Sony to cut jobs at Westmoreland plant

The Sony Electronics television manufacturing plant in Westmoreland County is going to eliminate between 800 and 900 jobs in the next year, according to a company spokesman.

The substantial job reduction will shrink the work force at Sony's Pittsburgh Technology Center near New Stanton to between 200 workers and 300 workers, according to Rick Clancy, a San Diego-based senior vice president for corporate communications with Sony Corp., the Japanese company.

Clancy said the jobs are being eliminated as the company adjusts to changes in the world market for television sets. He said the market for the rear projection televisions manufactured at Sony's plant in Westmoreland County is shrinking and coming under price pressure from competition with plasma screen televisions, which are also seeing their prices compress worldwide.

Although Clancy said the jobs being eliminated aren't being outsourced in a one to one ratio, he said the company will rely on rear-projection television manufacturing facilities in Mexicali and Tijuana in the state of Baja, Mexico.

First announced in 1990, Sony's manufacturing presence in Westmoreland County has fluctuated over the years, with peak employment at the plant exceeding 3,000 workers at one point, Clancy said.

Although the job cuts announced Thursday amount to a 75-percent reduction of the company's work force in this region, Clancy said the company has no plans for now to cease its operations here entirely.

He said the company plans to begin production of its BRAVIA line of LCD technology televisions at the Westmoreland plant this summer.

He said the plant will also be converted this summer to a distribution facility for Sony televisions being shipped to dealers along the East Coast.

"Nobody can predict the future but for the moment we are committed to being here," Clancy said

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