Williams sending out layoff notice on Thursday

The writing is on the wall at Williams Companies. On Thursday, the company plans to notify employees in the energy-trading department about expected layoffs. <br><br>It comes in the form of a "WARN"

Tuesday, August 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The writing is on the wall at Williams Companies. On Thursday, the company plans to notify employees in the energy-trading department about expected layoffs.

It comes in the form of a "WARN" letter. Warn is short for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification. It's a federal law that requires companies to inform workers about layoffs of 50 people or more.

Right now, Williams CEO Steve Malcolm says there are two possibilities for the energy-trading unit. They will either find a partner. Or they will sell part, or "all", of the energy-trading portfolio. "But in either case, we end up with needing fewer people in marketing and trading. This is consistent with what we've been saying the last week that Williams is moving toward a smaller, but stronger company in the future."

Williams expects to announce the exact details about the layoffs in about 60 days.