Kaiser Permanente is laying off 79 administrative employees across California. The move comes after the Oakland, Calif.-based organization disclosed in December it is also eliminating 115 IT positions, 74 of which are based in California.
The 153 employees in California will officially be terminated Jan. 4, according to WARN documents filed with the state. Kaiser also laid off 49 workers in the state in early October.
"We do not make decisions lightly that affect our valued employees," a Kaiser spokesperson told Becker's. "We are committed to ensuring everyone is treated with respect and gratitude for their contributions. If an impacted employee cannot be retained in another position or chooses not to remain with Kaiser Permanente, we offer generous severance packages, career support and outplacement services.
"It is important to note that none of these changes will affect the quality of Kaiser Permanente’s patient care and service, which is always our primary focus. In addition, no union-represented employees were affected by this change."
The job cuts are a small percentage of Kaiser's total workforce, with about 220,000 employees and 24,000 physicians. The organization also has about 13,200 open positions across the country.