Kraft Heinz cuts 200 more white-collar jobs

Kraft Heinz today cut about 200 salaried workers across the U.S. and Canada as part of its continued business unit consolidation, dismissals that included white-collar workers at its headquarters in Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Company spokesman Michael Mullen said the layoffs affected less than 1 percent of the company's workforce and will help Kraft Heinz "reinvest in our brands and our business in ways that benefit our consumers."

The mass firing comes about a month after the packaged-foods company pulled its $143 billion bid to buy Anglo-Dutch consumer-products company Unilever after its target rebuffed its offer and its approach became public. Kraft Heinz said it didn't want to engage in a hostile takeover battle.

The job cuts and reorganization also come on the heels on the company's announcement that it planned to slash an additional $200 million in annual expenses, on top of the $1.5 billion Kraft Heinz targeted after Heinz merged with Kraft in 2015.

Since that merger, orchestrated by Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, the company has shuttered factories and fired thousands of workers in order to reduce expenses and boost margins.

The company's best-in-class operating margin was 23 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 18 percent a year earlier. Revenue fell 3.7 percent to $6.85 billion.

Struggling to grow sales of its old-line staples such as Heinz ketchup and Kraft cheese, the company turned its attention to acquisitions, submitting an unsolicited bid for Unilever. But there was pushback from the start, according to Bloomberg. A major point of concern of a potential Kraft Heinz takeover of Unilever, particularly in Europe, was whether its focus on "brands with purpose" would survive the relentless cost cutting that is the hallmark of 3G, the publication reported.

After the deal fell apart, Kraft Heinz said it is investing $200 million in an expanded corporate social responsibility program that includes a pledge to donate 1 billion meals to people in need by 2021, improve the sustainability of its supply chain and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent.

Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees told Bloomberg the additional cost cuts made investing in the sustainability program possible.

Employees who were fired were offered "substantial severance packages" and outplacement services, Mullen said.

Chicago : CME to cut 150 jobs

CME Group Inc. said today that it would cut 150 jobs, or about 5 percent of its workforce, with most of the cuts technology jobs.

The reminder of the cuts are corporate and administrative jobs, Chicago-based CME said in a statement this morning.

The majority are in Chicago, a spokeswoman said.

"Our industry has transformed significantly over the past five years, with the advent of OTC clearing and other changes. As difficult as this decision is, the efficiencies we have built are allowing us to make this change to our structure," CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy said in the statement. "These staffing changes and other expense control measures we have taken internally will result in decreased costs and reduced management layers, and will help ensure the company's long-term continued growth."

JPMorgan cuts tech worker jobs

(Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. lender, is cutting hundreds of technology support employees in its corporate and investment bank amid a revenue decline, people with knowledge of the move said.

Workers in locations including New York, Tampa, Chicago and Dubai were notified of the cuts this month, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter. Luke Moranda, a managing director in charge of clearing technology, and Dan Cronin, an executive director, were among those let go, the people said.

Wall Street firms are trimming expenses by paring support employees and moving personnel to lower-cost locales amid a decline in fixed-income trading. JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank, run by Daniel Pinto, posted a 12 percent revenue drop to $17.6 billion in the first six months of 2014, while noninterest expenses declined by 1.6 percent to $11.7 billion.

“We continue to be focused and diligent on managing expenses and operating as efficiently as possible across our businesses,” Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said this month in a conference call.
Moranda and Cronin didn't respond to e-mailed messages seeking comment. Brian Marchiony, a spokesman for New York-based JPMorgan, declined to comment.

Severance packages came with letters explaining that the bank's staffing needs have changed along with “changes in our business,” the people said. Some workers accepted demotions to reduce compensation costs.

JPMorgan has cut about 6,000 employees in the first six months of the year, leaving it with 245,192 workers at June 30 and exceeding a forecast in February that it would reduce total headcount by 5,000. The bank, which acquired Washington Mutual Inc.'s bank units and Bear Stearns Cos. during the financial crisis, is streamlining the group's technology systems.

