As American Apparel Inc. tries to engineer a comeback in the midst of worker discontent with new management, it is laying off about 180 employees, most of the job losses are coming from its manufacturing operations in Southern California. “It’s a tough day; we’re in a turnaround. This is a company that hasn’t made money in years,” said Paula Schneider, who took over as chief executive in January. American Apparel has racked up about US $ 340 million in net losses in the last five years and has more than US $ 200 million in debt. The layoffs will involve 3.8 per cent of the company’s approximately 4,800 manufacturing and office workers in Southern California. Employees at the nearly 250 American Apparel stores won’t be affected. In all, the company employs nearly 10,000 people.