Cognex To Cut 85 Jobs, Reduce Executive Salaries

NATICK, Mass. (AP) — Cognex Corp., which makes machine vision systems, sensors and identification readers used in manufacturing, said Tuesday it plans a slew of cost-cutting measures, including job cuts, executive salary reductions and mandatory shutdown days.

The company said the steps will cut expenses by $15 million a year. They include eliminating about 85 employee and contractor jobs, trimming certain salaries and canceling "most current open positions."

Cognex also plans to reduce leased office space, lower company contributions to workers' 401(k) plans and pull back on discretionary spending.

As a result of the cuts, the company expects to take a pretax charge of about $4 million in the second quarter.

"Unfortunately, conditions have deteriorated beyond what we had anticipated last fall, and because we currently see no sign of improvement in the near term, we are taking the additional steps announced today to more closely align our costs with the decreased level of demand for our products," said Robert J. Shillman, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

Shares rose 15 cents to close earlier at $14.36.