Maui Land & Pineapple Co. Inc. said it will layoff 274 workers, or 26 percent of its workforce, as it cuts back its pineapple operations and trims positions from its Kapalua Resort and administrative staffs.

The company, which said it is responding to a weak economy and rising energy costs, said it hopes to save about $11 million annually in operating expenses by reducing its 1,045-person workforce.

"This is a difficult but necessary decision as we respond to higher energy related costs in our operating units and sluggish conditions in the real estate market," said David Cole, company chairman, president and chief executive officer.

"Even when workforce reductions are executed well, they are painful."

The company said its Maui Pineapple Co. unit will sustain most of the layoffs as the company eliminates 204 jobs. It said surging fuel, fertilizer, packaging and transportation costs have outstripped its ability to increase prices.

Maui Land and Pineapple said the downsized unit will concentrate on serving local markets and a handful of selected accounts on the Mainland.

Its Kapalua Resort will be reduced by 46 positions, while its corporate and community development staffs will lose 24 positions.

The company said the cuts are being made across all levels and affect both management and labor.

Maui Land and Pineapple, which is a publicly traded company, said severance costs are expected to amount to about $3 million and offset some of the immediate savings it forecasts.

The Kahului-based company, one of Maui's largest private employers, notified the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations this week, said department spokesman James Hardway.

He said the state will send out a multi-agency rapid response team to assist affected workers.

Maui Pine employs about 1,100 workers. Of those affect, about 200 are agricultural workers represented by organized labor. Forty-seven workers with the company's Kapalua Land Co. unit were also affected, Hardway said.

The Maui Land & Pineapple layoffs are the latest in a slew of job losses in a little more than a year. Last June, the company shut down its canning operations, leaving 120 workers without jobs.

This year, nearly 2,100 airline employees lost their jobs with the shutdown of Aloha and ATA airlines. Hundreds of other jobs were lost when NCL America pulled two ships out of the Hawai'i market and Molokai Ranch ceased operations.

In the past two weeks, two hospitals on the Big Island laid off more than 110 workers, and The Honolulu Advertiser, Hawai'i's largest daily newspaper, announced it would layoff 54 employees.