Weyerhaeuser records loss, to cut 1,500 jobs

Forest products giant Weyerhaeuser saw losses of $96 million in the second quarter, swinging from net income of $32 million in the same period last year.

As part of an ongoing plan to reduce the company’s work force and focus on timberlands and wood products operations, Weyerhaeuser said it will cut 1,500 jobs, including approximately 1,000 jobs at the company’s Federal Way, Wash.-based headquarters. Some of the job cuts started this week, and will continue into 2009, the company said.

"We've started restructuring our corporate support staff to meet the needs of our more tightly focused company," CEO Dan Fulton told investors at the company’s second-quarter earnings call. "As we move forward, we will continue to pursue other opportunities to streamline the organization."

The job cuts come on the heels of the company’s sale of its containerboard packaging operations to International Paper, a deal that closed last week, and also its sale of the fine papers business to Domtar last year.