Alcoa to Eliminate 15,000 Positions

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: Wall Street Journal

Acknowledging that earlier cost-cutting moves are insufficient due to the sustained economic downturn, aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. announced deeper work-force cuts, more plant closures and a 50% reduction in capital expenditures.

By the end of this year, there will be 15,000 fewer positions at the company, or roughly 14.5% of its current employees and contractors, Alcoa said Tuesday.

The moves raise the question as to whether other companies, which have instituted cost-cutting measures to conserve cash, will likewise find their efforts inadequate.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123127612164858503.html

[bluestateguy]

1. This needs to stop

President Obama should make patriotic appeals to companies to freeze all layoffs, as they hurt the economy.

[Radical Activist]

2. Alcoa is evil.

Anyone losing a job sucks but this is one of the most destructive companies in the world and they'd be doing society a favor if they went out of business.

[WriteDown]

8. Idiotic comment...

We're talking about 15K people out of work. Plenty of companies aren't squeaky clean, but these jobs are needed.

[Radical Activist]

10. Like I wrote...

Anyone being out of a job sucks. But hey, we might as well keep building weapons to kill people in a way that poisons others if it creates jobs at James Baker's old company right? How many people should die from illness and/or violence so we can have more jobs in America? Building another million nuclear bombs will create jobs too. How about that?

There are always other ways to create jobs.

[WriteDown]

11. How many people do you employ?

Its kind of like Nickel mining. We need nickel, but there really is no good way to get to it.

[Radical Activist]

12. No, there are better ways of doing it

but Alcoa doesn't want to pay the cost of running their company in a responsible way. Not to mention the destructive way they use their economic and political influence around the world.

How many people does a company have to employ before we ignore the negative impact they have on society?

[galledgoblin]

14. definitely, my dad worked at an Alcan Aluminum remelt plant for years

and it was the cleanest, safest industrial site I have ever seen.

while a shame that people find themselves without work, Alcoa's incompetence and unethical behavior cannot be ignored.

[WriteDown]

16. Good question...

Do you have an ipod? Ever wonder how those components are made? I'm sure that Alcoa's mineral production will lose ground to a Chinese company doing it at half the cost. Just like everything else.

They truly are monsters:

Alcoa in the United States

Alcoa created a plant just outside of Maryville, TN in Blount County, Tennessee, which was the biggest provider of aluminum in the South. The area needed housing for workers, so Alcoa built many houses. The area eventually turned into a city and decided to name itself after the company. Alcoa, Tennessee, was founded 1919.

Alcoa maintains several Research and Development Centers in the United States. The largest one, Alcoa Technical Center, is located East of its Pittsburgh Headquarters at Alcoa Center, PA. The "Tech Center" is as large as some college campuses, has its own Zip Code and maintains an extensive intellectual and physical resource for innovation. Alcoa's extensive safety program continuously improves safety at the Tech Center while enhancing quality of life and efficiency for the hundreds of elite level Researchers who are creating new avenues of business growth and technological development for the Company. Some experimental processes can be dangerous but Alcoa's 6S Culture of Safety and Environmental Responsibility has ensured Researcher safety and minimized environmental impact while enhancing cost effectiveness of development work and accelerating time to market.

The Physical plant of the Tech Center is situated in a rural area and has managed to cultivate a large wooded area which acts as a nature preserve, sheltering deer and other wildlife. It is not uncommon to see Deer and other wildlife freely circulating through the environs of the Tech Center at all hours of the day.


*edited to add thought

[Radical Activist]

17. It's called a green wash.

I've never found a polluter in the world that couldn't give you a 100 page report about all the wonderful things they're doing to support the environment and clean up their facilities. But I read the wikipedia page too so we both know there's more to the story.

[WriteDown]

19. There always is....

but to label them as evil is over the top. Very few even give a passing thought as to where all the components and plastic pieces come from or are made on their PC's or laptops.

[Radical Activist]

20. Alcoa is already operating in China

so those products made in China you wrote about may be from Alcoa as well. I wonder how much their Chinese workforce and contracts will grow or rise during the next year after their layoffs in America?

[SpiralHawk]

3. The putrid fruit of republiconomics

"Thanks a pantload, you republicon 'conservatives.' Your economic plan of greed, corruption, and your steenking borrow-and-splurge ways have tossed America's economy in the crapper."

- Americans

[Radical Activist]

13. That's karmic justice

considering how much Alcoa has supported conservative leaders and the Bush family in particular.

[Dr.Phool]

4. Another link, but the numbers are confusing.

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2009/01/alcoa_to_cut_13500_jobs.html

Alcoa to cut 100 jobs in Cleveland, 13,400 more across country
Posted by Frank Bentayou/Plain Dealer Reporter January 06, 2009 16:16PM
Categories: Manufacturing, Real Time News


Updated at 5:50 p.m.

