Kickstart: Layoffs at Newell, 3M; 'short-term pain'

The steady drumbeat of layoffs is spreading from technology companies to manufacturers, with consumer products giant Newell Brands saying it will cut 13 percent of its staff, move "to a unified global supply chain organization and centralizing manufacturing," in a process the company is calling "Project Phoenix."

Newell's brand portfolio includes Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Papermate and Graco.

"These actions are a continuation of the simplification agenda that we have driven over the last four years and in response to the difficult macro-economic environment," CEO Ravi Saligram said in a Jan. 23 announcement on its website.

Newell, based in suburban Atlanta, also will close its corporate offices in Boca Raton, Fla., once home to Jarden Corp. — the housewares company and owner of the Coleman, Sunbeam and Yankee Candle brands — that Newell purchased in 2015. Boca Raton employees will work remotely and from an office in Miami, Newell said, adding that home appliances remain a priority for the company.

In addition, Minnesota-based 3M Co. said in its quarterly report that it will cut 2,500 jobs as part of a restructuring. That work includes plans to spin off its health care business.

"In a year impacted by inflation, global conflicts and economic softening, our team took actions to position 3M for future success," said CEO Mike Roman.

Slowdowns and job cuts from big companies right now, of course, aren't a surprise. The global economy has been struggling since the start of the pandemic, with supply chain shortages and rising inflation adding economic pain points.

In his January Numbers That Matter column, Plastics News Economics Editor Bill Wood says the U.S. economy in general — and plastics specifically — will have to "endure a period of short-term pain before we return to a sustainable level of strong economic fitness."

That pain won't be distributed evenly. Residential construction is "already in a recession," he writes. But at the same time, the U.S. economy may be moving toward a milder recession than originally forecast.

"I do not want to understate the pain that comes with the loss of jobs," Bill writes. "But the Fed has been aggressively trying to destroy demand, and that means people are going to lose jobs eventually. I hope the suffering will be minimal, and I am certain it will be much less than it would have been if inflation had been allowed to get out of control."

Another British royal has waded into the plastics debate, this time with Princess Eugenie saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that "at home we have no plastic. … We try to as much as possible have no plastic."

I'm pretty sure that Eugenie, the daughter of Prince Edward and 11th in the line of succession, really does have plastic at home in appliances, electronics, wiring, furniture and other items, but instead meant to refer to packaging and other single-use items.

She went on to say that she's raising her son, now 2 years old, to be an activist. Sure hope he doesn't like Legos.