ServiceMaster to Start Layoffs in December
The newspaper reported that employees were given a general outline Monday, but won't know until later in the week which jobs are being cut.
"We're trying to position ourselves to lead the market and grow the company," she said, "by simplifying work, eliminating some work and getting the right processes and right people in place," said Kaye Veazey, spokeswoman
ServiceMaster employs 2,500 people in
The cuts include about 90 call center jobs in
Shortly after ServiceMaster moved its corporate offices to Memphis from Chicago last summer, it was sold for about $5.5 billion to New York-based Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc., one of the largest private equity groups in the world and known for its strategic fine-tuning.
Analysts say employees should expect more cuts, although not necessarily in the employee ranks.
"One would guess there would be more efforts to cut costs, whether they are in reducing inventory, working capital or redundant offices and plants," said Ronald Masulis, the Frank Houston Professor in the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt.
Although other cuts have been made since the purchase, this round of layoffs is the most far-reaching since the purchase and the first to include the whole company, Veazey said.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice specialize in turnaround situations, and often target underachieving units of large corporations, including Home Depot's wholesale construction supply business, which it bought this year with other partners for $8.5 billion.
Since it was formed in 1978, CD&R has invested in more than 35 businesses in the