World Economic

Piramal Glass, a glass-bottle maker based in India, plans to temporarily lay off 40 percent of the work force at its Park Hills, Mo., factory to offset tough economic conditions, a company official said Tuesday.

About 160 hourly workers were notified Monday, and about 30 salaried workers will be contacted by today, said Scott Winder, the human resources director.

The layoffs will start Monday, Winder said, and are expected to last until mid-January. The factory makes bottles for laboratories, medicine, cosmetics and liquor.

"Right now, our sales demand only requires us to run one furnace," Winder said. "We have high levels of inventory in our warehouses. … Christmas orders are down as well."

During the layoffs, one of the facility’s two furnaces will be rebricked — a process that happens every seven to 10 years online pay day loans.

By mid-January, the company hopes to bring back all the laid-off workers, Winder said.

"We’re very optimistic about the recall in mid-January," he said. "We’re doing what we can to ride out the dip in the economic climate."

In the meantime, those laid-off workers will get health benefits through the end of this month, Winder said.

The factory employs about 475 people, including the laid-off workers, he said.

In 2005, Mumbai-based Gujarat Glass Ltd., later renamed Piramal Glass, beat out Austrian glassmaker St