DuPont announced on May 7 it was slashing 2,000 more jobs as part of its restructuring, on top of 2,500 layoffs in December.

The company aims to "preserve our strong cash position, streamline and accelerate our approach to markets and better position our businesses as global economies rebound," said DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman. "Our objective is not simply to weather the recession and wait for recovery. Our goal is to emerge from this global recession stronger, faster and more agile than ever before," the Kullman said.

The company already announce in April that it hoped to reduction costs this year by between $730 million and one billion dollars.

In additional to the layoffs, "certain assets will be rationalized as part of the restructuring plan" at DuPont the company CEO said.

She added: "DuPont will continue aggressive actions to reduce costs and capital expenditures, in addition to maintaining an appropriate level of investment for high-growth, high-margin businesses."

DuPont announced last month that its first-quarter net profit tumbled 59% to $488 million  in the face of "more challenging economic conditions." Consolidated net sales in the period were $6.9 billion, a 20% drop from the previous year, the company said. The $488 million dollars in profit is a steep drop from the $1.197 billion in profit from the same period last year.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009