United Technologies, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky, said this week it will eliminate 11,600 jobs worldwide, or about 5 percent of its workforce. “The outlook for commercial aerospace and global construction markets has continued to deteriorate since UTC’s December investor meeting and the economic recovery previously anticipated in the second half of 2009 now appears unlikely,” said CEO Louis Chenevert in a news release on Tuesday. “In 2008, UTC anticipated slowing economies for 2009, although not at the severity which has since developed. … Employment reductions will total approximately 18,000 or slightly more than 8 percent over the two years. These difficult actions will allow us to continue outperforming peers.”
The company, based in Hartford, Conn., also owns aerospace manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand and several non-aviation businesses. Pratt & Whitney also said this week it will furlough all of its workers for five days this year. Chenevert told industry analysts at a conference in New York that he intends for the company “to be fully prepared for a deeper and longer deterioration of market conditions.”
