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United Technologies Corp. announced Friday it is laying off 500 salaried and hourly employees worldwide – including some in the Charlotte area – between now and the end of the year.
The multinational manufacturing and transportation company, which acquired Charlotte-based Goodrich Corp. this past summer, said it is laying off three workers at its Monroe plant and one in its Charlotte aerospace division headquarters.
The company started telling workers Friday, company spokesman Dan Coulom said. The company will continue to notify affected workers through December, Coulom said. He was not aware of additional layoffs planned for the Charlotte area, he said.
“As we assess our global workforce and align our operations with current business conditions, we have to make staffing adjustments required to make sure we remain competitive and manage our cost structure,” Coulom said.
Coulom said the cuts represent less than 2 percent of UTC Aerospace Systems’ roughly 40,000 employees worldwide.
United Technologies’ $18.4 billion acquisition of Goodrich was one of the company’s largest. Goodrich supplied fuel systems, brakes, landing gear, flight control systems and aircraft wheels and seats to various aircraft, military and space markets, and reported $8 billion in sales in 2011.
After announcing the merger, United Technologies said it planned to create a new headquarters in Charlotte for its aerospace business, UTC Aerospace Systems, and ultimately create 325 jobs paying an average of $200,000. The company currently employs roughly 240 workers at its Charlotte facility.
The Monroe plant, which is involved in customer service, employs about 250 people.
Charlotte and state officials chipped in for the headquarters, with each contributing $2.5 million worth of incentives, much of it upfront to help defray moving costs.
