WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Tele Atlas Cuts Jobs
Member Center:
Lebanon, New Hampshire - December 8, 2008
Employees from Tele Atlas in Lebanon, N.H., learned the company would be cutting 6 percent of its staff.
Tele Atlas makes digital navigation equipment like the dashboard maps you see in new cars. The company has offices all over the world and about 500 employees work in Lebanon. Monday they were told that some of them will have to go.
Employees exited the parking lot of Tele Atlas Monday morning after an hour-long global conference call between staff and management. Employees we spoke to after the meeting declined to comment on camera and said that few details were given. However they did tell us that the digital map business will be cutting 125 jobs worldwide, which is about 6 percent of its work force.
It is not known if the cuts have already happened or how the 500 employees in Lebanon will be affected.
"Due to federal and state law we are not allowed to discuss with any public sector what companies may be requesting rapid response, or any customers that are coming in here to collect unemployment compensation benefits," said Arthur McAllister, of New Hampshire Works.
McAllister did say that more than one company has approached him in recent weeks in anticipation of major layoffs. A rapid response team has been set up.
"It's triage," McAllister explained. "Trying to get in there as quickly as possible to let people know what services are available to them and get the questions answered as quickly as possible. Let's face it, when someone is facing unemployment there is nervousness; what is going to happen next? We try to answer some of those questions."
Lebanon was recently voted the least vulnerable small city in America in terms of a recession. But local leaders say times are tough for everyone.
"If we are the least vulnerable small city to the economy, than I would really hate to be one of the more vulnerable ones," Lebanon Mayor Karen Liot Hill said.
The mayor said Tele Atlas cut staff a couple months ago, but she said she was not aware of any layoffs this time around.
"We don't know how many people are going to be affected, we don't know how many families that is," Liot Hill said. "People are already struggling and people are already feeling the pinch in this economic crisis that we are in and obviously they are going to be feeling it even worse."
An email to WCAX News from Tele Atlas read, "Tele Atlas has reduced some of its staff numbers but as a private company, we are not providing details nor confirming numbers."
Adam Sullivan - WCAX News
