On March 6, SK Battery America filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) with the state of Georgia, confirming what hundreds of workers in Commerce had already been told in person: 958 jobs were gone. The layoff, classified as permanent, reduced the plant's headcount from 2,566 to roughly 1,600, a 37% cut at the $2.6 billion facility that opened just four years ago. The company, a subsidiary of South Korea's SK On , said affected employees would receive pay and benefits through May 6. Their last day of work was the same day the WARN notice was filed. Two weeks later, SK On is moving fast on a different strategy — and the Georgia plant is at the center of it. AI-generated image SK Battery America's $2.6 billion manufacturing complex in Commerce, Georgia. 958 Jobs Cut 37% Workforce Reduction 7.2 GWh First US ESS Contract 10+ GWh 2026 ESS Target How Ford's Exit Triggered the Cascade The roots of the layoff trace directly to December 2025, when Ford Motor Company announced it was dissolving its BlueOval SK joint venture with SK On. The partnership, originally valued at $11.4 billion, was supposed to build three battery plants across Tennessee and Kentucky to supply Ford's growing lineup of electric trucks and SUVs. Instead, Ford scrapped its plans for the fully electric F-150 Lightning, citing sluggish sales that never matched the initial reservation hype. The automaker pivoted to hybrid vehicles, smaller EVs, and its own energy storage business. With the joint venture dissolved, SK lost its anchor customer at Commerce. The plant had been producing lithium-ion cells primarily for Ford's electric truck program. Ford expects to record a $19.5 billion write-down related to its electrification strategy shift. For SK, the financial blow was less visible on paper but more immediate on the factory floor. SK On itself reported operating losses in recent quarters as EV battery margins compressed across the industry. AI-generated image Battery manufacturing lines at Commerce face reduced utilization after the Ford partnership ended. The EV Slowdown in Numbers SK's layoffs are not an isolated event. The entire U.S. EV battery ecosystem is recalibrating after a period of aggressive expansion collided with softer-than-expected consumer demand. EV sales accounted for roughly 8% of new U.S. vehicle purchases in 2025, a figure that grew year over year but fell well short of the ambitious targets automakers set during the 2021–2023 EV investment boom. Cox Automotive reported a 30% year-over-year drop in U.S. EV sales in January 2026 — the steepest monthly decline in recent memory. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas published a report in early March noting that the U.S. battery storage industry "won't see improvements anytime soon." The assessment pointed to a combination of factors: reduced federal support under the current administration, the elimination of the $7,500 EV consumer tax credit, and a general pullback in automaker commitments to battery-electric platforms. Timeline: SK Battery America and Ford Jan 2022: SK Battery America's Commerce, Georgia plant begins production. Initial workforce targets set at 2,600. 2023: The company exceeds its hiring goal, expanding the Commerce workforce by several hundred employees to meet projected EV demand. 2024: OSHA fines SK Battery America twice for exposing workers to respiratory hazards at the Commerce facility. Sep 2025: SK On signs a 7.2 GWh BESS supply agreement with Flatiron Energy Development — its first gigawatt-scale U.S. energy storage contract. Dec 2025: Ford dissolves the BlueOval SK joint venture and cancels the electric F-150 Lightning. SK On signals a broader pivot toward stationary energy storage. Mar 6, 2026: SK files a WARN notice with Georgia, confirming 958 permanent layoffs. Affected workers receive pay through May 6. Mar 15, 2026: Bloomberg reports SK On is targeting over 10 GWh in U.S. ESS orders in 2026, shifting roughly 20% of its global 100 GWh capacity toward storage applications. Several automakers beyond Ford have trimmed their EV ambitions. General Motors delayed its Ultium battery rollout. Stellantis scaled back production at multiple North American plants. Even Tesla, which dominates U.S. EV sales, reported flat year-over-year deliveries for the first time in 2025. The Pivot to Stationary Storage SK Battery America's statement after the layoffs made its new direction clear. "We are pursuing a range of future customers, including the Battery Energy Storage System arena," spokesperson Joe Guy Collier told Manufacturing Dive. The company said it "remains committed to Georgia and to building a robust U.S. supply chain for advanced battery manufacturing." The strategy has concrete backing. In September 2025, SK On signed its first gigawatt-scale U.S. energy storage supply agreement with Flatiron Energy Development , a Colorado-based developer. The deal covers up to 7.2 GWh of lithium iron phosphate containerized BESS units, valued at roughly $1.4 billion. The initial 1 GWh delivery is earmarked for a Massachusetts project with production starting in H2 2026. Flatiron holds first-offer rights on the remaining 6.2 GWh for projects across New England and other states through 2030. The critical detail: production for the Flatiron contract will run on repurposed lines at the Commerce plant . The same facility shedding EV workers is now being retooled to make LFP cells for grid storage. SK On plans a "dual NCM/LFP" strategy at the site — NMC cells continue for EV customers like Hyundai and Kia, while new LFP output serves the stationary market. AI-generated image Grid-scale battery storage systems are absorbing manufacturing capacity that was originally built for EV cells. The pivot mirrors a broader industry trend. As EV cell demand plateaus in the near term, stationary energy storage has become the growth engine that battery manufacturers are chasing. The U.S. is on track to deploy 35 GW / 70 GWh of new battery storage capacity in 2026, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Utilities, data center operators, and renewable energy developers are all buying storage at record volumes. Two Plants, Two Futures: Commerce vs. Cartersville While the Commerce plant reconfigures around BESS, SK On's second major Georgia facility is moving in a different direction. The company's joint venture with Hyundai Motor Group — a $5 billion, 35 GWh plant in Bartow County (Cartersville) — is targeting production start in H1 2026. That plant will produce NMC cells for Hyundai and Kia EVs assembled at Hyundai's Metaplant America in Bryan County. The two facilities represent a deliberate separation of markets. Commerce handles diversification and the storage pivot. Cartersville focuses on the captive automotive customer that Ford can no longer be. Hyundai's U.S. EV production gives SK On a stable base load for NMC while the stationary storage business ramps up. Together, the two Georgia plants represent one of the largest battery manufacturing concentrations in the United States. SK On is also in talks with data center operators and energy developers for additional ESS supply agreements, aiming for over 10 GWh in total U.S. ESS orders this year. That would shift roughly 20% of the company's global 100 GWh annual capacity to non-EV applications — a structural change, not a temporary adjustment. Legal Questions and Political Fallout Within hours of the WARN filing, law firm Strauss Borrelli PLLC announced it was investigating SK Battery America for potential violations of the federal WARN Act. The law requires employers to provide 60 days of written advance notice before mass layoffs or plant closures. Strauss Borrelli suggested the timing of the notice, filed the same day workers were told their jobs were eliminated, may not have met that threshold. SK Battery America maintains that the reduction complies with WARN Act guidelines. Affected employees will continue to receive pay and ben