But employees have managed to finish on a high note, a testament to the quality of the staff who, in many cases, have worked at the factory for generations. 

The factory will close on April 15, shutting the doors on 70 years of production. Employees were made aware of the closure in October 2013, with many seeking early redundancies and others left pondering what their future might hold.

Despite this uncertainty and the sadness often associated with closing the book on a significant part of their lives, staff have managed to produce products of superior quality.

The opposite could have easily occurred.

While fridge manufacturing in Orange is over, manufacturing in the city is not dead, despite misconceptions Orange only has jobs for miners and health professionals. 

A quick look at the daily classifieds and online job seeking websites shows there are options for those who want to stay in the Central West.

There are at least 25 jobs listed in the manufacturing and transport industry that various Electrolux employees would have the skills to do, from engineers to factory hands.

For example, Thursday March 17, shows Orange based Hort Enterprises is looking for a manufacturing engineering estimator, Challenge Implements is looking for a design engineer manager and Manildra’s MSM Milling is looking for technical plant operator, to name just a few. In terms of unskilled labour and assembly line work there are listed jobs for warehouse managers, production administrators, safety officers and drivers. 

Based on the safety and quality record achieved at Electrolux, these are clearly valuable, hard-working and skilled employees who would be an asset to any business.