Layoffs on way at Charles River, Forrester, Sensata
Three local companies cut jobs yesterday in response to the slumping economy.
Charles River Laboratories Inc., the Wilmington company that breeds mice and rats for researchers, said it will cut 3 percent of its workforce, about 300 employees worldwide, including 50 in Massachusetts. Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge and Sensata Technologies Inc. of Attleboro also disclosed worker reductions.
Charles River said the bulk of the cuts will occur in its preclinical testing services business, in which it uses animals to test experimental drugs for pharmaceutical companies. Specifically, Charles River plans to shut its Arkansas facility by year-end and scale back employment at other facilities, including one in Shrewsbury.
Charles River said it is also taking other steps to cut expenses, including imposing a salary freeze for many of its workers.
Combined, the company said it expects to be able to reduce its annual operating costs by roughly $20 million this year and $25 million by 2010. It also said it has identified a potential buyer for its Edinburgh operation.
"Fourth quarter of '08 was a difficult period, and we, like most others, didn't anticipate the extent to which the global economic crisis and the pharmaceutical market challenges would impact us," said Charles River chief executive James Foster.
The company said fourth-quarter revenue declined 2 percent to $311 million, though it would have been an increase of 2 percent when adjusted for changes in foreign currencies.
The company said it lost $661.9 million in the quarter - mostly because of a $700 million accounting charge - compared with a $36.9 million profit the same quarter a year earlier.
Even after the layoffs, Charles River said it will still have about 1,250 workers in Massachusetts.
Also yesterday, Forrester Research Inc. said it would reduce its staff by 50, about 5 percent of the technology research firm's workforce.
Forrester didn't say how many of the cuts would be in Massachusetts.
The company, which is scheduled to post its fourth-quarter financial report today, said the job cuts are expected to result in pretax costs of between $2.5 million and $3 million in the first quarter of this year.
Forrester, which said its research staff is larger than it's been in the company's 25-year history, released a statement saying the move "positions the company to compete better in the current economic climate."
And Sensata Technologies Inc., which makes sensors and controls, said it is laying off 100 workers after another 50 accepted voluntary buyout offers.
The company cited a decline in orders driven by the slowdown in the worldwide automotive and housing markets.
The company has pushed aggressively to cut costs for most of last year, including restricting overtime, travel, and discretionary purchases, ordering compulsory time off for employees, and closing plants.
Robert Weisman of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Material from Globe wire services also was used. Todd Wallack can be reached at twallack@globe.com. 
