Company says it must respond to oversupplied markets, high raw materials costs and poor growth in many regions

US silicon products manufacturer Dow Corning is to cut 500 jobs, 4% of its global workforce, in a bid to ‘better align the company’s cost structure with the realities of today’s volatile global economy’. The company says it is facing significant challenges including oversupplied markets, high raw materials costs and poor growth in many regions.

The move follows recent announcements about job cuts at several big chemical companies, including Dow (2400 jobs), DuPont (1500) and Lonza (500).

‘Dow Corning has added significant professional capability and resources in support of expected and sustained growth in recent years,’ said Robert Hansen, chief executive. ‘Since that growth didn’t materialise as expected, it was necessary to re-evaluate those investment decisions, given the state of the global economy.’

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