After having spun off its Polymer Intermediates (caprolactam and acrylonitrile) and Composite Resins businesses in late July (see Plasteurope.com of 06.08.2015), Dutch chemicals and plastics producer DSM (Sittard; www.dsm.com) has announced several adjustments to its organisational and operating model that will result in a headcount reduction of 900-1,100, to be implemented by the end of 2017. About half of the layoffs will be made in The Netherlands.

The cuts are aimed at leveraging the company’s support functions, and involve a standardisation of processes, delayering and the elimination of duplications. The business segments most affected are Finance, HR, Legal, IT, Services, Indirect Sourcing, Communications, Corporate as well as the group’s regional centres. DSM also plans to implement “efficiency measures” at its global R&D sites. The measures are expected to generate one-off restructuring charges, including severance costs, of EUR 150-175m, but will yield structural savings of an estimated EUR 125-150m by the end of 2017.

When announcing the cuts, DSM also said it will establish a new executive committee aimed at ensuring faster strategic alignment and operational execution. Aside from CEO Feike Sijbesma, other committee members are CFO Geraldine Matchett, Dimitri de Vreeze (Materials Sciences), Stephan Tanda (Life Sciences), Chris Goppelsroeder (Nutritional Products), Philip Eykerman (Strategy and M&A), Rob van Leen (R&D and Innovation) and Peter Vrijsen (Human Resources).