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David Nicholas: Headline out of Midland, Michigan that there are impending layoffs at Dow. We are speaking with Dave Clark, editor of the Midland Daily News. Dave, thanks for joining us.
Dave Clark: Thanks for having me.
DN: First place to start, how many employees are being announced in this layoff and what reason, why are they being laid off? What reason is given?
DC: So, that's the question on everyone's minds. And unfortunately, we don't have a clear answer from Dow as to how many employees in Midland are going to be affected. We reached out to the company and tried to get some sort of response on that. And they told us that out of respect for the folks that are being laid off company-wide, they're not giving any specifics, site-specific details. I want to emphasize this is not a number that was provided by the company, but it seems to be about 500 jobs.
DN: Is there a timeline put forward on when the reductions will actually be made?
DC: There is no timeline. Now, the plan, which is called Transform to Overperform, was announced in January. as part of their report to shareholders. So over the course of 2026, the 4,500 global positions would be reduced. That's about 13% of Dow's global workforce. So it seems that those reductions are now underway.
And as recently as a week and a half ago, employees in Midland started to get response from the company that their jobs were going to be eliminated, as well as the fact that, you know, other offers had been extended to long-term employees for early retirements and separations.
DN: At present, how many employees of Dow remain in Midland, and how much reduction has there been to date if we go back and look at some prior reductions that have taken place?
DC: We start with the current job reductions as part of this transform to overperform plan. They're shutting down some European operations, including an ethylene plant in Germany and a plant in South Wales. So that in and of itself is about 800 employees.
Other published reports include 600 positions eliminated in the Netherlands. That's about 22% of its overall Dutch workforce that's gonna be eliminated. And according to published reports out of Texas, So far, there's been 100 employees that have been laid off at Dow's Seadrift manufacturing site. So that gets us to about 1,500 employees so far before we factor in anyone being laid off in Michigan.
In Texas, the Dow workforce is about 7,000 people and then 4,500 contractors. So that is actually Dow's largest employment center. Texas alone accounts for roughly 20% of Dow's global workforce. Michigan is second. So Michigan total, the operations in the corporate headquarters is about 6,000 workers. That's about 17% of Dow's global workforce.
DN: You said that the feeling is that it might be in the neighborhood of 500 jobs. Well, when it comes to the overall reaction of these actions being taken, what is the feeling on the street?
DC: Well, people are rightly concerned. Any time you would have a major employer potentially shed as many as 500 jobs, that's going to impact our schools, the secondary businesses, the retailers, the restaurants. So, I think there's a general state of unease.
And I think that comes from the company not being fully transparent about how many potential job cuts could happen in this community. And Dow’s not alone in that. I think if you research other corporations that have shed jobs over the last couple of years, they do the same thing. They announce kind of the global, you know, goal that they're trying to reach and don't offer a lot of specifics. But in doing that, individual communities can get very concerned.
So, I would describe the state of Midland right now as uneasy, but I think things will shake out relatively soon. and we'll hopefully understand the scope of this and what it means for the community.
DN: Dave Clark, editor of the Midland Daily News, thanks so much for taking the time to join us and thanks for your reporting on this.
DC: Thank you.
