Cessna to lay off 2,000 workers

Cessna Aircraft Co. told workers Monday that it will lay off an additional 2,000 employees across its facilities, saying the job cuts are necessary to ensure its long-term stability and success.

The announcement was made in an e-mail from Cessna's head of human resources, Jim Walters, to employees. The work force reductions will be implemented across the Wichita, Kan.-based company's facilities and affect all pay categories, it said. Cessna is a unit of Textron Inc.

"These actions are regrettable, but necessary to ensure our long-term stability and success," Walters told employees in the e-mail. "As always, we remain committed to keep you informed of the processes and next steps as we work through this difficult time."

Workers will receive 60-day notices within the next few weeks, with the cuts occurring in March, Cessna spokesman Robert Stangarone said. As part of the cuts, the company will offer a voluntary layoff program, with details to be released later.

"These are particularly difficult times and it is very painful to lose so many great team members, and unfortunately we must take these steps to protect the future of our company," Stangarone said in a telephone interview.

The layoffs were not entirely unexpected. The company told its employees last week that it was planning a second round of cuts, a month after it issued 60-day layoff notices to about 500 Wichita employees and 165 workers in Bend, Ore.

Cessna is Wichita's biggest employer, with 12,000 employees. The company also has 1,300 people working at its Independence facility and has manufacturing facilities in Columbus, Ga.; Bend, Ore.; and Chihuahua, Mexico.

Stangarone could not say exactly how many jobs might be cut at each location.

"Right now we are just saying across Cessna. We are not being any more specific than that," he said.

The company has been talking to its customers about their orders and trying to assess what production will be throughout the year, he said.

Cessna is not the only Wichita aircraft maker that's struggling. Hawker Beechcraft Corp. also told its employees last week that it was planning a second round of layoffs in the next few days. Hawker Beechcraft has laid off nearly 500 workers as well.

"Anybody who is in Wichita certainly sees what is happening with the economy and industry," Stangarone said. "They are pretty well aware of the situation we are in."

Source : AP
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]