Basin Announces Layoffs

Basin Electric has announced it's laying off 25 employees across four of their Midwest locations.

NBC/North Dakota News reports two of the stations affected are in North Dakota: Dakota Gasification Company and Antelope Valley Station.

Basin has reportedly been exploring a "cost containment" strategy for some time now. With recent financial developments, the company says it was time to make a more "aggressive" decision.

"At this time we forecast we need some additional efforts in that area. As part of this cost reduction effort, a small group of probationary employees in North Dakota and Wyoming were released this morning," said a Basin Electric spokesman.

Basin calls this a transitional phase; the next step is seeing if any employees decide to transition within the company or voluntarily leave.

The most recent unemployment rate for the state is 2.6% as of May. Still, the economic outlook is mixed; many are struggling with underemployment and transitions between jobs requiring different skills.

[Source: NBC North Dakota News]