About 15 percent of the workforce at Jacksonville-based Swisher International  cigar manufacturers will be losing their jobs over the next few weeks.

Officials with the company headquartered in the Springfield area off 16th  Street announced about 150 hourly Swisher employees will be laid off. Lee  Creasman, Swisher Vice President of Human Resources, said management made the  decision late last week.

"They'll take place over the next four to six weeks as we work with labor  unions who represent these employees to handle... the employees who are not  affected by the layoffs," Creasman said.

About 30 of the workers who are losing their jobs are mechanics while the  remaining employees being laid off are machine operators and support personnel,  Creasman said. The unions representing the workers include the International  Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Retail, Wholesale and  Department Store Union.