BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OVER 100 employees will be sent packing at the end of this year, as Reed Data Services Ltd. (St. Kitts) closes its operations in the Federation in an effort to reduce costs.
This announcement was made yesterday (Aug. 19) in an official communiqué released to the media, outlining the reasons for the untimely closure. This announcement was made yesterday (Aug. 19) in an official communiqué released to the media, outlining the reasons for the untimely closure. SKNVibes however learned that shortly after the employees were informed of the decision yesterday morning, management allowed them to depart the company's premises for the duration of the day.
“Reed Data Services, Ltd. (RDS), a division of Reed Construction Data (RCD), announced today that RCD is restructuring its operations as part of an overall strategy to innovate and reduce costs associated with its bid project data processing and other services,” the company release stated.
It was explained in the release that the tasks performed by the local RDS would become redundant as the company plans to transfer this work to a third party vendor, bringing an end to the local chapter of RDS by the end of the fourth quarter of 2010.
This decision comes a little over a year since one of its associate companies, Reed Elsevier, announced that the RBI-US and other print titles, representing about 45 percent of the revenues of RBI-US, were to be sold by the company. Since then, titles accounting for approximately two-thirds of the portfolio’s revenues had been sold in seven separate transactions.
This divestment is said to have significantly downsized the operations in the local RDS and in April 2010, as many as 50 employees were reportedly made redundant.
To date, it is unknown the number of jobs that will be lost, but SKNVibes understands that as many as 120 employees may be exposed to possible unemployment as a result of yesterday’s official announcement.
The company publicly thanked its local partners and its staff for all their hard work and dedication over the 22 years of its operations in the Federation.
“They have significantly contributed to the reengineering of the processes associated with the acquisition and management of RCD’s bid project data, providing the impetus for RCD to invest in a relationship with a third party vendor who can take them even closer towards achieving their long term goals,” the release concludes.
