Oscar award makers to cut 100 jobs

Chicago - The Chicago company that makes the familiar gold-plated Oscar statues for the Academy Awards is laying off almost 100 employees.

RS Owens & Co Inc said this week in a notice to the Illinois Department of Commerce that it will lay off 95 workers on 17 December.

The notice says the layoffs are permanent. The business-data website Hoovers says the company has about 250 employees.

The cuts come a month after RS Owens announced it was being purchased on 17 December by St Regis Crystal Inc.

Owens had said earlier this year that it was struggling financially.

A news release on the sale said the company will continue to make Oscar and Emmy statues in Chicago.

RS Owens has been making the Oscar statues for about 30 years.