Mercury Marine to let go of hundreds of employees

FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Mercury Marine, one of the largest employers in the Fox Valley area, announced it has plans to eliminate about 300 jobs from its Fond du Lac headquarters.

Mercury Marine said the “reduction” will take place now through July.

Mercury Marine — which makes boat motors and other boating products — employs more than 3,500 people full-time in Fond du Lac. The company said it makes an annual economic impact of about $5 billion to the community.

The company also said it will adjust its overall operations in Wisconsin, as well as in Florida and Mexico.

Mercury Marine said the reduction is “due to a softening of consumer demand in some of our markets.” The company said the lower demands are tied to “continued high interest rates and near-term reductions in boat production” by its boat building partners.

“Mercury Marine’s industry-leading products continue to gain market share around the world but at this time this is not sufficient to fully offset the overall market headwinds,” the company wrote in a statement, in-part.