3M Plans To Cut 6,000 Jobs Due To Low Profits

(CTN News) – As a result of falling profits, US industrial conglomerate 3M announced Tuesday that it would cut 6,000 jobs from its workforce, citing particularly weak demand for consumer electronics as one of the reasons.

The job cuts are being implemented across 3M’s operations globally, the company said, whose business spans several sectors including transportation and health care.

As Chief Executive Officer Mike Roman told the company’s shareholders, the company maintained a “relentless focus on serving customers and aggressively managing costs” during the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

In order to strengthen 3M’s position for the future, we today announced a number of actions that will reduce costs at the corporate center, simplify and strengthen our supply chain structure, and streamline our go-to-market business models,” he explained.

As a result of lower revenues of $8.0 billion in the first quarter, 3M’s profits were $979 million, down 25 percent from the previous quarter.

The company reported that it was experiencing “significant weakness” in consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets, and televisions in its earnings presentation.

3M, on the other hand, predicted that the consumer electronics market would stabilize by the second half of 2023, as opposed to the first half.

In addition, the company noted that there had been a decline in the sales of face masks since their elevated levels in the 2022 quarter as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company stated it would focus on “high-growth” segments such as automotive electrification in order to counter these trends. It added that it planned to invest in areas such as climate technology, sustainable packaging, and other “emerging areas” to offset these trends.

Three M expects to save $700 million – $900 million per year through the job cuts, according to the company.

In pre-market trade, 3M’s shares were trading at $104.50, down 0.5 percent from their pre-market close of $104.32.

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