Tia Fisher was hired two years ago to work in the warehouse at Shop Vac Corp. in Williamsport, but she advanced quickly to customer service. She learned just about everything there is to know about the company’s signature product, the wet-dry vacuums that occupy a place in millions of American workshops.
Fisher, 48, was proud to work for a family-owned business such as Shop Vac, a rare company headquartered in north-central Pennsylvania with global reach. Shop Vac employed about 1,700 people worldwide, including more than 400 people in Williamsport alone, according to previous company social-media posts.
But not all was well at Shop Vac. Last year the company hastily shut down a warehouse in New York state, leading to lost orders, Fisher said. Its manufacturer in China went on strike. Bills went unpaid. Promised pay increases were delayed. There were layoffs before Christmas, and more this year after the coronavirus hit.
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