FWD: Waste Management To Cut 1,200 Jobs (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

  >
  >                   Waste Management To Cut 1,200 Jobs
  >
  > (November 11, 7:03 pm)
  >
  > OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) - Less than two weeks after a major management
  > shake-up, Waste Management Inc. announced Tuesday it will eliminate
  > 1,200 jobs.
  >
  > Waste Management's board of directors voted for a reorganization that
  > will trim 20 percent of field operations management and support jobs
  > and save $100 million a year, the company said in a statement.
  >
  > "I am determined to keep the momentum going that has been developed by
  > our people to make this a dramatically better company," said Robert S.
  > "Steve" Miller, acting chairman and chief executive officer.
  >
  > Miller is Waste Management's third chief executive since February. He
  > was named to the post on Oct. 29 after the sudden departures of the
  > firm's chief executive, chief financial officer and vice president in
  > charge of staffing services.
  >
  > Some shareholders had complained that previous streamlining plans were
  > not enough. A plan announced in February called for 3,000 layoffs.
  >
  > In recent years, Waste Management had expanded into consulting,
  > engineering, water treatment and other fields. It is trying to return
  > to its core business of solid waste collection and disposal, selling
  > unrelated and underperforming businesses.
  >
  > The new plan will consolidate purchasing operations at the Oak Brook
  > headquarters, with a projected savings of 5 percent to 10 percent by
  > 2001.
  >
  > Waste Management also plans to buy newer trucks to save on maintenance
  > costs. The company said it operates nearly 23,000 collection and other
  > vehicles in North America.
  >
  >