EDS to cut 611 positions in Plano unit
04/16/99
By Alan Goldstein / The Dallas Morning News
Electronic Data Systems Corp. could fire as many as 611 employees at its Plano headquarters as part of a previously announced cost-cutting campaign, the information services company confirmed Thursday.
In letters to the mayor of Plano and the Texas Workforce Commission, EDS said that the workers' positions have been eliminated and that they have been given 60 days to find other jobs inside the company. EDS employs about 11,000 people in Plano.
EDS spokesman Reed Byrum said that EDS has 2,500 open positions nationwide - many in Plano - and that more will be open soon. EDS officials hope many of the employees, including administrative, technical and managerial staffers, will remain with the company, he said.
Mr. Byrum said the company is "erring on the side of compliance" in setting the figure at the total number of employees whose positions have been eliminated. Overall, EDS employs 122,000 people worldwide, an increase of about 3,000 since the beginning of the year, he said.
EDS has been undergoing a major staff reshuffling since January when a new chairman and chief executive, Richard H. "Dick" Brown, arrived with a mandate from the board of directors to make the company more competitive.
Separately, EDS said it has renegotiated a 1995 contract with American Express Co. after the financial-services company vowed to end the deal because it was dissatisfied with EDS' performance.
Terms of the new 10-year contract were not disclosed. The original 10-year contract was valued at $350 million. EDS spokeswoman Diane Coffman said certain work that had been performed by the Plano-based data services company will now be done by American Express.
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