Low volatility in debt and equity markets and new regulations have crimped trading, leading to Wall Street's worst start to a year in trading revenue since the 2008 financial crisis. An increase in client activity in June failed to carry over into July, Lake said on the July 15 conference call.

“Our general operating assumption is that the next two quarters will continue to have low activity year-over-year,” Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, 58, said on the call. “That could change on a dime, as you know, but that's just how we're going to run the business.”

Chicago : Northern Trust cuts 200 jobs

Northern Trust Corp. announced today that it will cut 200 jobs as the bank struggles to hit its minimum profitability goals even though assets have grown substantially.

Chicago's largest locally headquartered bank said the layoffs, along with other cost actions, would trim $25 million from its annual expenses. Executives said the cuts were coming from a wide array of operations within the bank and would take place over the coming year.

A spokesman didn't have immediate comment on whether and to what extent those cutbacks would hit Northern Trust's Chicago workforce. Northern Trust employs 15,100 worldwide, so the layoffs amount to slightly more than 1 percent of its employees.

The bank reported second quarter earnings of $182 million, or 75 cents per share. The per-share figure was down from 78 cents a year before and even with the 75 cents posted in the first quarter.

Northern Trust, however, recorded $42 million in pre-tax charges and writeoffs, with $28.5 million earmarked for severance. Excluding those, the bank posted earnings of 87 cents per share, higher than the Wall Street consensus estimate of 84 cents. Its return on equity excluding the one-time costs was 10.6 percent, exceeding the bank's minimum goal of 10 percent.

However, Northern Trust's return on equity with the charges included was just 9.2 percent.

The bank, which focuses on serving wealthy families and institutional investors, continues to show growth in its key business lines. Assets under custody just exceeded $6 trillion, up 4 percent from $5.75 trillion in the first quarter. Assets under management were $924 billion, up 1 percent from $915 billion in the first quarter.

Chicago : Companies warn of nearly 1,700 Illinois job cuts

Thirteen companies may cut nearly 1,700 jobs in the coming months, according to a new state report.
The biggest cuts are from commercial printer Quad/Graphics Inc., which is laying off 537 workers in far northwest suburban Woodstock, according to the June report for the Illinois' Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN.

Sussex, Wis.-based Quad/Graphics is closing a plant there, according to reports earlier this year.
The second-largest cuts are at merchant wholesale Source Interlink Distribution LLC, with 244 layoffs already made in June in its McCook office. A lost contract is prompting the cuts, the company said in the WARN report.

Dallas-based AT&T Inc. announced 188 job cuts.

Jewelry company Lia Sophia will lay off 56 workers in Roselle and 28 in its Wood Dale office by August. The company declined to say why the jobs are being cut.

Additional layoffs announced in the report:
• Ridgeway, S.C.-based construction machinery and manufacturing company Bomag America's Inc. is laying off 92 workers in its Kewanee office.
• Montgomery-based Lyon LLC, which specializes in showcase and shelving manufacturing, is cutting 74 workers in Paris.
• Atlanta, Ga.-based Morrison Healthcare, a food service contractor, warned of 62 cuts because of a lost contract, according to the report.
• Fresenius Medical Care, a German company that produces medical supplies, is laying off 53 workers in its Westchester office. The reason was not provided.
• A liquidation at Chicago-based Sound Solutions Windows & Doors LLC is permanently laying off 52 workers.
• Chicago-based Lawrence Hall Youth Services, offering child and youth services, is cutting 51 workers due to a closing of an Elgin office. A representative said the Elgin office is closing because their services were no longer needed in the area.
• Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu Inc. will cut 44 workers in Urbana. The cause was not provided.
• Springfield, Mass.-based Hot Mama's Foods will cut 34 workers. A reason was not disclosed.
Representatives from these companies did not respond immediately today to calls requesting comment.
Also in the report: Chicago-based Magid Glove & Safety Manufacturing Co. is moving 156 workers from its current manufacturing facility to a new one opening in Romeoville. The company reports that it is not laying off any of those employees.

Chicago : Braintree parent to add 360 jobs

Credit-card software company Braintree Inc. plans a hiring spree at its large new headquarters in the Merchandise Mart.

