AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT SAS INSTITUTE (10/08/23)

Am I Next? Workforce re-balancing at SAS Institute.

OCTOBER 8, 2023 — APPROXIMATELY 1% BY THE END OF 2023.

In a company of 12,000 employees, that is about 120 employees.

According to a company statement, “Evolving our organizational structure and aligning the right talent to our core focus areas is always a priority for SAS. We explained earlier this year that as part of our normal business processes, we have been slowly shifting some divisional structures to better align with our corporate priorities.”

Rumors have the company looking for ap IPO in 2025 if the financial climate improves.

JULY 13, 2021 — DANGER AHEAD FOR SAS EMPLOYEES?

The financial press is reporting talks of a possible acquisition of SAS by Broadcom, a semiconductor chip maker and creator of enterprise software, for between $15 and $20 billion. If a formal offer is made and the sale closes, it is likely that SAS might see a pre-closing and post-closing reduction in force. Is the handwriting on the wall and can it be seen by SAS employees?

APRIL 1, 2021 — Original Post…

Cary, North Carolina-based SAS Institute, an iconic developer of specialized analytics software, has announced that it will continue re-balancing its workforce leading to layoffs in some operational groups.

A company spokesperson “Approximately 100 positions were phased out as a result of our ongoing digital transformation efforts and the reduced need for on-site support services, including housekeeping and in-person event support. Permanent changes to business operations, some directly related to the digital transformation of the business that was already in motion before the pandemic, affected several roles within the company.

"In addition to seeing increased demand for virtual events and education, we anticipate that many SAS employees will prefer to continue working from home or working in the office just a few days a week. These changes led to the difficult decision to reduce some positions that support events, training, and on-site operations.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? MIMECAST

Am I Next? Mimecraft reduction in force — restructuring.

Lexington, Massacusetts-based Mimecast, an email security vendor, has announced a restructuring plan that will reduce its workforce by 80 employees,

The cost-cutting effort will help the company redeploy assets to enterprises while leveraging automation and efficiency for small and midsize business customers.

The company acknowledged that the SolarWinds hackers compromised a security certificate used by Minecraft customers to authenticate the company's products to Microsoft 365 products.

Mimecast CEO Peter Bauer speaking of the hack, “Our customers, and larger enterprises, in particular, understand that this is an unfortunate reality of operating today, and have been highly collaborative with us throughout this process. We remain in close contact with them, but we believe that the steps we have taken to isolate and remediate the identified threat have been effective.”

Bauer also noted, "Mimecast plans to expand and strengthen its enterprise team to give those clients a customized, higher-touch experience. It’s never easy to have colleagues depart, especially in an environment as tough as this one. And we did not make this decision lightly. However, we are confident that this is the right decision for the business and essential to being able to invest in the right areas and achieve our goals.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT HYLAND SOFTWARE (04/04/23)

APRIL 4, 2023 — 1,000 EMPLOYEES TO BE TARGETED IN RESTRUCTURING

The company has announced 1,000 employees will be laid off, a 20% reduction in its overall workforce.

President and CEO Bill Priemer…

I have difficult news to share — news that is all the more challenging because, for the past 32 years, we have worked together to achieve extraordinary success and growth. In a company that is always changing, today we are announcing the hardest change we've ever had to make.

We are restructuring our organization. We are removing layers of management, adjusting team sizes and reassigning responsibilities across departments and levels. These changes will reduce the size of our team by about 1,000 employees, which is approximately 20% of our workforce.

I recognize and understand the gravity of this decision and the impact it will have on our friends and colleagues who will be leaving. I take responsibility for the decisions we are sharing today, and I realize how difficult this is for you all.

Why we made these decisions

As you know, Hyland, like many technology companies, has been navigating the global economic situation and shifts in our market. We are transforming into a cloud company, which is essential to meet the needs of our current and future customers and advance our position in the content services space. We are evolving everything — from our software, to the way we support and deliver value to our customers, to our internal systems and processes.

This effort has required substantial investment in both people and systems. While we had planned for this investment, we did not anticipate the degree to which inflation, rising interest rates and wage increases would impact our expenses. Furthermore, the challenging economic climate we currently face is prompting many organizations to pull back on their technology expenditures.

After much deliberation with our board and senior executive team — and despite enacting significant cost-cutting measures such as hiring freezes, travel restrictions and reductions in discretionary spending — we determined that streamlining the organization, both operationally and financially, is necessary to ensure Hyland’s long-term success.

Resetting the organization

Our new organizational structure will make us more effective at developing, delivering and supporting cloud-based solutions and enable us to respond more quickly to the needs of our customers and partners.

At the leadership level, we are removing layers of management to improve communication and accelerate decision-making. We are increasing the number of direct reports for most leaders to provide individual contributors with greater access to management and provide leaders with greater visibility into what’s happening at the field level.

At the individual contributor level, we are adjusting team sizes and reassigning personnel to achieve the optimal mix of skill sets within every function.

Navigating this transition

To those of you who will be leaving us, you have made Hyland a better company and enriched our community. I am grateful for your time with us and wish that your Hyland experience was not ending this way. Please know that your contributions have been valuable and appreciated.

For those staying, I realize this change is difficult for you, too. We will miss our departing friends and colleagues, and you will have many questions. We will support you through this process and provide resources to help you navigate the new organizational structure, your role within it and new ways of working together. Later today, you will receive an invitation for an all-hands meeting taking place Thursday, April 6, at which we will provide more detail and answer as many of your questions as we can.

Our focus for today and in the coming days will be the members of our team who are departing. I encourage you to connect with your peers and teams as we navigate this challenging time and begin to look forward.

The future remains very bright for Hyland. I'm confident in the path ahead, and while I wish this wasn't what was required to get there, I know we are positioned for long-term success.

Thank you, all, for everything.

FEBRUARY 19, 2021 — Original post…

Westlake, Ohio-based Hyland Software, a software developer specializing in enterprise content management and process management software, has announced a restructuring plan that includes the layoff of 150 employees, including software developers, quality assurance specialists, and testing engineers, as the company outsources software development to companies in Kolkata, India and Katowice, Poland.

"According to a company spokesperson, "Hyland is in the midst of a multi-year strategic initiative to build a cloud-first platform for the future while supporting our customers’ success today. A component of this strategy is to hire more than 300 additional technologists and increase our overall employee count by 15 percent in 2021. As we focus on innovating our platform and strategically expanding our global footprint, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate some positions on our current Product Delivery team. We are providing affected employees with assistance in their transitions."

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?