About Dow Corning

Company intends to reduce global employment by approximately 500

Midland, Mich. (U.S.): Dow Corning Corporation announced today it intends to reduce global employment by approximately 500 people in the coming weeks - mostly in the professional ranks of the company – through an involuntary separation program. The actions are designed to better align the company's cost structure with the realities of today's volatile global economy.

Dow Corning, a leading developer and manufacturer of silicon-based materials, currently employs approximately 12,000 people globally. The company is facing significant challenges including oversupplied markets, high raw materials costs and slowed growth in many regions.

Comments from Robert D. Hansen, Dow Corning president and CEO:

• "Our company's greatest asset is our people and this is a difficult decision to have to make. We are taking steps to ease the transition of affected employees and understand there are a lot of talented, hard working people leaving our team."
   
• "Dow Corning has added significant professional capability and resources in support of expected and sustained growth in recent years. Since that growth didn't materialize as expected, it was necessary to re-evaluate those investment decisions given the state of the global economy."
   
• "Our strategy for long-term success is robust and our foundation is financially strong. However, we must strengthen our ability to maintain our competitive position in the marketplace and our ability to deliver innovative products for our customers."

About Dow Corning
Dow Corning (dowcorning.com) provides performance-enhancing solutions to serve the diverse needs of more than 25,000 customers worldwide. A global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, Dow Corning offers more than 7,000 products and services via the company's Dow Corning® and XIAMETER® brands. Dow Corning is equally owned by The Dow Chemical Company and Corning, Incorporated. More than half of Dow Corning's annual sales are outside the United States. Dow Corning's global operations adhere to the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care® initiative, a stringent set of standards designed to advance the safe and secure management of chemical products and processes.

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