PPG to cut 2,500 jobs
in restructuring
PPG said it will cut 2,500 jobs in a restructuring plan aimed at saving $140 million annually. The plan is expected to cost the company approximately $160 million in cash, it said. A further charge of up to $50 million is possible later this year as the evaluation and approval of other elements of the restructuring plan, including additional plant closures, are finalized, PPG said. The first-quarter charge includes the cost of closing a paint manufacturing operation in Saultain, France, several smaller production, laboratory, warehouse and distribution facilities. PPG said a broad reduction in employment across the company globally will result in about 2,500 jobs being eliminated. “These are sweeping steps that will impact all of PPG’s business segments and regions,” said chairman and CEO Charles Bunch. Bunch said the largest portion of the cost reduction activity will take place in the company’s automotive OEM coatings and industrial coatings business units, which have been particularly hard hit by severe declines in global end-use market demand.