Along with the 22 Union positions being removed this year, 20 salaried positions were eliminated 10/31/20. The new "re-organization" eliminated almost all project engineers, removed all engineers from the areas and consolidated several key support roles in Maintenance, Quality and Logistics. All signs point to lowering head count and looking for a sell in the near future. (terrible economic timing in the middle of a pandemic)
Ashland(R) has been strategically making efforts to consolidate for sell since the introduction one of the new Operations directors (back in 2017) who specialized in company acquisitions and sales. Once companies hit the "lean wall" instead of expansion and forward progress you turn into a facility that just struggles to maintain operability. Which becomes a nightmare of a company to work for (i.e. fast/high employee turn-around).