Evonik cuts jobs in cost savings

As part of a plan to reduce costs by $230 million, Evonik Industries intends to cut up to 1,000 sales and administration jobs by the end of 2020. Under the terms of a union agreement, Germany-based employees won’t be let go for business-related reasons. But John Rolando, president of Evonik’s North America arm, tells C&EN that employee reductions will be seen throughout the company, largely through attrition and retirement. The plan will also save $58 million through raw material cost reductions. Amidst the cost cutting, Evonik continues to expand in North America, which makes up about a quarter of the firm’s $17 billion in annual sales. The firm will add 50 production jobs to its contract manufacturing operations as part of a $40 million expansion. Plans call for building a 2,900-m2 facility to make the firm’s Resomer bioresorbable polymers and adding a filling line for injectable products, both in Birmingham, Ala. The firm will also double the size of its contract development facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, which specializes in lipid nanoparticle-based injectable drugs, to 4,300 m2. A $120 million precipitated silica plant under construction in Charleston, S.C., is slated to start full production in early 2019. And Evonik expanded its facility in Calvert City, Ky., to produce more of a hydroprocessing catalyst for an undisclosed partner.