Gateway lays off nearly 500

North Sioux City-based Gateway Computers announced major layoffs today. Four-hundred-80 people at the Gateway plant in North Sioux City, and 15 more in Sioux Falls, South Dakota were laid off. Gateway spokesperson Lisa Emmard says the employees will get out-placement services, like help writing a resume. Employees at Gateway Computer are reacting with shock to the company layoffs announced this morning. Joe Nolen, who worked at that North Sioux City plant, says his supervisor told him he was “terminated” from Gateway. Nolen says there are “heartbroken people” — like a co-worker who just returned from maternity leave. Nolen says he always thought there was a bubble over North Sioux City because it’s where Gateway got started. About 12-percent of the workforce in North Sioux City was laid off.