Andersen trims over 100 area jobs

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Andersen Corporation announced at noon Tuesday (July 14) that it will cut 250 management and office staff positions within the next two weeks.

Over half of those jobs are at the Bayport, Minn., facility. Not all are currently filled.

In January the company announced the temporary layoff of about 600 production workers. Those employees are now back on the job, said Maureen McDonough, Andersen's director of corporate communications. She said the cuts announced Tuesday will be permanent.

The reduction amounts to about 10% of the company's management and support staff.

The adjustment will result in "leaner management and support staff," said McDonough during a conference call. The reduction will occur through a combination of early retirements, not refilling open positions, attrition and job eliminations.

Over the years, the company has acquired a number of businesses with their own support staffs, said McDonough. She said some of those functions, such as accounting, payroll and information technology, are now being centralized or integrated. Andersen is not outsourcing any of those functions, said McDonough.

The production workers laid off in January were called back when orders picked up due to seasonal demand, a series of sales and marketing initiatives and increased orders attributed to federal tax credits for energy-efficient replacement windows and doors.

Still, said McDonough, it looks as though construction demand won't recover until late 2010 at the earliest. Evidence of that is rising unemployment, escalating foreclosures, falling home prices, tighter credit and weak consumer confidence, she said.

McDonough said Andersen closed plants in North Carolina and Massachusetts earlier this year but is not anticipating more cuts in the near future.

"I'm hoping that this is the last time," she said. "I'm hoping that we're sized correctly."

Employees affected by the permanent job eliminations will be provided with severance pay, benefit continuation and job search help. In addition, they can apply for state unemployment benefits.

Andersen employs nearly 11,000 people across North America. About 3,500 work in Minnesota.

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