WEBSTER, N.Y. — With the rumors flying Xerox employees head to work only hoping their names aren’t on the pink slip list.
Xerox is downsizing even more and eliminating jobs from its Webster offices and from locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. But the company will not disclose how many people are being walked to the door.
A company spokesperson says these layoffs are taking place to improve efficiencies within the organization and to allow Xerox to compete on a global scale.
The cuts are coming from Xerox’s internal IT operations, including software engineers, systems engineers, program managers and finance managers.
The company is saying it’s part of the organization’s overall restructuring initiative. Regardless of whether a given worker is receiving a pink slip, this is a sad moment for many people who work here.
Orlando Vargas, Xerox Employee: “I don’t know, hopefully everybody’s okay,” Orlando Vargas said.
“Oh, it’s real hard, because you know how jobs are these days and you know if you’re settled in a job for that long, for anybody, it doesn’t matter how long, it’s tough, it’s tough,” added Rita Radtke.
Both of those employees are safe. Those let go are barred from talking on camera with their severance packages on the line. One 31-year veteran said off-camera through her tears that the news was like a punch to the gut.
Brighton Securities financial analyst George Conboy follows the happenings at Xerox.
“They want productivity, they want profitability and the current structure doesn’t allow for that,” he said. “You either sell more stuff with the same number of people or sell the same amount of stuff with fewer people and that second piece is where they are right now.”
The jobs being lost at Xerox are “good jobs, in many cases six-figure jobs that will be hard to replace,” he said.
It could take a toll on the community of Webster which welcomed those who moved from the Xerox Tower in downtown Rochester.
“Those people were shopping in the village and going to lunch and increased economic development, that’s always good,” said Webster Town Supervisor Ron Nesbitt. “And then today I wake and I find out well these people now some people aren’t going to be here.
And it’s a double whammy for those who are losing their jobs as Xerox is restructuring their severance plan.