Goodyear to Cut 340 Jobs Globally

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said Friday it will eliminate 340 jobs in its engineered products and chemical businesses to reduce costs.
The nation’s largest tiremaker will cut 240 jobs in engineered products by the end of the third quarter of 2005 and 100 in its chemical business by the end of 2004. The jobs will be eliminated at several unnamed facilities in North America and Europe.
The Akron-based company will record a charge of between $23.5 million and $27.5 million in engineered products and a charge of between $5.5 million and $6 million in its chemical business. All figures in U.S. dollars.
Goodyear reported its first quarterly profit last month since the third quarter of 2002, propelled by strong sales of its new, all-weather Assurance tire.
All seven Goodyear business units were profitable in the second quarter. From 2002 to 2003, the company lost more than $2 billion.
Goodyear has struggled in recent years to recover from a restructuring that slashed 6,000 job cuts, accounting errors that cost it $280 million and more than $3 billion spent on restructuring.
Company shares closed up 2 cents at $11.54 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.