Chemical giant Dow will lay off 2,000 jobs!

On January 26, the US chemical giant Dow Chemical released a report that due to rising energy costs, weak demand and supply chain disruptions, the company's profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 was less than Wall Street's expectations, and the announcement would lay off about 2,000 employees worldwide, in addition to closing some factories, reducing raw material purchases and cutting logistics and utility costs.

Jim Fitterling, Chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical, said, "We are taking these actions to further improve our cost structure and adapt our business to the most competitive, lowest-cost and fastest-growing markets, while addressing macroeconomic uncertainty and challenging energy markets, especially in Europe." ”

It is reported that Dow Chemical is an American materials science company, whose products are used in construction, water purification, papermaking, medicine, transportation, food and food packaging, household products and personal care and other fields. The company employs approximately 37,800 people worldwide, and the layoffs equate to 5% of the total workforce.

Dow Chemical reported lower than expected results for the fourth quarter of 2022 due to rising energy costs, weak demand and supply chain disruptions.

In 2022, Dow Chemical achieved net sales of US$56.9 billion, down 3.45% year-on-year, and net income fell by more than 27% to US$4.64 billion; in the fourth quarter, net sales reached US$11.859 billion, down 17.6% year-on-year; The net profit was 647 million US dollars, down 64.05% from the same period last year.

"The decline in profits in the European market was the main factor in the company's performance, but the above-mentioned layoffs are not only for employees in the European region." Jim Fitling said.

Coincidentally, in the third quarter of last year, BASF also announced its cost-reduction plan after losing 130 million euros in Germany, deciding to "move away" from Europe.

Although the energy crisis has been easing in recent months, the chemical industry has been hit hard, with production falling rapidly. According to the Association of the German Chemical Industry (VCI), Germany's chemical production in 2022 will fall by about 10% year-on-year.