It’s not looking like a very merry Christmas for hundreds of workers at Hamilton’s National Steel Car plant. Close to 400 workers at the Kenilworth Avenue North factory will have received layoff notices by the end of tomorrow.

A company spokesman says the completion of a recent order means the plant needs to be re-tooled. Once that is completed, as many as half of the laid-off workers could be recalled early in the new year.

There are currently about 2,000 workers there, but that number fluctuates regularly according to demand for rail cars. The company is considering expanding its product line to include tanker cars.