In the first three months of the year, 3M cut 1,200 jobs as part of an ongoing restructuring amid tough economic conditions, a company spokeswoman said on April 1.
Catherine Hamon, spokeswoman for 3M France, said that 3M had slashed 2,400 jobs in the 2008 fourth quarter, a payroll reduction far larger than the nearly 1,800 job cuts announced last December.
A little more than half the job cuts, which represent 1.5% of the company's global workforce of 79,000 employees, target 3M's operations outside the United States, she said.
"These measures are being taken to adjust to the context of a global recession," she said.
The St. Paul, Minnesota-based company announced on December 8 it was cutting nearly 1,800 jobs in the 2008 fourth quarter and reorganizing 10 production and administrative sites worldwide.
The company expects the headcount reductions to generate $225 million in savings in 2009.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
