Ingram Micro’s (Nasdaq: IM) North American optimization plan was not so kind to about 50 of its workers in Canada.
Yesterday the Canadian operation, based in Mississauga, Ont., was part of the distributor’s latest round of layoffs that included 400 positions in North America.
About 100 of those positions were still open positions that did not get filled, according to Keith Bradley, North American president for Ingram Micro.
Ingram’s optimization initiative was focused on driving efficiency and lowering costs, while maintaining and building upon the value and service.
The majority of actions within this plan stem from better internal management of Ingram’s discretionary items such as travel. The company invested in Cisco Telepresence systems as a way to cut down on travel costs.
Bradley added that given what the company and others are seeing in the market, there was a reduction in work force too.
Besides Canada, 100 workers were laided off at its Buffalo, N.Y. operation. The rest of the cuts are at headquarters in Santa Ana, Calif. The most notable layoff is Carol Kurimisky, the vice-president of marketing at Ingram.
“These are difficult, yet necessary decisions that will optimize our North America organization and position us to take advantage of future market opportunities. The results gained from this optimization plan will provide us with more flexibility, a lower cost structure and enable us to continue to grow profitably and pursue strategic business initiatives. The economy is no doubt taking its toll, but the IT industry will continue to grow despite and in light of the economy because of the productivity gains, accountability and efficiency of what technology brings to the business and consumer. There are pockets of opportunity out there and our goal is to help our channel partners seize them,” Bradley said.
A number of these affected workers are being asked to stay on board for a period of time while the company makes the necessary transitions to ensure business continues to run smoothly and there are no service disruptions to vendor partners and solution providers.
