Pilkington (UK) have announced that is to cut another 90 jobs making massive cost savings, part of a global restructuring process. The firm said it is looking to make more than one in six of its employees redundant at its European Technical Centre in Lathom, near Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK, where, for example, nanotechnology was developed to produce coated glass for the solar cell and thermal installation markets. According to a company spokesperson: "We are in the process of looking at the people at risk. We are trying to bring down the numbers as best as we can." Pilkington closed a float line in St Helens in May, making 76 people redundant, and a second line at its Greengate site in the town will remain closed for the time being, despite a £22M refurbishment in 2008. A further 11 jobs were lost when the company closed its Automotive Value Added operation in St Helens. Employee figures at Pilkington are now less than 1,300 at its five sites in the area, which is about one-fifth of the workforce employed locally in 1992.
