Bowne Cuts Work Force

NEW YORK CITY— Bowne & Co., Inc. plans to implement a $10 million cost reduction plan that will eliminate 200 jobs—about 2.5% of its total work force—in its financial printing unit.

Bowne also will limit discretionary spending and continue efforts to scale its operation to customer demand.

The company says these actions are in response to lower business volume resulting from weak capital markets.

Similar actions taken by Bowne last year saved about $70 million in costs, including some $60 million in its financial print unit.

To buffer itself from capital market slumps, Bowne is diversifying, so far reducing its reliance on transactional financial printing to 25% of total revenues.

"The capital markets remain weak and the business climate is unpredictable, so we must continue to demonstrate our willingness and ability to adjust our resources to the realities of the market and current economic conditions," says Robert M. Johnson, the chairman and chief executive of Bowne.