DuPont moves ahead on job cuts ahead of Dow merger

Employees in the state were notified Tuesday in an internal memo from CEO Edward Breen, provided to Delaware Public Media by a company spokesman.

DuPont (NYSE:DD) will reduce its workforce by 28% in DE early next year as the chemical company proceeds with a merger with Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW).

The company has approximately 54,000 employees worldwide and said the restructuring program will affect about 10 percent of that workforce.

This morning, Dupont sent a letter to employees saying the job cuts are set for the beginning of the new year.

The cost cuts outlined in the planned Dow-DuPont merger, which would create an entity with roughly $120 billion in market value, have stoked anxiety in both Wilmington and Dow’s hometown of Midland, Mich., with both cities’ histories entwined with the companies.

Although DuPont will eliminate almost 1 in 4 of its remaining positions in DE, the company is not expected to shutter any of its local properties.

After the merger, the specialty products business will remain in Wilmington, Breen said.

According to Dupont an update on the discussion to pick the location for the Agricultural headquarters should be announced in the months ahead.

The jobs cuts are “deeply disappointing, especially to the thousands of Delawareans who helped this company grow and succeed for generations”, DE governor Jack Markell said in a statement.

It is the first time that takeovers have exceeded the $5 trillion level, fueled by extremely low interest rates.

DuPont Co. has started reducing its expenses by $1.6 billion and the details about layoffs have cropped up in the past few months as a result of that.

He added that DuPont had not been merely a source of employment, but also Delaware’s source of pride.

The news of the research restructuring comes on the heels of the December 11 announcement that DuPont will merge with Dow Chemical, with the combined company to be named DowDuPont.

The memo and other documents were filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Reports from Dow Jones Newswires were used in this story.