Workforce Reductions Accelerate At UTC [The Hartford Courant, Conn.] 10/25 09:49 AM Oct. 25--In July, August and September, United Technologies Corp. announced downsizing that will result in 1,600 fewer jobs at the multinational corporation, an accelerated pace of cuts but still a small reduction at a company that had 208,000 employees at the end of last year.
The 1,600 figure, which UTC reported in a federal filing Monday, is larger than the announced cuts for the entire first half of the year.
In the first six months of the year, UTC planned job reductions of 1,200 worldwide, including 100 salaried workers across the United States with Hamilton Sundstrand in January, and then 214 of 1,063 Hamilton Machinists in Connecticut, announced in March. The eliminations won't begin until next year.
In September, Sikorsky announced 567 job cuts worldwide, the bulk of which will be union workers in Connecticut -- 384, as well as 35 salaried workers in the state. Some of those reductions are expected to come this year, but will continue into next year.
Sikorsky has 18,000 employees globally, more than half of them -- 9,200 -- in Connecticut. Sikorsky's workforce in the state has grown significantly in the past decade, increasing by 2,000. Sikorsky has also been cutting manufacturing jobs in New York, where nearly 400 job cuts were announced there in the third quarter..
The largest jump in restructuring spending in the last three months, however, has been at Otis, the company's elevator and escalator division, which has headquarters in Connecticut but few employees in the state. In the first six months of the year, Otis spent $6 million on restructuring, and then spent $39 million in July, August and September.
Restructuring costs can include shuttering plants and paying severance. Most UTC cuts in the hourly workforce in Connecticut are done through early retirement offers. |
