Jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, citing the need to boost profit and remain competitive, is offering early retirement to salaried workers.
The East Hartford-based subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. said in a statement Tuesday it’s offering a “select group of employees the opportunity to retire early.” It did not provide additional details.
“We remain committed to overall growth in jobs and in revenues for our shareholders,” the company said in an emailed statement.
“Pratt & Whitney has focused on investing in our business and our employees to make our company more competitive and better equipped to meet the changing needs of our customers,” the company said.
The company said it remains focused on hiring skilled employees and has invested in manufacturing and aftermarket technology.
“At the same time, together with UTC, we have made a commitment to our shareholders to deliver increased operating profit margins in order to continue to invest in our future,” the statement said. “We are doing this by, among other things, improving efficiencies and reducing costs.”
The so-called voluntary separation program is part of Pratt & Whitney’s efforts to reduce cost and improve profitability, while continuing to drive growth, it said.
Pratt & Whitney posted operating profit in the second quarter of $424 million, up 6.8 percent from the same period in 2018. Revenue of $5.15 billion was up 8.7 percent from last year’s second quarter that ended June 30.
The business accounted for more than a quarter of sales at UTC, which also makes airline parts and systems such as navigation equipment, landing gear and cockpit components. UTC is set to spin off next year its Otis elevator and Carrier heating and cooling equipment businesses as it focuses on aviation, aerospace and defense contracts.
Pratt & Whitney is in a hiring boom as it works to deliver a backlog of its next-generation commercial jet engines and rising federal military spending that’s financing the F-35 fighter jet. Pratt & Whitney makes the engine.
UTC announced in May 2018 it will hire 35,000 workers over the next five years.
In Connecticut, that would include 2,000 workers hired over five years to fill new jobs and 7,000 to replace employees who retire or otherwise leave. About 18,000 UTC employees work in the state, which is up by 3,000 in the last three years as Pratt & Whitney builds its next-generation geared turbofan jet engine.
Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.