Goodyear to Reduce Staffing at North American Locations

AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 28, 2003 -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company today announced that it will eliminate approximately 500 salaried and non-bargaining unit positions at its North American Tire (NAT) manufacturing locations. The reductions will affect management and staff positions at most manufacturing plants throughout North America.

Each location is developing its own restructuring plan for how the reductions will be achieved. When the plans are finalized within the next few weeks, local management will communicate the specific details to associates at their facilities. It is expected that the reductions will be completed by the end of September.

"When we announced our turnaround plan at the end of last year, we said that difficult decisions would be required," explained Jon Rich, president of Goodyear's North American Tire business unit. "This is one of those very difficult actions, but it is absolutely necessary to achieve our cost reduction objectives."

Earlier this year, Goodyear eliminated approximately 700 salaried positions, the majority of which were located at its headquarters in Akron, Ohio.