Dow Chemical Cut 6% Of Its Workforce

Global Silicone Network News:

According to news from many overseas media, the US chemical giant Dow Chemical stated on July 23 that the company would lay off 6% of its employees and withdraw from uncompetitive assets in order to cope with the continuing impact of the new crown epidemic.

Dow announced its financial report that its revenue for the second quarter was US$8.354 billion, down 24.2% year-on-year; its net loss was US$225 million, compared with a net profit of US$75 million in the same period last year.

As a countermeasure, Dow Chemical will further reduce costs and cut 6% of the total number of employees worldwide.

Currently, Dow Chemical operates 109 manufacturing plants in 31 countries and has 36,500 employees. Based on this calculation, the scale of layoffs is about 2,200.

Dow Chemical will further reduce operating expenses, and the previous plan will cut 350 million US dollars and raise it to 500 million US dollars.

In addition, Dow will also launch a restructuring plan with the goal of achieving annual EBITDA earnings of more than US$300 million by the end of 2021.

Dow CEO Jim Fitterling said: "Although this is a difficult decision, these measures are necessary to maintain competitiveness while the economic recovery gains momentum." However, Jim Fitlin said that with the support of the recovery of the Chinese economy and the "signs of improvement" in the European economy, the US economy showed "positive signs" in June. Data show that in the second quarter of Dow Chemical, the Asia-Pacific region's transaction volume increased by 3% year-on-year and 13% month-on-month.

Dow Chemical said that market demand for automobiles, construction, furniture and bedding is recovering. The company has restarted two polyethylene plants in Texas and Argentina. The operating rate of the company's ethylene and polyethylene facilities has rebounded to the same period last year.

Jim Fitterling said: "......Looking forward, as the economy recovers, we have significant potential market opportunities to drive business growth. Global economic indicators and end markets have begun to show signs of improvement, and we will continue to benefit from our unique competitive advantage, namely Industry-leading raw material flexibility, unparalleled material science portfolio, and diversified geographic and end markets enable it to continue to surpass competitors in the long run."