Westinghouse to Cut 6,000 Jobs, Dividend : Earnings: ’93 net is expected to fall 10% to 20% from previous year. Conglomerate will take a $750-million charge.

Westinghouse Electric Corp., in an effort to strengthen its business, said Tuesday that it will slash its work force by 6,000 during the next two years, take a $750-million charge and halve its annual dividend.

The conglomerate also said it is going ahead with plans first announced in November, 1992, to sell Westinghouse Communities, a builder of retirement homes; Westinghouse Electric Supply Co., and its distribution and control units.

However, the company said it is canceling a previously announced plan to sell its Knoll furniture unit, saying a new management team is expected to strengthen the business.

“We are taking these actions to improve our operating performance, accelerate the divestiture of non-core businesses, rebuild our equity base and improve financial flexibility,” said Michael Jordan, Westinghouse’s chairman and chief executive.

“This will enable us to grow our core businesses and emerge a stronger international competitor in our key markets,” Jordan said.

The badly damaged conglomerate said the actions came too late to help 1993 operating earnings, which are expected to decline 10% to 20% from 1992.

Jordan attributed much of the decline to deterioration in the company’s environmental services business. “This was a major disaster in 1993,” he said.

But in his first meeting with industry analysts since taking the reins of Westinghouse in June, Jordan vowed to meet internal growth goals of 10% to 12% and to modernize the company’s outdated corporate culture.

“I believe our core businesses are sound. . . . We can grow these businesses and grow the cash flow,” he said.

Since being named Westinghouse’s chief executive, Jordan has carried out a top-to-bottom review of the company, whose divisions are involved in broadcasting, power generation, hazardous-waste services and the manufacture of electric products and military gear.

Jordan, who was recruited from Pepsico, said he hopes the latest restructuring will be the company’s last.

“I firmly believe there shouldn’t be another one,” Jordan told the large roomful of analysts during a two-hour presentation at a Manhattan hotel.

Westinghouse’s stock ended off 12.5 cents at $14 on the New York Stock Exchange, as Wall Street reckoned that the company still faces major problems.

Westinghouse said the $750-million, fourth-quarter charge will include $350 million to cover companywide layoffs of 3,400 employees in the next two years.

The company said the cuts, coupled with attrition, are expected to result in a work force reduction of 6,000. It employs nearly 55,000 people worldwide.

The charge includes $215 million for divesting and restructuring non-core businesses and $185 million to help resolve various legal disputes, the company said.

Westinghouse also said it will cut its annual dividend on common shares to 20 cents a share from 40 cents. Wall Street analysts said the company’s financial condition has limited its ability to make more changes.

“I would have preferred if they had gone further,” one analyst said. “I’ve got the gnawing sensation that they wanted to do more but couldn’t risk their balance sheet.” Analysts also said the plan may not be enough to revive the giant conglomerate.

They cited the company’s failure to take aggressive steps to stabilize its future, such as appointing a chief financial officer. Chief Financial Officer Warren Hollinshead announced in September that he would relinquish his post to prepare for early retirement.