Collins Aerospace has told employees it will offer voluntary severance packages in the near future.

Collins Aerospace spokeswoman Pam Tvrdy-Cleary said the offer is a one-time opportunity to give workers incentives to leave the company. The offer applies to full- and part-time Collins Aerospace employees in the United States and the Oakville, Canada, plant.

In general, Collins Aerospace employees who are not executives or work in assembling parts are eligible for the buyout.

It does not apply to UTC’s corporate employees or employees with UTC’s jet engine unit Pratt and Whitney.

“The goal of the program is to reduce the need for potential involuntary reductions as we optimize the structure of our business,” Tvrdy-Cleary said in a separate statement shared with The Gazette. “We are providing education sessions in the coming weeks across the organization to help employees make well-informed decisions.”

Collins Aerospace has not set a target number of employees it wants to take severance, Tvrdy-Cleary said. She said any possible future layoffs would “target specific areas where we can further optimize our business structure,” but the company still expects a net growth in employees over time.

Employees have until Feb. 1 to apply for the severance.

The move comes two weeks after Farmington, Conn.-based United Technologies Corp. closed on the acquisition of Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids’ largest employer, and formed Collins Aerospace by combining Rockwell and UTC Aerospace Systems.

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Kelly Ortberg, at the time Rockwell chairman, president and chief executive officer and now CEO of the newly formed Collins Aerospace, said in a September 2017 interview that he did not anticipate the acquisition would have a major effect on jobs in Iowa.

“I think the key is we don’t expect major disruption. They bought us not only for our capabilities but for our employees, so we expect everybody to really benefit from this in the long run,” he said at the time.

l Comments: (319) 398-8366; dan.mika@thegazette.com