Gillette facility to be closed

Procter & Gamble Co. said yesterday that it will close one of Gillette’s two plants in Devens by the end of the year and eliminate at least 100 jobs.

The shuttering of the facility — which makes packaging materials for razors and other personal care products — represents the first Gillette factory closing in Massachusetts since P&G bought the company last year for $53 billion. The Cincinnati consumer-products giant is also planning to downsize Gillette’s warehouse and distribution facility at Devens. Both the packaging and warehouse operations are moving to a P&G plant in Greensboro, N.C.

Earlier this year, P&G said it would shut down about half of its distribution centers worldwide to consolidate operations. Massachusetts is home to four major Gillette factories, including two at the Devens development, formerly the site of a military installation on land in the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley. Over the past year, labor groups have complained about the facilities on the former base for alleged labor violations and Gillette’s use of temporary employees instead of permanent hires.

The job cuts in Devens would be on top of the estimated 5,000 positions P&G said last year it would eliminate.‘‘P&G and Gillette conducted an extensive analysis of both companies’ North American warehouse and pack-to-order sites and determined this is the best move going forward,’’ said Eric Kraus, a Gillette spokesman.

P&G said it plans to maintain the Gillette plants in South Boston and Andover. South Boston, with about 1,800 employees, will continue to develop razors and blades, and Andover, which has about 400 employees, will manufacture aerosol products, including Tag body spray.

Kraus said ‘‘no decision has been made to change our second packaging facility in Fort Devens,’’ which employs about 1,000 workers. The company has not decided what to do with the shuttered Devens plant.

But Peter Palandjian, chief executive of Intercontinental Real Estate Corp., which leases both Devens spaces, said P&G has not signed new leases, which expire next year. Palandjian said brox kers have toured the site, and he plans to list the space in the coming weeks.

‘‘We are not confident that Gillette is staying,’’ Palandjian said.

Lucas Vásquez, a 10-year employee at the Devens plant that is closing, said workers were told last week it will shut down Oct. 31.

The Devens workers are mostly employed by third-party contractors. Loren McArthur, lead organizer of the Merrimack Valley Project, a coalition of church and labor organizations that has called for improved working conditions, said the group is ‘‘deeply concerned’’ and finds the decision to close the plant ‘‘unacceptable and in direct contradiction with Procter & Gamble’s stated commitment to maintaining a strong presence in Massachusetts.’’

The coalition has protested Gillette’s treatment of temporary workers, alleging that they were not paid for all hours worked, were not paid overtime beyond 40 hours, and were not hired again after they complained about conditions. Earlier this year Gillette agreed to study ways to create more job stability.

‘‘Losing 150 to 200 jobs is not acceptable at this time, especially when these communities are reeling from the flooding and we’ve been seeking to specifically address job stability and workplace improvements at this location,’’ McArthur added.

Gillette said the work handled by at least 100 temporary employees at the Devens facility will be moving to Greensboro. Kraus could not identify how many permanent workers are employed at the Devens plants, or how many workers are being cut because of the reductions in the warehouse and distribution operations.

State and local officials were surprised by P&G’s plans. The Boston shaving products company was the first tenant to sign a lease 10 years ago to open a massive built-to-order warehouse and distribution center in an industrial park carved out of a former military base.

Joseph Donovan, a spokesman for the state’s economic development office, said he was unaware of the move and declined to comment further. Janet Hookailo, a spokeswoman for MassDevelopment, which oversees the Devens park, said no one from Gillette or P&G had contacted the group.

Since the P&G takeover, more than 400 Gillette jobs have been cut, not all merger-related. Gillette’s corporate headquarters at the Prudential Tower in Boston, which employed about 1,100 people on 17 floors, is expected to take a big hit.

Much of the marketing and sales staff is expected to be gone by the end of the year, except for some positions dedicated to blades and razors, according to executives who said they could not be named because the company has prohibited employees from speaking to the news media. Other duplicate positions in departments such as human resources will be eliminated by early next year. A small toiletries development lab in South Boston is also being moved to Cincinnati, the executives said.

The company is considering several options for where to locate its downsized corporate operations, including condensing to several floors in the Prudential Tower or moving to South Boston. Gillette’s lease at the Pru expires in 2009. All Gillette employees were notified of their job status by April, but P&G has refused to say how many positions it is eliminating or how many employees are transferring to Cincinnati.

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com. James Reed of the Globe staff contributed to the story.