A sudden cost-reduction program will sweep across Alcoa installations around the world, ending 13,500 jobs and resulting in the closing of numerous operations, the Pittsburgh aluminum company said Tuesday.

But to the relief of most of the 1,250 employees at Alcoa's Forged and Cast Products facility in Cleveland, the operations here will remain mostly intact. Still, managers today will end the jobs of 100 workers, 50 salaried and 50 hourly, said Marian Lowes, the plant's spokeswoman.

"Of course, it's a result of the difficult economic times we're all confronting," she said. In a written statement, the company said the actions include selling four non-core businesses, freezing salaries and hiring, slashing capital expenditures in half and dramatically reducing product output. The aim is to conserve cash, reduce costs and strengthen "the company's competitiveness during the current economic downturn," Alcoa said.

Among the local staff reductions will be members of the United Auto Workers of America and a range of white-collar and supervisory employees. Lowes said the 50 terminated UAW workers will receive severance benefits as outlined in their contracts. The 50 salaried employees will receive what she called "an involuntary separation package" that includes benefits.

(snip)

[OhioChick]

5. The hemorrhaging continues. n/t

[Azlady]

6. My God, when is all this going to end -n/t

[xchrom]

7. sadly -- off to the greatest. nt

[shrike]

9. Alcoa to slash 13,500 jobs to save money

Source: Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. is cutting roughly 13 percent of its global work force by the end of the year as it slashes costs in the face of a deteriorating world economy.

The elimination of 13,500 jobs, along with deep production and spending cuts, follow cost-saving measures unveiled by the Pittsburgh-based company last fall. At that time it reported a 52 percent decline in third-quarter earnings, citing sharply lower aluminum prices, weaker demand and a charge for curtailing a Texas smelter.

The latest moves also include the slashing of 1,700 contractor positions and the planned sale of four business units. Alcoa — the world’s third-largest aluminum maker — has also imposed a global salary and hiring freeze.

The company said it will reduce aluminum production by an additional 135,000 metric tons per year, lowering output by a total of more than 750,000 metric tons, or 18 percent, annually. Alcoa makes the metal and uses it to manufacture products such as truck wheels and jet wing parts.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28527491/

---

Hadn't seen this posted yet.

[guruoo]

15. Alcoa to eliminate 450, Sea Ray 575, Goody's 800+ in Blount and Knox County Tennessee...

Officials 'in shock' as Alcoa announces layoff of 450
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009
5:17 p.m. | ALCOA - Alcoa aluminum company is cutting 13,500 jobs - 13 percent of its worldwide workforce - including 450 employees at its Alcoa, Tenn., operations, leaving city officials "in shock." The Pittsburgh-based manufacturer is cutting all smelting at its Alcoa, Tenn., plant as part of an 18-percent reduction in annual primary aluminum output. That's a total drop in smelting output of 750,000 metric tons per year.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jan/06/alcoa-cut-450-jobs/



Sea Ray plant closing; 575 jobs being cut

News Sentinel staff
Originally published 10:23 a.m., January 6, 2009
Updated 04:19 p.m., January 6, 2009

Brunswick Corp. is closing its Riverview boat manufacturing plant in the Forks of the River Industrial Park in East Knox County the company said today.

The plant will stop making Sea Ray boats in the first quarter with production moved to other Brunswick plants in Knoxville and Vonore, Tenn., the company said. About 300 jobs will be eliminated when the plant closes, although the company will try to move as many employees as possible to jobs at other Sea Ray Plants.

The company also plans to cut an additional 275 jobs "throughout Sea Ray manufacturing and product development facilities as well as at Sea Ray's Knoxville headquarters by Friday."

Brunswick Corp. is closing its Riverview boat manufacturing plant in the Forks of the River Industrial Park in East Knox County the company said today.

The plant will stop making Sea Ray boats in the first quarter with production moved to other Brunswick plants in Knoxville and Vonore, Tenn., the company said. About 300 jobs will be eliminated when the plant closes, although the company will try to move as many employees as possible to jobs at other Sea Ray Plants.

The company also plans to cut an additional 275 jobs "throughout Sea Ray manufacturing and product development facilities as well as at Sea Ray's Knoxville headquarters by Friday."



Goody's shutting doors after 55 years in business

By Carly Harrington
Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Knoxville-based Goody's Family Clothing, which emerged from bankruptcy less than three months ago, is shutting its doors after failing to secure sufficient capital to keep the business operating.

More than 800 Knoxville-area employees will be affected by the closing, which will be especially painful for the local economy, said Mike Edwards, president and CEO of the Knoxville Chamber.

Goody's has about 9,800 employees and annual revenues of $800 million, according to a company fact sheet that was posted on its Web site Dec. 10.

[Radical Activist]

18. ouch

Plus the big coal ash dump. East Tennessee is being hit hard right now.