Stratford based Sikorsky Aircraft, which produces and manufactures the Black Hawk helicopter has announced it will cut 600 jobs to Sikorsky Worldwide, which has jobs in Stratford, and throughout other parts of Connecticut.
According to Chief of Staff to Mayor John A. Harkins, who has been in communications with Sikorsky and its parent company, United Technologies, the layoffs are not all Stratford based. About half of the layoffs are salaried employees and half hourly employees. About half of the hourly employees took voluntary separation agreements. It is not yet estimated how many jobs will be lost in Stratford, but most will be in other sites around the state.
In a news conference, Sikorsky and UTC spokesperson Paul Jackson stated, "This workforce reduction will occur over the next several weeks and follow significant cost reduction actions that the company has already taken." Jackson also corroborated that half of the cuts were for hourly employees, with half of them taking voluntary separation agreements. Jackson and the Teamsters Local 1150 who represent nearly 5,000 Sikorsky employees attributed the job cuts to broader budget cuts and a 20 percent reduction in Black Hawk orders by the US Defense Department.
"Right now my top concern is to help the displaced workers. But we also must look at the bigger issues at play. Connecticut's economy is suffering and our job market is shrinking. When a layoff of this scale occurs, it becomes clear that Connecticut is in trouble. If our employers cannot prosper, neither can our people," said Senator Kelly. Senator Kelly followed up with communication to Department of Labor Secretary Glen Marshall about his concerns and the need to deploy a Rapid Response Team to educate workers about job search assistance, training opportunities and unemployment benefits.
Sikorsky Aircraft has approximately 16,500 positions in Stratford, constituting about half of its workforce.
Photo provided courtesy of Sikorsky Aircraft