Kodak to cut another 1,000 employees
Sep 10, 2012 (Menafn - Dayton Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --The bankrupt Eastman Kodak Co. announced Monday a shakeup of top management and plans to cut another 1,000 jobs this year as it continues to burn through cash.
A Kodak spokesman declined to say whether the company's Kettering site -- Kodak's largest work site outside its Rochester, N.Y. corporate headquarters -- will see job cuts. Kodak has about 500 employees at the Miami Valley Research Park and laid off 66 employees there earlier this year.
The cuts follow the elimination of 2,700 jobs worldwide since the start of the year and represent anticipated savings of 330 million, Kodak said. The iconic photography and imaging company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January after battling sustained unprofitability.
The new cuts will leave Kodak with about 13,400 employees, far below its global employment peak of more than 145,000 in 1988.
The Kettering site designs and builds high-speed commercial printers. Late last month, a Kodak spokesman told the Dayton Daily News the Kettering operation will play a role in leading the company out of bankruptcy.
A spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Monday he had no WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) notice from Kodak. Companies are required to notify state government if they intend to lay off 50 or more employees within a 30-day period.
Meanwhile, Kodak continues to use more cash than it takes in. For the month of July, the most recent number available, the company's cash payouts exceeded its cash receipts by 74 million, according to court documents.
As for the management changes, Kodak said its president, Philip Faraci, and its chief financial officer, Antoinette McCorvey, are leaving the company.
Rebecca Roof, a managing director of AlixPartners, which is advising Kodak on its restructuring, will become the company's interim CFO, Kodak said.
Douglas Edwards will be president of the company's digital printing and enterprise division, and Brad Kruchten will be president of the company's graphics, entertainment and commercial films unit, Kodak said.
"Under this leadership structure, we are confident that we will move Kodak forward to conclude the Chapter 11 process and position the Kodak that emerges as a growing, sustainable, profitable company that continues to meet the needs of our customers," Antonio Perez, Kodak's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
Management changes can be seen as a "fresh start" for a company trying to re-establish itself, said Eric Chaffee, a University of Dayton School of Law associate professor and chair of the school's Project for Law & Business Ethics.
Such changes can be beneficial, but "at the same time, there is something to be said for allowing experienced people to continue running the company," Chaffee said.
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