KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — A day after announcing 2022 earnings, Eastman Chemical Company confirmed that 2023 cost reductions will include a reduction of about 3% in the company’s workforce. The coming changes, shared with employees Jan. 12, is likely to affect employees in non-manufacturing and exempt (salaried) jobs more than manufacturing and will be spread across the multinational company’s footprint.

In an email response to questions about Thursday’s comments from CEO Mark Costa regarding cost reductions that will total $200 million, Tracy Kilgore Addington said those include plans “to remove $75 million in non-manufacturing costs by reducing our global workforce by about 3%.”

Eastman’s earnings per share for 2022 were down about 18% from 2021’s figure.

Echoing Costa’s comments about “a challenging period for the global economy” that impacts Eastman, Addington said “along with many other companies in our industry,” Eastman was “operating in a challenging economic environment.”

Addington said the announcement to employees noted the economic challenges are “accelerating” and 2023’s financial outlook continues to be uncertain.

More than half the $200 million in cuts is expected to come through “manufacturing efficiencies, optimized supply chain, and lower costs from planned and unplanned shutdowns.”

As for the workforce reduction, “it will not include non-exempt Operations Role Group team members,” Addington wrote.

“Regarding the reduction in workforce, we regret that these actions are necessary as we navigate this challenging environment, and we are committed to treating all our team members with respect and dignity as we work through this process,” she added.

The workforce announcements are for official Eastman employees, and don’t include fluctuations in the many contract employees who work for Eastman, including at its Kingsport headquarters.

“External service providers offer Eastman flexibility in executing our business objectives,” Addington wrote. “We routinely adjust the number of onsite contractors as needed to meet business needs.”