California-based eBay Inc., which acquired Braintree in 2013, plans to add 360 jobs in the next three years, confirmed Gov. Pat Quinn's office, which is providing $12 million in state incentives.

Crain's last month reported Braintree's lease for 60,000 square feet at the Mart in River North. It will move there in the third quarter, from 27,000 square feet at 111 N. Canal St. in the West Loop.

Braintree, owned by eBay, is moving to the Merchandise Mart. 

San Jose, California-based eBay doesn't plan to waste time filling Braintree's significantly larger Chicago space. The PayPal parent has pledged to create 216 new full-time jobs by March 2016 and another 144 by March 2017.

If it meets those targets, eBay will receive $12 million in Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credits paid over 10 years by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Mr. Quinn's office confirmed.

$24 MILLION INVESTMENT
“EBay Inc. is built on innovation and we welcome its interest in providing quality jobs for Illinoisans,” Mr. Quinn said in a statement. “By coming here, it will benefit from our state's leadership in emerging technology and from access to a workforce with skills that are second to none.”

Under the EDGE agreement, eBay will invest $24 million toward expanding Braintree in Chicago.

It was acquired by eBay for $800 million late last year. Spokeswomen for Braintree and eBay and Braintree CEO Bill Ready did not respond to questions about what is driving the rapid growth or how many people Braintree currently employs in Chicago.

The number is 140, according to a DCEO spokesman.

"Everyone at Braintree is pumped to be moving to bigger digs in Chicago to support our growth, just six months after joining the PayPal family," Mr. Ready said in a statement. "We're looking forward to moving into our office space at the Merchandise Mart soon and continuing our involvement in the budding Chicago tech scene."

Chicago : Uber hiring 150 people

Uber is hitching a ride to Chicago's meatpacking district, where it plans to hire another 150 employees in its Midwest headquarters by late 2015.

San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc., which brought its taxi-hailing and ride-sharing smartphone appto Chicago in 2011, signed a three-year lease for the 12,000-square-foot building at 370 N. Carpenter St., where it plans to move by June, said Midwest General Manager Andrew Macdonald.

The property owner, Chicago-based developer Sterling Bay Cos., is in the process of gutting the interior of the building, a former Kingdom Farms Inc. meatpacking facility, Sterling Bay Managing Principal Andy Gloor confirmed.

“We looked at staying in River North, but we bought into the vision Sterling Bay has for the area,” Mr. Macdonald said.

Uber is already on its third Chicago office, moving in February to nearby 300 N. Elizabeth St., also owned by Sterling Bay, the most active developer in the area on the western edge of the West Loop, a hotbed of development. Previously, Uber was at 750 N. Orleans St., where it moved from shared office space at another River North loft building.

Sterling Bay's many nearby projects include converting the former Fulton Market Cold Storage building into the future Chicago office of Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc. a block north of Uber's destination. Google's venture capital arm is an investor in Uber.

EMPLOYEE GROWTH
Uber expects to go from about 50 employees here now to 100 by the end of this year, with 200 Chicago employees by late 2015, which could cause the firm to outgrow a fourth Chicago office, according to Mr. Macdonald.

“We wanted a landlord we could grow with,” Mr. Macdonald said. “If we need to move again in a year or two, we feel there will be options.”

Uber was represented in the lease by First Vice President Paul Reaumond and Senior Vice President Brad Serot in the Chicago office of CBRE Inc.

Uber's Midwest office includes marketing, customer support and operations employees for Chicago, as well as teams serving Minneapolis, Detroit, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City and Milwaukee, Mr. Macdonald said. Dallas, Denver, Toronto, Montreal, Houston and Columbus, Ohio, all have workers based in their cities who Mr. Macdonald oversees, he said.

As privately held Uber moves into new markets, such as St. Louis, Kansas City, Louisville, Ky., Madison, Wis., and Tulsa, Okla., employees serving those cities also may be based in Chicago, Mr. Macdonald said.
Uber's temporary space on Elizabeth is part of a block-wide parcel Sterling Bay bought Jan. 31 for about $22 million, including a loan assumption, according to Cook County records and Mr. Gloor. Sterling Bay bought the property from a venture of Chicago-based Marc Realty LLC.

