Acxiom layoffs appear greater than in the past.Acxiom Corp. declined last week to say exactly how many Arkansas Arkansas, river, United States Arkansas (ärkăn`zəs, är`kənsô'), river, c.1,450 mi (2,330 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts., central Colo. employees it has laid off in recent days, but a written statement suggests the company has been eliminating more positions than is typical. The 7,300-employee company has averaged about 65 "involuntary involuntary adj. or adv. without intent, will, or choice. Participation in a crime is involuntary if forced by immediate threat to life or health of oneself or one's loved ones, and will result in dismissal or acquittal. INVOLUNTARY. terminations" each quarter during the past fiscal year, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the statement, but has eliminated about 100 so far in the current quarter, which began Jan. 1. The company did not answer specific questions about the number of Arkansas jobs eliminated this month, which is the final month of its fiscal year. Arkansas Business began receiving tips about ongoing layoffs earlier in March, but spokeswoman Suellen Vann initially indicated there was nothing unusual about the number of terminations. The statement she sent to Arkansas Business last week seemed to suggest the data mining company has adopted a new approach to staffing levels: "Throughout the year our leaders have made business decisions across the enterprise to reduce expenses; these isolated changes were done as needed as needed prn. See prn order. to prevent wide-scale layoffs that Acxiom experienced a few years ago," it said. And: "This will be the norm for Acxiom as we move forward--continually review business operations Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets ; then, adjust for client contract changes by ending projects in a timely manner and transferring associates to another part of the business, where possible, and eliminating positions when necessary." The company is advertising about 130 vacant positions, according to the statement, but it is not known how many of those jobs are in Arkansas. The company has also increased its total employment by 440 net positions in the fiscal year that began last April 1. On Monday, the company provided information for this week's list of the state's largest employers: 2,789 Arkansas employees compared with 2,672 a year ago. "[T]he position reductions occurred in multiple locations across Acxiom's lines of business--both within and outside Arkansas," Vann said in an e-mail. "It's my understanding from our Organizational Development team that position reductions were over the course of the quarter, not confined con·fine v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines v.tr. 1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. See Synonyms at limit. to March." Acxiom, which last year survived a hostile takeover Hostile Takeover A takeover attempt that is strongly resisted by the target firm. Notes: Hostile takeovers are usually bad news, as the employee moral of the target firm can quickly turn to animosity against the acquiring firm. attempt, has a history of conducting large rounds of layoffs. |
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