A week after announcing its fifth set of layoffs, window maker Andersen Corp. announced that 6,000 employees will receive profit sharing money from last year's performance.

In February, Andersen and Renewal by Andersen employees will receive a check equal to 6.5 percent of their earnings -- down from 22 percent a year ago.

The privately held company, based in Bayport, Minn., would not disclose a gross dollar figure for the payments.

Andersen, the largest maker and distributor of windows and doors in North America, has issued profit-sharing checks most years since 1914. The exceptions were from 1929 to 1936, when there were no profits to share because of the Great Depression.

Citing lackluster housing starts and a tight credit market constraining its customers, Andersen recently announced that it would permanently cut its Bayport workforce by 50 people and temporarily lay off 400 others at the plant through the first quarter.

Market conditions also led the company to cut 52 workers from Menomonie, Wis., in November and to shut its plant in Durham, N.C., in December, displacing 450 others.

Last January, Andersen cut 400 workers from its Bayport plant and 40 from its plant in Menomonie. Andersen now has 21 factories around the country.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725