In addition to two existing office buildings, including the one where Uber is using short-term space, the property includes the partially built headquarters of now-defunct MarchFirst Inc. Sterling Bay plans to complete that building, 1380 W. Fulton Market, where construction halted in 2000 as consultancy MarchFirst spiraled into bankruptcy. The developer is in talks with large tenants to take all of its 300,000 square feet of the building, Mr. Gloor said.

Chicago : Accretive Health to cut 170 jobs

Accretive Health Inc. plans to cut as many as 170 jobs this year, most of them in Chicago.

The company will keep its headquarters here but move some functions to Dallas and Detroit.

The moves, which the company announced this morning, come less than 10 months into the tenure of Stephen Schuckenbrock, the former Dell Inc. executive drafted by Accretive in a management shakeup that moved founder Mary Tolan to the chairman spot. Ms. Tolan stepped down from the position and left the company in November to "pursue other business interests."

The company will cut 140 to 170 positions, "mostly" in Chicago and all in North America, with 25 layoffs immediately, a spokesman said.

The company has about 1,500 employees in North America, he said.

weekly chart

It's also about a year after the company said it would have to restate financial results for quarters stretching back to 2009. Accretive did not file any financial results in 2013. The revenue cycle management firm intends to file restated results by March 19.

The restatement came just as the company was struggling to refashion its image after a widely publicized investigation by the Minnesota attorney general's office in to losses of data and alleged harsh collection tactics from patients health systems in the Minneapolis area.

Executives are holding a town hall meeting with employees this morning to inform them of the eliminations.

Chicago : Argonne National Laboratory plans layoffs

Argonne National Laboratory plans to eliminate 50 jobs starting in January, after a voluntary buyout program announced in October fell short.

An internal memo from the lab said more than 70 employees accepted Argonne's labwide voluntary separation program. But the lab was aiming to reduce its 3,456-person staff by about 3.5 percent, or 120 positions.

“Due to the slow economic recovery and ongoing debates over federal spending, Argonne National Laboratory is anticipating reduced budgets for the laboratory for at least the next two fiscal years,” the lab said in a statement last month. “Despite ongoing efforts to contain costs and limit spending, our budget constraints make it necessary for us to reduce our workforce."

Earlier this year, an attempt to restore about $50 million in funding cuts for Argonne, which is near Lemont, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia did not come close to winning approval in the U.S. House.

“The savings made possible by the voluntary separation program have eased some of the budget constrictions we are facing this fiscal year,” said the Dec. 3 memo from Eric Isaacs, the lab's director, who recently was named provost of the University of Chicago, which runs Argonne under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy. “However, we are still grappling with the impacts of the slow economic recovery and the continuing congressional debates over the federal budget. As a result, we anticipate significant reductions in our federal funding over the next two years. In response, the laboratory plans to eliminate another 50 positions through an involuntary separation program, to begin in January.”

Argonne gets about 90 percent of its $800 million operating budget from the federal government.
“This is a difficult process, and I know that the next few months will be very challenging for many people,” the memo continued. “I want to assure you that we are exploring all available options to contain spending and increase efficiency. We believe these staff reductions are crucial to our ability to stay within our budgets while still pursuing our research mission and delivering groundbreaking science.”

Even if the budget deal currently pending in Congress eases the pressure on federal spending cuts next year, "there's still a huge amount of uncertainty" about how much funding Argonne will receive, said Mark Peters, the lab’s assistant director for lab programs. "All the budget deal does is make the cuts a little less."
The lab is making a strategic decision to position itself for the future, he added, assuming budgets will continue to be tight. At the same time, "it’s important that we continue to talk about the fact that scientific research needs to be a priority."

Tribune Co. to slash 700 jobs

Tribune Co. is cutting 700 newspapers employees, or about 8 percent of its publishing workforce, as the Chicago-based media company restructures to centralize certain functions for the papers.

Tribune, which owns eight major dailies including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, will streamline advertising, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, human resources and digital strategy for its newspapers instead of having all of those functions for various publications spread across the country. Its making the move as it prepares to spin off the publishing division and focus on expanding its broadcast operations.

