Pikeville Medical Center in Pikeville, Kentucky lays off 130 employees …
The recently (January 2018) named Pikeville Medical Center CEO Donovan Blackburn announced the elimination of 130 employees: 30 of whom quit or were fired and 100 layoffs. Claiming the layoffs were the result of over-ambitious hiring based on faulty business projections, it was now necessary to readjust to compensate for approximately two years of losses. It is believed that with the staff reduction, the hospitable will be profitable in six months. According to Blackburn the hospital may still be overstaffed by another 130 employees. This setback did not deter Blackburn from announcing that the medical center is still planning to start a $27 million dollar expansion to their heart institute.
T. Rowe Price in Tampa, Florida lays off 150 employees ...
Baltimore, Ohio-based investment advisory firm T. Rowe Price has announced 150 employees will be laid off as they close their Tampa, Florida operations center. The remaining workers will be transitioned to other company facilities in Owings Mills, Maryland and Colorado Springs, Colorado with approximately 30 with existing client relationships being allowed to telecommute. Part of the reason for the closure of the centralized operations center is many customers are choosing to rely on the connectivity of their computers and phones and thus the need for employee interaction is greatly reduced.
CEO William Stromberg said, “While our balance sheet has never been stronger and demand for our approach to active management remains robust, we also need to thoughtfully manage our resources in an increasingly competitive environment. Enhancing our operational efficiency so that we can continue investing in our strategic priorities will enable us to further improve the client experience and grow the business for years to come."
Norfolk, Virginia-based Movement Mortgage lays off 100 employees...
In a second round of layoffs (75 employees in February 2018), Movement Mortgage is laying off 100 workers (52 at the Norfolk operations center, 26 in Tempe, Arizona, 18 in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and 4 in Richmond, Virginia) in a cost containment effort to balance business and staff.
There is no doubt that the mortgage industry has taken a hit when it comes to mortgage originations, and those left in the marketplace find themselves competing with digital platforms that allow borrowers to select from a much wider range of loan options without loan officer assistance.
According to CEO Casey Crawford, “This year, we are growing slower than we expected. This is a challenge, not just at Movement, but across the entire mortgage industry. We believe our decision to adjust our operations is in the long-term best interest of our entire Movement community. We also stand by our teammates who are affected and will make sure they have access to the multiple resources as they take their next career steps. We are confident in our vision to be the leading purchase mortgage lender in every market we serve,” Crawford said. “We are actively recruiting loan officers to grow our sales force are committed to long-term growth in all of our operations campuses. We have many years of growth and significant impact in our future.”
DJO Global lays off 70 employees ...
Vista, California-based DJO Global, a provider of orthopedic devices used for rehabilitation, pain management, and physical therapy is closing their Plainfield, Indiana facility and laying off 70 workers.
The company has no comment on the decision to close this particular facility. It appears that the company is operating at a net loss and that a multi-year cost containment initiative is underway.
In March 2017, we announced that we had embarked on a series of business transformation projects to improve our liquidity and profitability and to improve our customers’ experiences. During 2017, this business transformation initiative focused on delivering productivity improvements throughout the Company, including eliminating an estimated 7% to 10% of annualized cost across the Company by the end of 2018. In connection with this effort, we established a team of senior managers to direct this effort and engaged third party experts to assist in the planning and implementation of a significant number of cost-reduction, efficiency and other optimization activities. We believe that the costs of the outside experts, tools and related activities have been significantly offset by the cost savings realized from the implementation of these transformation plans. As a part of this transformation initiative, we took action to improve our liquidity through significant cost reductions, efficiency improvements and other cash flow best practices; improved our organizational effectiveness through the optimization of current organizational structure and opportunities to outsource certain activities; optimized our procurement of direct and indirect materials and services; improved our manufacturing, distribution, and sales and sales operations planning; and improved our profitability associated with the mix of our customers and products. Our transformation projects will continue through the end of 2018 as we shift our emphasis to improving revenue growth, including increasing our new product development and increasing our investment in our reimbursement business; improving customer experience, including improving service levels and implementing online order entry; and achieving operational excellence, including improving production procurement spend, enhancing our distribution center network, optimizing our overall facility footprint in North America and improving our overall liquidity.
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