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Weyerhaeuser chopping 1,500 jobs -” most at HQ
By Dan Catchpole, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, August 06, 2008 | No comments posted.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Ray Oen cleared out his office at Weyerhaeuser Co.’s headquarters on Tuesday, and carried a box of personal items to his car. On top was a photo of the nuclear submarine he served aboard as an officer.
The Bellevue man is one of 1,500 employees being laid off by Weyerhaeuser, which announced the cuts earlier in the day. About 1,000 of the job cuts are at Weyerhaeuser’s Federal Way, Wash., headquarters where 2,500 people work. The rest are scattered across the country.
The layoffs are largely in support services for paper and packaging units that have been sold, company spokesman Bruce Amundson said.
The cuts are part of an ongoing plan to scale back operations to focus on timberlands and wood products, he said.
Weyerhaeuser has taken several actions to reduce its size in recent years, including the $6 billion sale of its containerboard unit to International Paper Co., which closed this week.
Weyerhaeuser had about 37,900 employees at the end of 2007. Some 14,000 went to International Paper in the containerboard sale.
The company currently employs about 23,900 salaried and hourly workers.
“I understand the reason the company’s doing this, and it has to. The company’s not as big as it was two years ago,” said Oen, who worked in Weyerhaeuser’s transportation division for 12 years. The company handled the layoffs well, he said.
The mood inside was muted, but not angry or fearful, he said.
“It’s a chance to find the next opportunity in my career,” Oen said. But leaving Weyerhaeuser is “bittersweet.”
The layoffs were announced the same day the company reported a quarterly loss of $96 million, compared with a profit of $32 million a year earlier.
The layoffs were not a reaction to the earnings report, Amundson said.
Amundson said 900 employees are being laid off by the end of 2008, and another 600 by the end of 2009.
The company will be vacating some office space it currently leases near its corporate campus, Amundson said.
Federal Way currently has around 1 million square feet of vacant office space, of which 30 percent to 40 percent was formerly occupied by Weyerhaeuser, according to Patrick Doherty, the city’s economic development planner.
The suburb sandwiched between Seattle and Tacoma is launching a marketing campaign in October to lure businesses, Doherty said, noting its office space rents are lower than either big city.
Still, the city’s economy and 40,000 jobs are not dependent on Weyerhaeuser, he said.
Federal Way Mayor Jack Dovey said the Weyerhaeuser job cuts had been expected, based on the company’s restructuring.
The city is considering efforts to help any Federal Way employees laid off by Weyerhaeuser find new jobs, Dovey said.
The cuts could help the city attract other businesses, he said, adding, “for the right employers it could be a great opportunity to find (skilled) employees that live here.”
Local businesses likely won’t be affected much, Doherty said. Weyerhaeuser’s campus is located away from the city center, and no stores solely depend on its employees for customers.
A Subway sandwich shop a couple miles away gets 10 or 15 regular Weyerhaeuser employees for lunch, said Subway employee Jim Hubler. He doesn’t expect the layoffs will affect the store.
The Bellevue man is one of 1,500 employees being laid off by Weyerhaeuser, which announced the cuts earlier in the day. About 1,000 of the job cuts are at Weyerhaeuser’s Federal Way, Wash., headquarters where 2,500 people work. The rest are scattered across the country.
The layoffs are largely in support services for paper and packaging units that have been sold, company spokesman Bruce Amundson said.
The cuts are part of an ongoing plan to scale back operations to focus on timberlands and wood products, he said.
Weyerhaeuser has taken several actions to reduce its size in recent years, including the $6 billion sale of its containerboard unit to International Paper Co., which closed this week.
Weyerhaeuser had about 37,900 employees at the end of 2007. Some 14,000 went to International Paper in the containerboard sale.
The company currently employs about 23,900 salaried and hourly workers.
“I understand the reason the company’s doing this, and it has to. The company’s not as big as it was two years ago,” said Oen, who worked in Weyerhaeuser’s transportation division for 12 years. The company handled the layoffs well, he said.
The mood inside was muted, but not angry or fearful, he said.
“It’s a chance to find the next opportunity in my career,” Oen said. But leaving Weyerhaeuser is “bittersweet.”
The layoffs were announced the same day the company reported a quarterly loss of $96 million, compared with a profit of $32 million a year earlier.
The layoffs were not a reaction to the earnings report, Amundson said.
Amundson said 900 employees are being laid off by the end of 2008, and another 600 by the end of 2009.
The company will be vacating some office space it currently leases near its corporate campus, Amundson said.
Federal Way currently has around 1 million square feet of vacant office space, of which 30 percent to 40 percent was formerly occupied by Weyerhaeuser, according to Patrick Doherty, the city’s economic development planner.
The suburb sandwiched between Seattle and Tacoma is launching a marketing campaign in October to lure businesses, Doherty said, noting its office space rents are lower than either big city.
Still, the city’s economy and 40,000 jobs are not dependent on Weyerhaeuser, he said.
Federal Way Mayor Jack Dovey said the Weyerhaeuser job cuts had been expected, based on the company’s restructuring.
The city is considering efforts to help any Federal Way employees laid off by Weyerhaeuser find new jobs, Dovey said.
The cuts could help the city attract other businesses, he said, adding, “for the right employers it could be a great opportunity to find (skilled) employees that live here.”
Local businesses likely won’t be affected much, Doherty said. Weyerhaeuser’s campus is located away from the city center, and no stores solely depend on its employees for customers.
A Subway sandwich shop a couple miles away gets 10 or 15 regular Weyerhaeuser employees for lunch, said Subway employee Jim Hubler. He doesn’t expect the layoffs will affect the store.
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