Outplacement Services Offered to Laid-Off Workers of Local Engineering Firm
The economy and conclusion of projects has forced one local engineering firm to cut jobs.
Burns & McDonnell, a Kansas City-based engineering firm, recently announced that it has laid off 25 employees, or about 8.4 percent of its workforce. All of those jobs were cut from the company's process and industrial group. An additional 20 employees were transferred to openings in other groups.
The majority of the employees who lost their jobs were dedicated to projects for oil, gas and petrochemical clients. Although the process and industrial group has doubled in size during the last nine years, the completion of many projects and the economic recession caused a need for layoffs.
Fortunately, Burns & McDonnell is providing outplacement services (provided by an undisclosed company) and severance packages to employees effected by the layoffs. Despite the job cuts, company officials say the firm is not shrinking, as it currently has about 150 jobs posted online and has already hired 30 employees this year.
"As an employee-owned firm, Burns & McDonnell has a culture that is focused on the welfare of each individual, so we do not make these decisions lightly," John Nobles, president of the company's process and industrial group, said.
"The economic recession has hit many of our clients very hard and forced them to postpone or cancel major capital improvements," he continued. "That has directly impacted our group. We have worked diligently to find other positions within the firm that our employees were qualified to fill, but obviously there is a limit to what we have been able to do."
Since the end of 2005, Burns & McDonnell has added more than 1,000 employees, while the company's revenue has more than doubled. However, the economic downturn caused revenue to decline from $1.1 billion during 2008 to $1.08 billion during 2009.
According to an article by the Kansas City Business Journal, prior to the most recent round of layoffs, the company's process and industrial group employed 297 workers throughout the country, with 242 of those workers in the Kansas City area.
As a whole, Burns & McDonnell employs a total of 3,040 workers throughout the country, with 2,260 of those employees in Kansas City. The company has been ranked second on the Kansas City Business Journal's list of the top area engineering firms.