Massive cuts expected at DuPont’s HQ

Restructuring to eventually affect 10% of global workforce

DuPont will cut 1,700 jobs in its home state of Delaware and thousands more globally as it prepares for its merger with Dow Chemical.

Dow and DuPont announced earlier this month that they would join to create a giant chemical producer that will eventually be split into three independent companies.

At that time, DuPont announced a $700 million (U.S.) cost savings and restructuring program but did not specify how many jobs would be affected or where. DuPont CEO Ed Breen sent a letter to employees Tuesday informing them that approximately 1,700 Delaware positions would be eliminated at the beginning of the year.

DuPont, which has been based in Delaware for 213 years, said it would have preferred to let affected employees know of the news first but made the announcement now, amid the holidays, because it is legally required to inform the state by the end of the year of the local job cuts.

The company has approximately 54,000 employees worldwide and the restructuring program will ultimately affect about10 per cent of that workforce.

The combined company will split into three separate entities that will focus on material science, agriculture and specialty products

Delaware governor Jack Markell said the announcement of the job cuts is “deeply disappointing.”

“DuPont’s number one asset is its people, and the innovations that the company has produced during its storied history are a testament to the quality of those people,” Markell said in a statement.

The combined company, called DowDuPont, will eventually split into three separate entities that will focus on material science, agriculture and specialty products.

DowDuPont, which will have dual headquarters in Delaware and Michigan until it separates, expects their combination will cut annual expenses by $3 billion.