Kodak Informs Layoff Plans to Ohio Government

Eastman Kodak Co. has informed the Ohio government that it will lay off 66 employees by April 19.

A letter dated Monday and carrying the information was sent to Ohio’s Department of Job & Family Services. The letter indicated that the layoffs would be permanent and would be followed with more layoffs later.

The letter, issued by Marva Cosby, the human resources director of the digital printing solutions division of Kodak mentioned, “Over the next few weeks, smaller layoffs are expected from other departments in Dayton, and we will keep you (the government) updated as they occur.”

The immediate layoffs include three engineering designers, four mechanical engineers and five manufacturing technicians among others.

In January, Kodak, which is one of the most respected American brands, initiated the process of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to save itself from creditors. Earlier this month, a Kodak spokesperson told Dayton Daily News that at least 80 out of its 500 employees in Kettering were going to lose jobs. That amounts to about 16% of Kodak’s workforce in Dayton, and the first wave of job cuts following the company filing for bankruptcy protection.

However, a spokesperson for the company assured that the company did not have plans to move the unit away from Kettering. Christopher Veronda, the Kodak spokesperson said, “We have been investing significantly in our commercial inkjet, and we plan to continue investing in the business …Most of that investment is focused on Dayton, since it’s home to the business.”

Sources from the industry reported that the production of commercial inkjet printers at Kettering’s Miami Valley Research Park, were vital for Kodak’s present and future business. The facilities produced 4,000 digital-format ready-for-printing color pages of photographic quality every working minute. The current cost of production at Kettering came to less than one cent per page and as such the operations had a high cost-benefit ratio.

Though the company seems to be hounded by creditors, as evinced by its act of filing for bankruptcy, the operations at Kettering remain profitable, and there has been no reports issued by the company about lack of demand for its services offered from Kettering.