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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Vestas to cut 2,335 workers worldwide; warns of 1,600 Colorado layoffs later
Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems announced it will cut 2
,335 employees around the world, most of them at a Danish manufacturing
plant, and said that 1,600 jobs at its Colorado factories could be
eliminated “later this year” if a federal production tax credit isn’t
extended beyond the end of 2012.
The 2,335 positions to be cut now include 182 in the U.S. Vestas officials
in Portland, Ore., where the company has its sales and service operations,
said the 182 positions will come from support functions, but the exact
locations haven’t been determined.
All the changes at the company will be announced no later than Feb. 8,
according to the company.
The U.S. Production Tax Credit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.
The tax credit pays wind operators a 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour credit
against their tax bills.
Aarhus, Denmark-based Vestas, which trades on the Copenhagen stock market at
symbol VWS, has spent about $1 billion in Colorado building four
manufacturing plants: two in Brighton, one in Windsor and one in Pueblo. It
also has a research and development facility in Louisville. The company has
said it employs more than 1,700 people in the state.
Vestas President and CEO Ditlev Engel told Bloomberg News that a decision
regarding the Colorado manufacturing jobs would be made no later than the
fourth quarter.
Vestas said Thursday’s cuts, about a tenth of its workforce, would help
reduce its costs by more than $190.3 million by the end of 2012.
Of the 2,335 people facing layoffs, about 1,300 will be in Denmark, the
company said.
Vestas’ North American division said the global layoffs included 182 jobs
in the U.S. — about 5 percent of the company’s U.S. and Canadian workforce
. The company did not say how many of the 182 U.S. jobs to be cut are in
Colorado, if any.
“I am truly sorry that we have to say goodbye to so many skilled and loyal
Vestas colleagues,” Engel said in a statement.
“The expected layoffs are one of the many steps that we now take in order
to bring down costs allowing continuous development of our products and
services and optimizing our already global presence in a highly competitive
wind energy market.
After the layoffs, Vestas said it will employ about 20,400 — of which 5,300
will be in Denmark.
Vestas cited the economic downturn and a desire to streamline the company as
driving the layoffs.
Engel warned that the staff reduction should be seen as preparing Vestas for
a downturn in the U.S. wind market should the wind energy tax credit be
allowed to expire at the end of 2012 and not be extended. Since 1999, the
tax credit has received seven short-term extensions, and been allowed to
lapse three times, according to the company.
“We are now preparing Vestas for the situation where one of our largest
single markets, the USA, may be facing a tough 2013,” Engel said in a
statement. “This will have a huge impact on our business, if we do not act
now.”
Engel said the global company will adjust its activities to accommodate its
most active markets
“This is also why we may have to further reduce capacity and costs later in
2012,” Engel said. “There is nothing wrong with the quality of our
employees’ efforts or our products in the markets where we will lay off
employees or close down factories. But obviously, we have to operate where
the markets are.”
Vestas officials had said they thought the Colorado plants might be spared
in Thursday’s round of layoffs and cost cutting due to the company’s
strong order backlog for North American wind farms.
In 2011, Vestas received 10 orders from U.S. customers amounting to 1,185
megawatts worth of power, and four from Canadian customers amounting to 432
megawatts of power. Combined, these 2011 turbine orders will provide enough
electricity to power about 500,000 homes.
Denise Bode, the president and CEO of the American Wind Energy Association
, a trade group, said Vestas’ announcement means Congress needs to extend
the tax credit sooner rather than later.
“The layoffs have begun, and every week that goes by without a PTC
extension puts these good American jobs at greater risk,” Bode said in a
statement.
“Manufacturers like Vestas have invested billions of dollars a year in the
U.S. economy, and wind energy has become one of the fastest-growing sources
of new American manufacturing jobs. Studies show that wind energy could put
100,000 Americans to work and support 500,000 jobs by 2030. But we have to
provide this industry with stable tax policies and a predictable business
climate. A PTC extension needs to be first on the list of priorities.”
Cathy Proctor covers energy, the environment, transportation and
construction for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Earth &
Energy" blog. Email: c******[email protected]. Phone: 303-803-9233. |
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