MIDLAND, MI -- After assuming full control of Dow Corning Corp. and ahead of its planned merger with DuPont, The Dow Chemical Co. has announced plans to cut approximately 2,500 positions globally, including about 700 jobs in the Great Lakes Bay Region.

The total number of affected positions represents about 4 percent of the company's workforce.

"With the difficult but necessary actions Dow is announcing today to enable faster and more efficient growth from Dow Corning, we are also calling into action multiple efforts to minimize the economic impact on the Great Lakes Bay Region," Howard Ungerleider, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Dow, and chairman of Dow Corning, said in a statement Tuesday, June 28.

"We believe, by working together as one community with one singular focus, we can make both Dow and the region stronger and more economically resilient in the future."

On June 1, Dow assumed full control of its 73-year joint venture with Corning Inc., becoming the 100 percent owner of Dow Corning's silicones business. Dow officials say the job reductions in the Great Lakes Bay Region will come from both Dow and Dow Corning.

Dow officials say they will begin to notify affected employees in the Great Lakes Bay Region in the coming weeks and that will continue through the end of the third quarter of this year. Jobs will be eliminated on various timetables throughout the two-year integration period, the release states.

Dow officials say the company is partnering with the Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development, in conjunction with local economic development corporations including Saginaw Future Inc., Bay Future Inc. and Midland Tomorrow, to help affected employees find new work in the region and across the state.

"We are moving quickly and effectively to integrate Dow Corning and deliver the synergies that will drive new levels of value creation for our customers and generate even greater returns for our shareholders," Dow's chairman and CEO Andrew N. Liveris said in a statement Tuesday.

"With these difficult but necessary actions, we are bringing together the best of each company's talent and technology, accelerating Dow's strategy to go narrower and deeper into attractive, targeted market sectors, and setting the stage for the new Dow -- the world's leading material science company."

Dow will take a charge of approximately $410 million to $460 million in the second quarter of 2016 for asset impairments, severance and other costs related to these measures, which are expected to be completed in the next two years, the release states.

In addition, Dow officials on Tuesday announced an updated facilities plan.

Dow officials plan to shut down silicones manufacturing facilities in Greensboro, North Carolina and Yamakita, Japan, as well as certain administrative, corporate and manufacturing facilities "to further enhance competitiveness and streamline costs associated with the transaction," a Dow news release states.

For the Great Lakes Bay Region, "all Dow and Dow Corning office locations will remain open, while the company will continue to rationalize its oldest and idled locations from the combined facilities footprint," the release states.

Construction of Dow's new corporate headquarters in Midland will continue as planned. It is expected to open at the end of 2017.

Heather Jordan is a reporter for MLive. She can be reached at 989-450-2652 or hjordan@mlive.com. For more news, follow her on Twitter.