Dow Chemical has announced that it will cut 900 jobs and close plants because of the weakness in the European economy. Dow had a $20 million loss in the fourth quarter, mainly due to weak European and U.S. sales. CEO Andrew Liveris said, “These actions, while difficult, are in full alignment with our commitment to continually manage our portfolio to adapt to changing and volatile economic conditions, as we are seeing particularly in Western Europe.”
The European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, released figures stating that unemployment rose to 10.8% in February. Seven of the 17 countries in the eurozone had unemployment rates of more than 10%. Spain’s unemployment level is the highest in the EU at around 23%.
The number of unemployed rose to 17.1 million, almost 1.5 million more than at the same time the previous year. The new employment figures show that there are more people unemployed in Europe now than at any time since the introduction of the euro in 1999. Europe also released figures indicating a larger than expected downturn in manufacturing.
Spokeswoman Rebecca Bentley said that fewer than 375 U.S. positions will be eliminated and the company has made plans to increase employment in other areas and offset the jobs lost. Dow employs about 25,000 people in the U.S. The company is the nation’s largest chemical maker.
The company also plans to consolidate other operations. Liveris said that the announcement “further demonstrates our resolve and ability to take swift, strategic cash flow interventions.” Dow said that its latest actions would reduce costs by nearly $250 million per year.
Dow cut more than 10,000 positions during the global economic crisis that occurred four years ago. The company currently has about 52,000 employees worldwide.
