October 22, 2025
Cree Lighting Extends Furlough, Raising More Doubts
Tentative November 17 restart leaves customers and partners questioning long-term stability
Cree Lighting was just three business days away from resuming operations — or so the industry thought.
Back on October 1, the company announced a furlough through October 24, with a planned restart on Monday, October 27. But today, President Sabu Krishnan informed partners that the partial shutdown would continue through November 14, with a tentative reopening now slated for November 17 — the last full work week before the Thanksgiving holiday.
For customers, agents, and specifiers, the announcement reads less like a plan and more like a holding pattern. The company offered no specific reason for the extension beyond the need for “additional time” to complete a strategic review. That’s a notable shift from the October 1 furlough notice, which pointed directly to component shortages. This time, the cause is murkier — and so are the implications.
We’re also hearing reports of canceled purchase orders, particularly among customers with active project timelines and no appetite for uncertainty. In this business, lighting projects don’t wait — they pivot. And if Cree Lighting can’t offer clarity, it may soon be facing not just delayed business, but permanently lost opportunities.
For clarity: this is Cree Lighting, the Wisconsin-based commercial luminaire manufacturer, currently owned by private equity firm ADLT. It’s not to be confused with Cree LED, the semiconductor components company acquired by Penguin Solutions in 2021, or Cree Lighting Home, the residential lamps division sold off to Feit Electric earlier this year.
A Pattern, Not a Pause
By mid-November, Cree Lighting employees will have gone six and a half weeks without pay, while customers, distributors, and agents have largely been left in the dark. Limited order fulfillment and warranty support continue where materials are available, but the company remains unreachable by phone. For what it’s worth, Inside Lighting traded emails with our Cree Lighting marketing contact yesterday and received prompt responses.
In a sector built on precision — spec dates, lead times, project bids — ambiguity doesn’t just slow things down; it erodes trust. Leadership continues to frame the furlough as a step toward a “stronger, more sustainable” company, but for many, those assurances ring hollow. The extended shutdown stands in stark contrast to the letter’s promise to “remain fully committed to serving our customers and partners with the reliability and quality you expect.”
The bigger risk isn’t just lost time or pay. It’s perception. With utilities, designers, and major specifiers already wary, Cree Lighting’s indefinite status makes it harder to win new projects or stay in upcoming bids. Conversations inside the channel have shifted from “when” Cree comes back online to whether customers and partners will still be waiting when it does.