"Creating these critical efficiencies and ensuring the long-term strength of our mastheads will, unfortunately, result in the selective reduction of our publishing staff," Tribune CEO Peter Liguori said in a memo today.
Tribune had 8,487 full-time employees in its publishing division and 2,598 employees in its broadcast division, as of June 30, the company has said in financial documents.

Chicago : JPMorgan to cut 145 mortgage employees

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will lay off 145 mortgage employees in its Chicago and Downers Grove offices. The layoffs begin Nov. 22, spokeswoman Christine Holevas said. She had no further comment.

JPMorgan's cuts were disclosed in a monthly state report in which the bank said "restructuring" was the reason for the layoffs. Large banks with significant mortgage operations in recent months have been laying off employees all over the country. Borrower demand to refinance mortgages has dramatically declined due to higher interest rates since the early summer.

Chicago : Navistar to cut hundreds of jobs

Navistar International Corp. will cut a few hundred jobs, plus 140 contractors, by early September, the company announced today.

The Lisle-based heavy-duty truck and engine maker said the cuts will be companywide, but mainly in North America. Navistar said it's still evaluating which departments the cuts will affect.

Over the past year, the company said, it's been looking to reduce its cost structure. "This is a continuation of that," said Elissa Maurer, a spokeswoman for Navistar. "Unfortunately, it is not an easy decision, but it's something that is necessary."

Navistar's recent troubles stem largely from its bungled three-year, $700 million effort to develop new technology for large diesel engines that could meet federal emissions standards.

Navistar held 28 percent of the U.S. and Canadian heavy-truck market in 2010, narrowly trailing leader Freightliner, a division of Daimler A.G. By the first quarter of 2013, the number was down to 14 percent, the company reported in April.

Navistar abandoned its alternative engine technology late last year and began installing 15-liter engines built by Cummins Inc. The Environmental Protection Agency recently certified its 13-liter engine, which, like Cummins, uses industry-standard technology to reduce emissions.

Recently Navistar announced plans to save $175 million by selling assets, closing plants and reducing its workforce, which it did by 2,100 employees in 2012. In a recent call with investors and analysts, company executives said it was on track to meet or exceed the $175 million goal.

Chicago : Citadel cutting 25 to 30 jobs

Citadel Securities is cutting 25 to 30 jobs, including senior managing director Matt Cushman, as it consolidates the technology and support teams linked to its automated trading operations, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Citadel spokeswoman Katie Spring confirmed the cuts were taking place. Citadel Securities is a unit of Citadel LLC, which also runs a market-making business and one of the world's largest hedge funds.

The cuts amount to up to 10 percent of the workforce of Citadel Securities and will happen mostly in New York, but also in Chicago and Palo Alto, Calif., the person said.

Citadel identified overlapping positions supporting its retail and institutional trading business during its annual business review at the beginning of the year, the person said.

Cushman was a high-profile hire from Knight Capital Group, along with Jamil Nazarali, in 2011.

Despite the restructuring of the unit, Ken Griffin, Citadel's chief executive, does not plan on pulling back from the trading business, the person emphasized.

"If anything Ken wants us push more into that space."

Illinois: Tellabs will cut 300 jobs

Naperville, Illinois-based Tellabs Inc. said Friday it will cut about 300 jobs after it posted a $23 million loss in the fourth quarter.

CEO Dan Kelly said on a conference call that the company plans to cut expenses, including via the job cuts. The company, which has about 2,600 employees worldwide, would not specify where the job cuts would be.

Tellabs' fourth-quarter revenue was $242 million, compared with $317 million in the year-ago quarter. It also posted a net loss of $23 million, or 6 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of $5 million, or 1 cent per share, in the same period in 2011.

Overall, 2012 revenue was $1,05 billion, compared to $1.28 billion in 2011.

Illinois: Cardinal Health cutting 650 jobs in Waukegan

Health care manufacturing and distribution giant Cardinal Health Inc. is moving production out of north suburban Waukegan, a move that will cost some 650 local jobs. 

Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health disclosed Wednesday that it also would sell property in Waukegan, but the company will keep some operations there. Cardinal expects to incur a loss on the property sale, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cardinal will sell seven of the nine buildings at McGaw Park and consolidate Waukegan employees into the remaining two, a Cardinal Health spokeswoman said.

Cardinal's decision will leave about 700 employees in Waukegan, most of them professional jobs such as marketing, customer support and IT, according to the spokeswoman.

The production of surgical kits will move to South Carolina and Mexico, she said. The company is looking to sell a mix of office and industrial property totaling about 1.2 million square feet and will keep two office buildings totaling about 267,000 square feet, an executive said. He declined to disclose an asking price. The company also is planning a reorganization in El Paso, Texas, that will result in about 80 job cuts, according to Dow Jones, which reported Cardinal's moves Wednesday.

Chicago : Sun-Times warns of layoffs

Sun-Times Media LLC, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other suburban papers, has warned employees that some workers could lose their jobs as the company consolidates suburban operations in its River North headquarters.

The company told employees of the possible cuts last week in a state-required letter called a WARN notice, named after the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires disclosure whenever a company expects it may cut 50 or more workers.

Sun-Times is still deciding how many jobs may be eliminated because that depends on the number of suburban workers who agree by Feb. 25 to relocate to the headquarters, said Ted Rilea, the company's vice president of labor relations and human resources. If not enough workers make the move, the company may have to hire workers downtown, but if all of them want to move, it will have to cut employees, he said in an interview.

The company expects to complete the move by March 25, according to a note published by the Newspaper Guild, a union that represents some Sun-Times workers and is negotiating a contract with the company for about 150 employees.

The union expressed its concerns to management about the impact of the move on workers, specifically the increased costs for transportation, said Dave Roeder, a union representative and Chicago Sun-Times business reporter.

Sun-Times Media told employees last month that it planned to close its suburban offices and move news editing and production workers, including 47 editorial assistants and copy editors, to the downtown headquarters while reporters mainly would remain in the suburbs.

Chicago : Navistar to lay off 200 workers

Navistar International Corp. said today that it expects 200 employees to participate in the company's voluntary separation plan this quarter, on top of the 500 who did so in the third quarter.

The Lisle, Illinois-based truck and engine maker also said it may sell "non-core businesses" as it reported a paltry third-quarter profit that nevertheless beat expectations. Navistar's shares rose 17.4 percent to close at $23.97.

Navistar, operating under an interim CEO installed last week, earned $84 million, or $1.22 per share, for the three months ended July 31. That was off more than 90 percent from the year-earlier's $1.4 billion, or $18.24 per share, which included a $1.48 billion tax benefit. Revenue dropped 6 percent, to $3.3 billion, but exceeded Wall Street forecasts by 10 percent.

Navistar is expected to lose $300 million for the fiscal year ending in October, compared with a $1.8-billion tax-advantaged profit the previous fiscal year. Revenue is expected to slip nine percent, to $12.7 billion.

"Clearly we are not pleased with these results," interim CEO Lewis Campbell said in a statement. "I believe we can accelerate the pace of progress to deliver significant improvements during the next 12 to 18 months."
The former Textron Inc. CEO succeeded Dan Ustian, who resigned under pressure after 37 years with the company.

Fiscal 2013 earnings are projected at $102 million on revenue of $13.9 billion.
The company is also boosting efforts to lower discretionary spending and lower its material costs further.
During an earnings call today, Mr. Campbell said that Navistar would focus on North American truck, engine and parts operations, where quality, cost and consumer satisfaction are priorities. “Quite simply, we need to step up the pace and address our problems as quickly as we can,” he said.

Another worrisome target: Navistar's $3.2 billion in unfunded pension and health care liabilities.
“I think we have a plan to possibly address that in a different way,” he said, without offering specifics. “It's not something we're kind of looking the other way and pretending it's not there.” He also said, "We got a really good handle on cash."

Although Mr. Campbell, 66, has an interim title, Navistar hasn't outlined search plans for a more-permanent CEO. He said he and his wife reached an agreement over the weekend to buy a house in the area.

