Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. is laying off 277 employees and closing the Milwaukee business center in Glendale where they work as part of ongoing cost reduction measures across the global company. The plan was laid out in a WARN notice filed with the state Friday.
“It’s part of our cost savings program that we announced earlier this summer,” said Fraser Engerman, a spokesman for Johnson Controls
The Milwaukee business center is at 5055 N. Lydell Ave. The 25,000-square-foot building contained the positions that have been eliminated and also other “various” Johnson Controls functions, which will continue to operate in the space. Engerman could not say how much space Johnson Controls occupies in the building.
The accounting and finance work performed at the Milwaukee business center will be moved to one or several of the company’s other three business centers, which are in Bratislava, Slovakia, Dalian, China and Monterrey, Mexico, and to other departments within the company, Engerman said.
Johnson Controls expects the Milwaukee business center to close within six months. Layoffs will occur from Jan. 26 to June 30. The company expects cost savings from the closure, but declined to reveal a specific figure.
“This is really about improving our processes and reducing our annual operational expenses through standardization and simplification processes across the country,” Engerman said.
Johnson Controls has roughly 3,400 employees in the Milwaukee area and about 130,000 employees total at 1,300 locations worldwide. Its corporate headquarters is located at 5757 N. Green Bay Ave. in Glendale.
