
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994                   TAG: 9401110092
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Short

GILLETTE TO TRIM 2,000 JOBS WORLDWIDE

The Gillette Co. said Monday it would shed 2,000 jobs, or 6 percent of the company's total, during the next two years, as part of a worldwide realignment that will result in a one-time fourth-quarter charge of $164 million. Most of the job losses will come in Europe.

Alfred Zeien, Gillette's chairman and chief executive, insisted the company was "acting from strength, not from weakness" in undertaking the realignment.

In a conference call with analysts and reporters, Zeien said Gillette's fourth-quarter sales and profits would reach record levels. He added that even though year-end results were not yet in, sales and earnings would set records for all of 1993, prior to the special charge.

"This is not a restructuring in the way that word has been used recently," Zeien said. "It is not a downsizing. To the contrary, we will continue to expand our capital spending and increase the funding of our research and development programs and add to our advertising levels."

He said the results of the realignment would not be felt on the company's sales and earnings until 1995.

Zeien reported strong surges in sales and profits in virtually all of the company's core businesses, from blades and razors to Oral B toothbrushes, and, in particular, the recently acquired Parker Pen unit.

by CNB