3M to cut 1,800 more jobs, postpone merit pay -- report

From marketwatch

3M Co. (MMM:

59.85, +0.71, +1.2%) is cutting 1,800 jobs in the fourth quarter as well as postponing "merit pay" in 2009, the Star Tribune reported Friday on its Web site. The company is also ordering some workers to take vacation time or time without pay during the last two weeks of December.

The newspaper quoted 3M spokeswoman Jackie Berry as saying the difficult economy forced the company's hand but couldn't say how much the company hoped to save by the job actions. The 1,800 new layoffs, which come on top of the 1,000 job cuts announced during the third quarter, will come from the U.S., Western Europe and other developed nations.