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Dow Corning Announces Workforce Reduction

ChemicalProcessing,com
02/26/2009

Dow Corning Corp. recently announced it intends to eliminate approximately 800 positions globally in response to current economic challenges. Involving approximately 8% of the company’s workforce, the actions will primarily occur during the first half of the year across all geographic regions, and will be accomplished through a combination of voluntary retirement programs and involuntary separations.  The voluntary retirement programs will be offered in the U.S. and in selected additional geographies.  A voluntary separation program will be offered in the U.K.

These actions are part of broader cost-saving measures taken by the company, including maximizing operational efficiency and tightly controlling expenses.

 “This is a difficult but necessary step to maintain our financial health, help us to meet our customers’ and shareholders’ expectations, and position us for future opportunities,” Stephanie A. Burns, president and CEO, said in a Feb. 24 press release. “We need to meet the challenges of today in order to be ready for the future, when the economy recovers.  That is why we are also continuing to support our strategic investments in such areas as solar energy.

“Dow Corning recognizes that this decision affects our most valuable resource, our employees, and their families.  While significant and serious, we have been able to keep the reduction of our workforce to these levels by reducing other costs across the company.”

Dow Corning is a CP 50 company. To view the Dow Corning profile page, visit: http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/cp50/2008/dow_corning.html.

To view the entire CP 50 list, visit: http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/cp50/index.html.