BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Cessna's decision to cut jobs nationwide hit hard in Bend, where about 165 of the plane-maker's local workforce of 478 face layoffs.

The world's largest maker of private planes will cut more than a third of the plant's workforce and another 500 jobs at its Wichita, Kansas headquarters.

Last Friday, Cessna officials confirmed that layoffs were coming, and Tuesday brought the official word via notices to workers in Wichita and Bend, said company spokesman Doug Oliver.

"The notice said these are the numbers we need to reduce," Oliver told Bend's NewsChannel 21, just a year after Cessna was the winning bidder for the bankrupt Columbia Aircraft plane factory.

kgw.com file graphic

Cessna Light.

The Bend plant builds the Cessna 350 and 400, while the Wichita job cuts are about 4 percent of the headquarters workforce of 12,000. Cessna employs 16,000 people worldwide, including six assembly facilities.

"It's directly tied to what we see will be a decrease in production in 2009, over what was planned," Oliver said. "We have been staffing at these locations for an increase that's not going to come, in the number of orders and deliveries."

Under the federal WARN (Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification) Act, 60 days must elapse between the official notice receipt and any layoffs, Oliver said.

The company will be offering a voluntary layoff program, for those who want to take buyout incentives.

Oliver said it's been about five years since the last sizable job cuts at Cessna, when more than 3,000 workers were let go.

"It's a difficult time for us," Oliver said.

While voluntary departures will be sought, Oliver said "we don't expect a huge number of those." He also said the different skill sets of employees will come into play, and the decision requires supervisor approval.

It's the latest public and private job cuts across the High Desert this year, from 180 jobs lost at Bright Wood Corp. in Madras to the closure of Seaswirl Boats in Culver, costing the region 140 jobs.