Ingram Micro, the world largest IT distributor, has cut 300 people from its workforce in North America.
In total 400 positions were eliminated. According to Keith Bradley, North American president for Ingram, 100 positions were open positions that were never filled. Canada will have to take a hit in this round of downsizing by Ingram. CDN has learned that approximately 50 positions will be cut in its Canadian operation headquartered in Mississauga, Ont, as well as 100 in its Buffalo, N.Y. operation. The rest of the cuts are at headquarters in Santa Ana, Calif. The most notable layoff is Carol Kurimisky, the vice-president of marketing at Ingram.
Bradley said that this round of cuts was part of the distributor's optimization initiative. The majority of actions in that plan were internal discretionary items such as travel. About two-thirds of the optimization initiative did not involve the workforce.
The company tried hard to avoid cutting positions that had associates in them, Bradley added, but then it came to a point where poor economy forced its hand.
One quick hit before I go. Ross Pellizzari, former Cisco Canada channel chief is working for Mastek Canada in a vice presidential level position. Pellizzari will assist Mike Dufton, the president, in driving the company's operations beyond the U.S. and exploring business opportunities across North America. Mastek is a publicly held enterprise IT solution provider for insurance, government, and the financial services sector. CDN wishes Ross the very best of luck in his new job.