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N95 respirator (Image from the FDA)

Honeywell is laying off approximately 470 employees on its Smithfield, R.I.-based N95 respirator mask production line.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Honeywell expanded operations at the Smithfield eye protection products plant so that the facility could also manufacture millions of N95 masks at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

The company said at the time that it had plans to immediately start the hiring process to bring on at least 500 new workers to support the efforts, which was slated to deliver masks to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to boost the national stockpile.

A Honeywell spokesperson confirmed that the layoffs pertained only to employees on the N95 production line and nowhere else in the facility. The affected employees received notice of the layoffs throughout the day on Wednesday. The spokesperson told Medical Design &…

N95 respirator [Image from the FDA]3M (NYSE:MMM) and Honeywell (NYSE:HON) are among 60 companies and trade groups sharing production, distribution and pricing information under FEMA-led efforts to secure supplies of products needed to combat COVID-19, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The information-trading project, taking place under the Defense Production Act, is protected from antitrust scrutiny.

3M and Honeywell are major suppliers of the N95 masks that health provider staff need to properly protect themselves from the novel coronavirus as they seek to save other people’s lives. The masks remain in short supply even as the government and the companies themselves invest hundreds of millions of dollars to boost production.

Honeywell

Honeywell lays off nearly 500 on Rhode Island N95 production line

3M, Honeywell gain antitrust protection to boost N95 mask supply