Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Will Cut Corporate Staff 42%

As part of the continuing shrinkage of the company, loss-plagued Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical said Wednesday that it is cutting its corporate staff in Oakland by about 42% in the next several months.

Kaiser Aluminum’s headquarters staff of about 330 persons will be reduced by about 140, the company said. Most of the layoffs will happen in October, with the remainder following by early next year, spokesman Robert W. Irelan said.

The layoffs will affect every department, Irelan said. “They are from senior management, throughout the management, right down to and including clerical,” he said.

Kaiser Aluminum Chairman James S. Pasman Jr. said: “As difficult and disruptive as employment reductions are on the people who are affected, we are convinced that the steps we are taking are a necessary part of restoring the company’s competitive position. The combination of a lean headquarters team working with largely self-sustaining business units represents the most efficient organizational structure for Kaiser Aluminum.”

Kaiser Aluminum, the primary operating subsidiary of Kaisertech Ltd., will achieve “quite substantial” cost savings in 1988 and beyond because of the layoffs, but the company is not estimating the amount, Irelan said.

Pasman, who was brought to the company in May by new controlling stockholder Alan Clore, has described himself as a “decentralist” and has accelerated the company’s move toward a less centralized company.

Kaiser Aluminum also has been selling operations, including its energy business, the food service foil and container operations and most of its real estate assets. The company also has put its specialty chemicals business up for sale and is looking at possible joint ventures or divestitures in its aluminum operations.

“We have become considerably smaller in terms of our size and diversity, and so we no longer need nor is it appropriate to have the number of people we have at Oakland,” Irelan said.