East Hartford jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney will lay off about 454 Connecticut employees amid a business environment stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement released Tuesday, Pratt said reduced demand in its commercial businesses has led the company to implement an “involuntary separation program.
“These actions are consistent with steps taken by our customers and competitors,” Pratt said in a statement. “As difficult as these decisions are, taking actions to resize our workforce today… ensures a strong future for the company, our employees, customers and shareowners.”
Pratt didn’t disclose the number of planned layoffs, but East Hartford Mayor Marcia Leclerc said a representative of Pratt & Whitney told her that 454 positions in Connecticut will be eliminated, including 381 at the manufacturer’s main hub in East Hartford.
The company did not disclose what divisions would be affected, Leclerc said, but the mention of salaried employees suggests the layoffs could include administrative staff and engineers.
The representative also indicated that laid-off employees would continue to be paid through Thursday, according to the mayor.
Leclerc said cuts at Pratt are especially concerning because they will almost certainly create a ripple effect through the local economy.
“There’s many private manufacturers that rely on Pratt & Whitney and that produce parts used in their products,” she said. “I’m sure there will be a trickle-down effect and I hope things will eventually be able to ramp back up.”
Between its main campus and a plant in Middletown, Pratt & Whitney has about 13,000 workers in Connecticut.
News of Pratt’s planned layoffs comes a month after its parent company, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Technologies Corp., announced it will lay off 15,000 employees in its commercial aerospace and corporate divisions, as the multinational defense and commercial aerospace conglomerate seeks $2 billion in cost savings.
Raytheon posted a $3.8-billion loss during 2020’s second quarter, largely due to a pandemic-related drop-off of commercial aviation sales.
In the second quarter of 2020, Raytheon lost $3.8 billion or $2.55 per share, compared to a $1.2-billion or $1.38 per share profit in the year-ago period. Raytheon recorded $14 billion in net sales in the second quarter, compared with $11.3 billion a year earlier.
Right now, about one-third of Raytheon’s revenues are coming from commercial aerospace, with the rest coming from the defense side, Hayes said. That’s a departure from pre-COVID expectations of an approximately 50/50 split.