Hundreds of workers at Qcells’ Georgia manufacturing plants in Dalton and Cartersville are being affected by temporary layoffs and reduced hours as the company struggles with component delays at U.S. ports.
Qcells, a South Korean solar manufacturer and subsidiary of Hanwha Solutions, announced Friday that about 300 staffing agency workers will be laid off and roughly 1,000 full-time employees will face reduced pay and working hours. The company employs around 3,000 people across its Georgia operations.
The slowdown stems from U.S. Customs and Border Protection detaining shipments of imported components used in Qcells’ solar panel production. Officials are holding the materials on suspicion they may contain products linked to forced labor in China under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a 2021 federal law that restricts the import of goods made with forced labor.
Qcells says its supply chain is fully compliant with U.S. law and sources no materials from China. Company spokesperson Marta Stoepker said Qcells maintains “robust supply chain due diligence measures” and detailed documentation, noting that some detained shipments have already been cleared.
“Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels,” Stoepker said in a statement.
Employees affected by the furloughs will keep full benefits, and Qcells expects operations to ramp back up in the coming weeks or months.
The company is also continuing construction on its $2.3 billion manufacturing facility in Cartersville, which will produce ingots, wafers, and solar cells — the building blocks for finished solar panels.
