PPG to lay off 1,800 employees as paints and coatings maker aims to cut costs; local effect unclear

NEW YORK — PPG Industries plans to lay off about 1,800 employees amid efforts to cut costs, with the paints and coatings maker also inking a deal to sell a sizeable chunk of its architectural business.

Pittsburgh-based PPG said Thursday the job cuts would primarily impact positions in the U.S. and Europe.

Mark Silvey, PPG’s director of corporate communications, said 800 people work at its corporate headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh and another 425 at its facility in Cranberry.

PPG’s plant in Springdale produces industrial coatings. Silvey did not include the number of employees who work there in his response to a request for information from TribLive.

PPG also announced it has agreed to sell all of its U.S. and Canadian architectural coatings business — which houses brands like Liquid Nails, Glidden and Olympic and made up $2 billion in net sales for PPG last year — to private equity firm American Industrial Partners. The sale, expected to close late this year or in early 2025, is valued at $550 million.

Silvey noted the Springdale operation is not part of the architectural coatings business and is not included in that sale.

In August, PPG agreed to sell its silicas products business to Poland-based QEMETICA S.A. for about $310 million. That transaction is also pending.

The timing of the layoffs was not immediately disclosed, but the company said the cuts were part of a larger multiyear program aimed at reducing structural costs worldwide — noting that this will also include “various facility closures,” without specifying further.

“While these decisions are difficult, they are necessary to adjust our fixed cost base and to right-size our company,” Tim Knavish, PPG chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement, pointing to two recently announced business divestitures.

The layoffs and its latest business divestiture arrive shortly after a disappointing earnings report for PPG. The company on Wednesday reported third-quarter net income of $468 million, or $2.13 per share, on revenue of $4.58 billion. Results fell short of Wall Street expectations.

PPG’s recent cuts also arrive amid an environment of poor home sales. Existing U.S. home sales slipped 2.5% in August, the latest month with data available, as prices increased on an annual basis for the 14th consecutive month. And the average rate on a 30-year mortgage surged to 6.32% last week, although that’s still well below 2024’s peak of 7.22% in May.

Both PPG and AIP struck an optimistic note about Thursday’s agreement. Rick Hoffman, partner at AIP, said that the firm was “thrilled to be acquiring a storied business with a heritage dating back 125 years.” And Knavish said such divestitures “further optimize” PPG’s portfolio by aiding growth in the company’s strongest areas.