First Data lays off 110

[eomaha]

Believe it or not... this is actually fairly good news. I was expecting there to be many more layoffs than this.

First Data cuts 110 jobs in Omaha

First Data Corp. eliminated 110 Omaha jobs Wednesday and immediately fired the people holding them.

Twenty additional employees of First Data's card-issuing division in eight other U.S. cities also lost their jobs Wednesday. Card-issuing - which prints and embosses credit cards and electronically processes credit card transactions - is the company's major unit in Omaha.

The cuts affected all areas and levels of employees, the company said.

First Data also announced it was moving 300 employees, most of them in Omaha, to other jobs. The job shifts mostly affect systems and programming employees. The redeployment has been going on for a time and will continue, company spokeswoman Donna Pennington said.

First Data employs more than 6,300 people in Omaha.

First Data did not give a reason for the cuts other than saying it is continuously evaluating its workloads and making adjustments to its operations.

The company recently lost major card-processing contracts. It failed to win renewal of a BankOne contract last year and then lost another contract when BankOne merged with another First Data customer, JP Morgan Chase, on July 1.

Together, the two banks account for 69.3 million accounts on which First Data will lose the transaction processing work bit by bit well into 2006.

Before those shakeouts, First Data listed its workload at 398 million credit- and debit-card accounts.

First Data recently picked up 9 million Dillard's and Mervyn's department store accounts through its processing contract with GE Consumer Finance and an undisclosed number through acquisition by Bank of America, another First Data customer, of Fleet Bank.

First Data's stock price rose 6 cents a share Wednesday and closed at $43.06

[projectman]

Almost 4 years to the date when I got laid off from FDR. Just glad to be out of there.

[eomaha]

I think I know more people who were laid off from FDR... than those who work there.

[eomaha]

And another 90 makes 200. Not the best of weeks for employment in the metro.

Frito-Lay closing Bluffs plant

Frito-Lay will close its Council Bluffs factory by the end of October, eliminating 90 jobs.

All jobs at the 48-year-old facility, which produces Fritos corn chips, will be eliminated as production is phased out over the next 30 days, said John Bradbury, a company spokesman at the plant.

"Given the fact that (the factory) could not be expanded and was only able to produce one product, the decision was made to move production to other locations," Bradbury said.

Employees, about half of whom have worked at the plant for more than 20 years, will be offered severance packages based on years of service that include transition benefits, counseling and job placement assistance. Bradbury said the company had not determined whether employees will be offered jobs at other Frito-Lay factories.

The move to close the plant, located at 3919 W. Broadway, was part of a program to increase productivity begun in 1997.

"A thorough, eight-month assessment determined this is the right move to support our strategies and position us for future growth," said Jim Rich, senior vice president of Frito-Lay's North American operations. "These decisions are never easy and we're committed to treating our people with the greatest consideration and assistance to ensure a smooth transition."

Frito-Lay is the $9 billion convenient food division of PepsiCo.

The company also announced it will close three other facilities, in Beaverton, Ore.; Allen Park, Mich.; and Visalia, Calif. Those closures will eliminate 690 jobs as production is phased out in October (guess we didn't get the worst of it)

Bradbury said the company plans to add 250 jobs at other plants as their production increases.

The company's program to consolidate operations has closed nine plants across the United States and Canada over seven years, eliminating about 1,330 jobs. The moves saved Frito-Lay $1 billion.

[zefiris]

First data is not a company i would even consider working for. They seem to be so cyclical.

FDR IN THE NEWS TODAY: "Business has been great, We're hiring 100 new employees"

FDR IN THE NEWS TOMORROW: "Business sucks! Fire them all!!!"

I was told a story once about how this certain manager knew people were going to be laid off 2 months in advance. At the same time an unfortunate employee was about to sign on his new house. Rather than give him even a hint he went ahead and let him sign on it. That's just cold....And someone else quote me if im wrong but i believe they bring in the guards during "LETS LAY OFF SOME MORE PEOPLE DAY"

[projectman]

Yes many times people are escorted out. People who are performing fine are put on "work plans" because the managers are given direction that 10% of their people need to be on work plans so when a layoff comes around those 10% are targeted. Some of the most unethical policies I have ever heard of. Just glad to be out of there.

[eomaha]

I've worked with many companies... the fact is... FDR isn't really any different (worse) than most other larger companies. You just notice them more because they are one of (if not the) largest private employer in Omaha. Regulary layoffs have become a normal part of the attrition process.