Dow layoffs are reportedly here as the chemical giant navigates tough waters. As per a report, amid low quarter revenue, Dow Inc. has reportedly decided to layoff as many as 2,000 employees soon.
According to a Reuters report, since inflation and supply chain disruptions have caught onto Dow, the chemical giant has decided to hand over these pink slips. While the larger picture of Dow layoffs is similar to the tech layoffs, which happens to be a global economic downturn, the chemical giant has also reasoned these job cuts to the lowest common denominator.
The Reuters report adds that Howard Ungerleider, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Dow has said that while the pace of inflation has relatively eased, the overall cost levels remain elevated. Production costs, too, remain elevated due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and incidents like China’s COVID-led lockdowns, signs of global economic slowdown etc., have slowed the demand for Dow’s chemicals across sectors.
As of now, Dow expects recent shifts in China’s COVID policy to trigger demand eventually, not immediately. “Chemical prices are likely to go up in the first quarter (2023) and we will see better demand in the second quarter," Reuters quoted Aleksey Yefremov, analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, as saying.
Dow layoffs come at a time when the global economy is going through a slowdown and companies across sectors are indulging in mass layoffs. What started as tech layoffs in 2022, slowly spread to other areas and as per experts, this trend is also expected to continue in 2023.
