3Com Lays Off 230 In Chicago Area
Newsbytes - March 16, 1998 17:15
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 3Com [NASDAQ:COMS] said it would lay off
approximately 230 full-time employees in the Chicago area. Company
officials said they were taking the action as a part of a realignment
of local manufacturing plant facilities.
3Com spokesperson Sara Powers told Newsbytes that the realignment will
mainly hit manufacturing line employees at 3Com's suburban Chicago
facilities in Morton Grove and Mount Prospect. The remaining job cuts
are coming from 3Com's Personal Communications Division in Skokie,
just north of Chicago. The Chicago area was home to US Robotics, which
3Com acquired last year.
The 230 being laid off include hourly and salaried employees, Powers
said. All affected workers will receive a severance package and career
outplacement services.
3Com employs a total of 3,000 people at various Illinois operations,
and more than 13,000 people worldwide, Powers said.
The layoffs are a result of the company's leveraging of "manufacturing
technology expertise to enable a much more efficient and improved
operation," said Tom Werner, vice president of manufacturing at 3Com.
Silicon integration, which translated to lower part counts in newer
product designs, also contributed to the layoffs, because fewer workers
were needed on the production line, officials said.
3Com added that it remains "committed to the Chicagoland area," with
the continued construction on its new corporate campus in Northwest
suburban Rolling Meadows.
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