Staff report

Laid off Ultium Cells workers must wait until August before returning to the company’s Lordstown facility, a media outlet reported Friday.

In a dispatch from Detroit, Reuters news service cited the slow-moving electrical vehicle market for the move. General Motors and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution are co-owners of the battery cell plant.

“Ultium Cells Ohio employees who have been on temporary layoff status are now expected to return in ​August,” Ultium told Reuters.

Earlier this week, Ultium recalled a limited number of workers.

GM said it was realigning its EV capacity at the end of October when it announced the changes.

In its WARN letter filed with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, GM said it would lay off 1,334 hourly workers in Lordstown on Jan. 5. Of that number, approximately 850 were scheduled to return.

Those affected are members of UAW Local 1112.

Last fall’s announcement also affected 700 employees in Spring Hill, Tennessee, who are on temporary layoff. About 1,200 jobs at an all-electric GM plant in the Detroit area were permanently furloughed.