Invacare Plans Headcount Reduction at Taylor Street Plant in Ohio

Invacare Corporation (NYSE: IVC) today announced that due to a decline inproduction, the Company has initiated an immediate workforce reduction at itsTaylor Street manufacturing facility in Elyria, Ohio. The expected decline inproduction results principally from the Company's previously announced consentdecree of injunction with the United States Food and Drug Administration(FDA), which was approved late last week by the United States District Courtfor the Northern District of Ohio.Invacare currently employs 365 hourly manufacturing associates at its TaylorStreet facility in Elyria, Ohio. As a result of the workforce realignment, 222associates will remain in their current roles or be reassigned to other rolesacross the Elyria campus. The remaining 143 associates will be laid off. Forthose associates who have been laid off, Invacare will offer 60 dayscontinuance of pay and benefits.Due to the realignment, the Company expects to incur one-time restructuringcharges not to exceed $1.25 million on a pre-tax basis.``While we regret having to take this step, we recognize the need to align ourworkforce with our production volume,'' said Gerry Blouch, Invacare presidentand chief executive officer. ``We value and respect the hard work that ourassociates demonstrate on a day-to-day basis and we will provide assistance tothose affected to help them with the transition. We remain committed toachieving full regulatory compliance and to resuming full operations at TaylorStreet as quickly as possible. Over the past year, we have made significantinvestments of time, people and resources to achieve regulatory compliance andmake Invacare's Taylor Street manufacturing facility an even strongeroperation.''After the reduction, Invacare will continue to employ approximately 1,050associates in Northeastern Ohio and approximately 6,050 associates worldwide.