Corning Incorporated to Cut Jobs

Corning Incorporated is a name that many already know of, if you do a lot of cooking, but the company is a lot more than just ceramics. Here is a look at how the company chooses to describe itself,  “Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 160 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences. Our products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware & equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy, and metrology.”

Corning Cable Systems, a part of that larger company, is getting ready to make a mass layoff action happen. For those of you who are not familiar with the idea of a mass layoff action here is a look at how the federal government defines the term, “The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.”

In this case the company will be letting go of about 90 of its workers in the layoff action. The workers, who are all temporary employees, are going to be cut back relatively swiftly. There is no word about what kind of severance, if any will be offered to the company’s workers as they depart the company.

The company chose, during one of its most recent press releases to highlight an announcement about their technology, instead of talking about the loss of the workers. Here is an excerpt from that release that will get you up to speed on the company’s priorities in no time at all, “ Corning MobileAccess, part of Corning Incorporated’s (NYSE:GLW) Telecommunications segment, announced that its distributed antenna systems (DAS) have been deployed at major locations in Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., in support of the 2012 Republican and Democratic national conventions. In all, Corning MobileAccess’ solutions provide continuous wireless access and improved cellular coverage in 12 key places – including convention centers and hotels – in the two cities where the national conventions are being held.”

Of course this is not the only large company in the technology area that is getting rid of workers in order to service the bottom line. For those of you who missed out on our earlier coverage of cuts to IBM here is an excerpt that will get you up to speed in no time at all, “Grim news is coming out IBM. The company has recently laid off between 1,000 and 1,200 depending on whose estimates you believe. According to data released by the IBM Employee s Union CWA Local 1701, since Feb. 27, the company has laid off least 1,202 IBM workers. When you consider how short of a span that is the number are truly startling.”