
The company says they still believe in the Tennessee site and want to reinvest when the market turns. But for the people who were let go, "someday" doesn't pay the rent today.
If you or someone you know was affected by the Mersen layoffs, here are a few things you should actually do:
- Check Your Recall Rights: If you were part of the unionized group, keep a close eye on the NLRB proceedings. The union is fighting for "recall rights," which would force Mersen to offer you your job back before hiring anyone else if production ramps up again.
- Utilize Tennessee Dislocated Worker Services: The Department of Labor and Workforce Development has specific programs for mass layoff victims. This includes retraining grants that can pay for you to get certified in a different field.
- Monitor the ULP Filing: The outcome of the Unfair Labor Practice charge could result in back pay or mandatory reinstatement if the NLRB finds that the layoffs were indeed retaliatory.
- Review Your Healthcare Options: Losing insurance in the middle of a layoff is terrifying. Check the Healthcare.gov marketplace; a job loss is a "Qualifying Life Event" that lets you sign up outside of the normal open enrollment period.
The story of Mersen in Columbia is a reminder that even "sure thing" industrial investments can be volatile. It’s a tough lesson in corporate agility versus community stability. For now, the town is watching and waiting to see if the company will actually keep its original promises or if the North Main Street plant will just become another quiet building.