I think everyone can agree that this sucks. It really, really sucks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Jerry Wilmouth moved to Galesburg, Illinois, five years ago, everyone told him to get a job at Maytag Corp.'s (NYSE:MYG - news) refrigerator plant. Maytag paid the best, they said, and the 50-year-old factory was the lifeblood of the city.

Now, Wilmouth and 379 others are spending their first week of life after Maytag -- the first of 1,600 workers to be laid off between now and the end of 2004, when the plant closes for good and Maytag moves the work to Mexico.

The 46-year-old father of three said he has little hope of finding work in Galesburg to match the $15 an hour he made on the assembly line, and now his 17-year-old daughter is thinking about joining the army to pay for college.

Very depressing too.