Shelton-based manufacturer The Eastern Company will reduce its workforce, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Eastern has not specified how many job losses there will be, or where the reductions will take place. But it expects the workforce reduction will decrease its annual operating costs by approximately $4 million.
The company says in the filing that the job losses will “better align its workforce with the needs of its business following a comprehensive review of its structure.”
The company has operations in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and China in addition to Connecticut.
Eastern also estimates that it will incur charges of about $1 million related to severance payments and other costs, which it will record primarily in the second quarter of 2025.
As of the end of 2024, the company employed 1,246 full-time employees, 612 of them in the U.S. Just over 21% of its U.S. employees are represented by collective bargaining agreements, according to Eastern’s annual report.
The company came under new leadership last year, with the appointment of Ryan Schroeder as CEO.
Eastern’s subsidiary companies design and manufacture vehicular and industrial hardware, including packaging solutions, access and security hardware, mirrors and mirror-cameras.
In the first quarter of this year, the company began the sell-off of its Big 3 Mold business as part of a strategic review of its portfolio.
It also restructured the footprint of its Big 3 Precision arm in Michigan, and consolidated some production activities into an existing Illinois facility.
Releasing the results, Schroeder called the first quarter a period of “significant change” for the company.
“Today’s macro-economic environment is challenging, particularly in the heavy-duty truck market, which negatively impacted our Q1 results and the size of our backlog at quarter-end,” he said. “ We are staying nimble to mitigate the effect of changing dynamics on Eastern’s portfolio of businesses and are regularly updating our operating plans with a focus on margin protection.”
The company leases just under 4,000 square feet of space in Shelton, at 3 Enterprise Drive, for its corporate headquarters.
