MOUNT PLEASANT - Ruud Lighting let go approximately 50 of its nearly 600 employees Tuesday.

Company President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Ruud said the collapse of the construction industry forced the actions. The move is considered a restructuring - not a temporary move.

Ruud said the cuts, which took effect immediately, were made throughout the company. "I don't think it missed any department," he said.

Ruud said all employees affected will receive severance packages and outplacement services.

The privately owned Ruud Lighting, 9201 Highway 20, makes lighting fixtures for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential settings. The dearth of construction work during the recession has sapped sales, Ruud said.

Even those who kept their jobs were affected, because of the company's efforts to reduce the number of jobs cut. "We have taken other actions that affected all of the remaining people," Ruud said.

Overall, Ruud Lighting had a "reasonably" good year in 2008, he said. But construction-related orders dropped dramatically.

"It's a very competitive time out in the industry," he said, "and everyone is going for a much lower volume of sales."

Two factors kept the restructuring from being far more severe, Ruud said. One was the company's strong position as a designer and producer of light-emitting diode, or LED, light fixtures.

"Thank goodness for LED," Ruud said. "As much as I hate what we had to do, it's nothing compared with what the industry is seeing in general."

He said LED holds out promise for future orders, but many potential buyers are holding back. "A lot of decisions are being delayed," Ruud said. "Some are waiting for the stimulus money."

He commented, "This is the most uncertain time I've ever seen in business," in 40 years. "I would be very depressed - more than I am - if we didn't have that activity in LED lighting."

The other factor that mitigated job cuts was demand for fluorescent high-bay industrial lighting for factories, warehouses and large industrial uses, Ruud said. Many utilities offer rebates or other programs that encourage conversion to those energy-saving lights.

"That has softened the blow tremendously," Ruud said.

Asked how the affected employees took the news, he replied, "I think, professionally. Some people were stunned by it, some people were expecting something to happen."