Polaroid Cuts Jobs In Bid To Lower Costs

Instant camera pioneer Polaroid Inc. announced Tuesday it will eliminate 1,300 jobs in a restructuring designed to cut costs and refocus some of its operations.

Polaroid said it will take a $155 million pretax charge against earnings in the fourth quarter and a $40 million charge in 1996 to pay for the restructuring. It said the effort is expected to reduce operating costs by $90 million a year.

The job cuts amount to 10 percent of Polaroid’s work force of 11,300.

“Obviously, these are difficult steps, but we take them with a view toward the future,” Polaroid’s new Chairman and CEO Gary T. DiCamillo said in a statement.