Layoffs are taking place this month at Corning Inc. in Wilmington, while overall the company is facing some challenges in its Optical Communications segment, anticipating that final 2019 numbers will show a decrease in segment sales.

There will be a small reduction of the workforce at the company's optical fiber plant in Wilmington, said Joe Dunning, spokesman for Corning Inc. The plant is part of the company's Optical Communications division.

The changes will begin Jan. 16, Dunning said, adding that Corning is providing laid-off employees with a benefits continuation plan.

Dunning did not release the number of employees or percentage of its workforce that would be affected in Wilmington, citing competitive reasons.

“We are taking actions to address current macro-economic headwinds that include adjusting our costs and capacity while, at the same time, maintaining focus on key growth initiatives,” Dunning said in an email. “This small reduction in workforce is in response to a few factors including some uncertainty in the optical communications space as well as to help reposition our talent to focus on the high-growth parts of our business.”

In an early update on its third-quarter earnings in September, New York-based materials science company described some of the challenges facing its Optical Communications segment in the second half of 2019.

Several major carriers were reportedly further reducing capital spending on cable deployments and fiber-to-the-home projects, officials stated in the September release.

“In addition, some enterprise customers have reduced their spending below anticipated levels,” the firm stated in the release.

Full-year sales in Optical Communications are expected to decline 3% to 5% versus 2018, according to its third-quarter earnings results released in October.

That's a change from its previous expectation of "a low-to-mid-single digit percentage increase," according to the September report.

Optical Communications sales were $1 billion and net income was $127 million, according to its third quarter report.

“Sales declined sequentially and year over year. As described in the company’s Sept. 16 update, declines resulted from overall market weakness driven by customer project spending decisions, primarily in carrier networks,” officials said.

Officials also noted in the third-quarter report that it was idling capacity and pacing capital projects in Optical Communications, one of several moves the company was making to offset recent headwinds.

Officials with the N.C. Department of Commerce confirmed Monday that no Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) reports for the company had been filed.

Businesses that employ at least 100 workers, excluding part-time workers, are required to file a WARN notice if they are preparing to close a plant that affects at least 50 employees during any 30-day period or conduct a mass layoff of at least 500 employees, or a layoff impacting between 50-499 employees when that number represents at least one-third of the employer’s workforce, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce. 

Corning will host a call on its fourth-quarter and full year financial results for 2019 on Jan. 29, Dunning said.