Westinghouse Eliminates 200 Jobs, Mostly in Western PA

A majority of the 200 jobs Westinghouse Electric  Co. eliminated across the country today were from its operations in western Pennsylvania, including the company’s headquarters in Cranberry.

“About three-fourths of the jobs were in western Pennsylvania, where we have the largest contingent of workers,” said company spokesman Vaughn Gilbert.

Gilbert said the cutbacks were caused by a slowdown in the nuclear energy business following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March that led to a meltdown at the Fukushima plant.

General Electric Co. designed reactors at that plant.

Gilbert said a number of customers have since postponed upgrades or new nuclear reactors at their plants. He added Westinghouse, which employees more than 4,000 people at its Cranberry facility, has doubled its number of workers in the last decade.

The company continues to be a major employer in the region, he said.

“Our company continues to grow, but our growth will not be as dramatic as we thought prior to Fukushima,” he said. “We still remain a vibrant company with a strong future.”

More than 75 percent of the employees departing Westinghouse are doing so as part of a voluntary separation program, Gilbert said. The remaining employees, who all come from the company’s finance, human relations and corporate communications departments, were laid off. Westinghouse did not cut workers from its engineering, manufacturing or product sector, Gilbert said.

Gilbert said all employees leaving the company would receive benefits and severance packages.