Dow Chemical will cut about 3% of its global workforce as it prepares to break off a significant part of its chlorine operations in a deal announced earlier this year with Olin Corp. As The Associated Press reports, the company says the cuts will reduce its workforce by an estimated 1,500 to 1,750 positions. Dow Chemical employed about 53,000 people worldwide at the end of last year.
Calls from Daily Report to local Dow spokespersons for comment on the local effect of the layoffs went unreturned as of this morning’s deadline. According to the company’s website, it employs more than 6,000 people throughout the state at six major facility locations. About half of its workforce in Louisiana is located at the 1,500-acre facility near Plaquemine that serves as the company’s operational headquarters in the state. The company also says on its website that it is the largest employer in Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes.
The Midland, Michigan, company says in March that it will receive about $2 billion in cash and cash equivalents and an estimated $2.2 billion in Olin common stock as part of the chlorine business deal.
Dow Chemical will take charges totaling an estimated $330 million to $380 million in the second quarter for asset impairment, severance and other costs tied the cuts announced this morning.
Last week, Dow also announced that it was selling its AgroFresh specialty chemical business to the buyout company Boulevard Acquisition Corp. for $860 million. Dow has been under pressure from hedge fund Third Point LLC to split its specialty chemical and petrochemical businesses.
The company also announced last fall a three-year, $1 billion “productivity drive” to cut costs and push earnings higher. The cuts announced Monday will address stranded costs from the chlorine business, Chief Financial Officer Howard Ungerleider says in a statement from the company.
