Gillette To Shave About 1,700 Jobs

Gillette Co. plans to cut about 1,700 jobs as it eliminates duplicated operations following its acquisition of Duracell International Inc.

The maker of Gillette razors and toiletries, Braun household appliances and Duracell batteries said it eliminated 119 of the targeted jobs as of March 31, in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It expects to make the cuts through firings and attrition, mostly from international operations, company spokesman Steve Brayton said.

Gillette took a fourth-quarter charge of $283 million for expected restructuring costs and other expenses associated with the Duracell acquisition.

Gillette paid about $7.82 billion in stock and debt for Duracell in December. At the time of the transaction, the company said it would fire an undetermined number of employees in duplicated operations to save $80 million to $120 million a year.