<p>In its second round of employee cutbacks this year, Dick Corp. has laid off 34 people as part of an ongoing "realignment" at one of the region's largest and oldest construction firms.</p>
<p>Dick President and Chief Executive Officer Denny Watts made the announcement to employees Thursday, attributing the cutbacks to the instability of the energy industry, which Dick pursued in the late 1990s, and a desire to better manage the company's costs. Twenty-four of the 34 layoffs happened in the Pittsburgh area and the others were on the East Coast and Chicago, trimming Dick's worldwide payroll to 886 people, down from 950 earlier in the year.</p>