FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – A brake manufacturer is set to permanently lay off 48 employees at its Oakland County facility next month as the company faces a decline in sales.
The Akebono Brake Corporation announced the layoffs in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) Notice.
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The brake manufacturer is based in Tokyo, Japan. It has two plants in Kentucky, and its North American head office and research development center is in Farmington Hills.
The research facilities feature “world-class engineers and are equipped with more than 100 chassis dynamometers, more than any other brake supplier in the industry,” according to its website.
In the WARN notice, the company announced that approximately 48 employees at the Akebono Engineering Center at 34385 West Twelve Mile Road in Farmington Hills will be permanently laid off.
Positions impacted by the layoffs include engineers, finance managers, program coordinators and more.
Akebono said five employees at its brake plant at 300 Ring Road in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, will also be impacted by this workforce reduction.
“This workforce reduction/layoffs are the result of a decline in Akebono’s U.S. Business and are expected to be permanent,” according to the notice."
The layoffs are expected to begin at the Farmington Hills center on Oct. 1, 2025.
None of the affected employees are represented by a union.