Layoffs at 3M’s Maplewood HQ rise to 1,100 with remote workers
3M Co. has advised state officials that it will lay off 1,100 employees from its Maplewood headquarters, including 500 out-of-state workers who operate remotely.
The 1,100 employees noted in a WARN notice to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, or DEED, include the 600 Minnesota-based layoffs announced last week. Overall, 3M’s restructuring actions will affect 6,000 positions globally, at least 6 percent of its more than 90,000 workers, a cost-cutting move that follows sluggish sales figures in the U.S. and abroad.
As of last month, 3M employed about 12,635 workers in Minnesota.
3M, a Minnesota-based Fortune 500 company and maker of adhesives, medical and home cleaning supplies, building materials and more, said in its restructuring announcement last month it would take steps to “reduce layers of management,” “further simplify and strengthen our supply chain structure” and “streamline our go-to-market business models” to improve margins and cash flow.
The company that has become a household name for consumer products such as Scotch Tape and Post-It Notes announced it would also “prioritize investments in high-growth end markets where 3M science gives us a clear competitive advantage.”
The goal, upon completion of the restructuring, is to achieve annual pre-tax savings of $700 million to $900 million.
Employee layoffs at the corporate headquarters will begin on June 30, and “employees are not represented by a union and bumping rights do not exist,” reads the WARN letter, dated May 1, from 3M human resources to DEED.
The latest cuts come in addition to 2,500 manufacturing jobs globally that 3M announced it would shed in January. It attributed those layoffs at the time to weakened consumer demand and disruptions in overseas operations.
3M, founded in 1902 in Two Harbors, Minn., was originally known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing and specialized in mining mineral deposit for sandpaper and grinding wheels. Since then, the multinational conglomerate has expanded into some 600,000 products, from stationery to orthodontics, as well as health information software, biopharmaceuticals and a line of products geared toward the automotive industry.
The company last year announced plans to spin off its healthcare units into their own Fortune 500 company, with 3M retaining about a 20% stake. It’s also faced costly litigation related to its Combat Arms Earplugs, as well as PFAS, or forever chemicals in water supplies.
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