Goodyear's plan: no more layoffs in North America

Jan. 18, 2003

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s recent round of lay-offs has nothing to do with production, according to a Goodyear spokesman.

The tiremaker "will probably make more reductions in the future," but does not plan to lay off more people at its Akron, Ohio, headquarters or throughout its North American Tire organization -- two units that will lose nearly 500 salaried staff positions -- "as long as we meet our business plans. We're going to have to take costs out in other areas of the company to succeed."

Among the workers laid off was one unnamed vice president.

Approximately 200 jobs already have been eliminated through attrition since the start of last year's fourth quarter.

Goodyear's remaining Akron employees were gathered on Friday and informed of the layoffs and the reasons for them by Goodyear officials.

The actions will save Goodyear $75 million during the 2003 fiscal year, according to the company.