“So as they say in poker, 'I'm all in.'” He added: "I did plenty of due diligence, and while there are a host of issues that need to be resolved, there was nothing I felt was insurmountable when deciding whether or not to pursue this opportunity.”
He told analysts he has not spoken with large shareholders.

Chicago: Trading firm Getco cuts 40 workers

Getco LLC, one of Chicago's largest trading firms, last week cut about 40 employees globally, including at least one top manager, as the firm realigns its focus and operations under a new CEO, according to sources familiar with the reduction.

Among those cut was managing director Edward Boyle, 49, who was based in Chicago and had business development duties across the firm, the sources said. He had joined Getco in late 2010 from NYSE Euronext, where he had overseen that exchange company's options business.

His departure follows the exit of several other senior managers in the past year, including David Babulak, who was also a managing director; Michael Rauchman, who was the company's chief technology officer; Brian Nigito, who was a top manger in New York; and Patrick Tray, who was a trading manager for the firm in Chicago.

A Getco spokeswoman declined to comment.

Getco, a top electronic market-maker at the New York Stock Exchange that is active in 50 markets around the world, is restructuring the firm and its focus in the wake of promoting Daniel Coleman as CEO in February.

Mr. Coleman, who was previously the company's global head of equities and client services, stepped up as the company's Chicago co-founders, Stephen Schuler and Dan Tierney, stepped back. The company has said previously that it has about 400 employees.

While Mr. Schuler and Mr. Tierney still own part of the company, they started answering to an outside investor in the firm when Greenwich, Connecticut-based General Atlantic took a minority stake in 2007.

Getco is not only a market maker on the exchanges, it also own stakes in several electronic ones, including the Chicago-based Eris Exchange, Bats Exchange and NYSE Liffe U.S.

Getco was founded in 1999 and has 400 employees.

Chicago: Acco Brands trims 145 jobs

(Crain's) — Acco Brands Corp. trimmed about 145 jobs last month as it realigned one of its business units.

Eliminating the jobs, in direct sales and customer service, will result in a pretax charge of about $7 million for Lincolnshire-based Acco Brands, which makes office products under various brand names, including Day-Timer, Swingline, Quartet and Wilson Jones.

The decision to eliminate those jobs was unrelated to Acco's upcoming merger with a division of MeadWestvaco Corp., according to an Acco spokesman. That merger, announced in November, will give MeadWestvaco Corp. shareholders 50.5 percent ownership in the combined company.

"This is a completely separate initiative," the spokesman said of the job cuts. "The sales and servicing of large office equipment needed a refreshed business model."

The cuts, which primarily took place in the United States, represent less than 4 percent of Acco's workforce.

Acco said the job cuts should save the company a total of $8 million, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jewel-Osco cutting corporate jobs in Chicago

(Crain's) — Jewel-Osco will eliminate 20 jobs from its Chicago corporate office as part of a broader cost-cutting effort from its Supervalu Inc. parent. The losses will affect Jewel's store support center in Itasca, and no store-level associate jobs will be eliminated, according to a Supervalu spokesman.

Minneapolis-based Supervalu plans to trim 800 jobs throughout the company, the majority of which will take place by the end of the company's fiscal year Feb. 25. The reductions include both current positions and open jobs that won't be filled.

"These reductions are necessary to help further strengthen and accelerate Supervalu's business turnaround in a very competitive marketplace," Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert said in a statement. "While the announcement of a workforce reduction is difficult news to share, due to its direct impact on our associates, these changes will allow us to better connect with customers and put more authority in the hands of people who interact more closely with our customers."

Last month, Supervalu reported a dismal third quarter, posting a $202 million loss compared to a profit of $109 million in the year-ago period. The grocer also cut its full-year outlook based on the poor performance.

At the time, Mr. Herkert said that the company had "invested heavily in promotional activities that proved to be less than effective." He added that the company's "performance is still not close to my expectations and we continue to take action to change the trajectory of our business."

Supervalu stock was essentially unchanged after the layoff news, trading at $6.93 midmorning, but has been circling its 52-week low of $6.26 ever since last month's earnings report.