2019 is a promising year for tech in the South, but for a few Georgia companies the year is starting with significant layoffs.
Worldpay, a payment processing technology firm based in the United Kingdom with offices in the U.S., will cut one-third of its staff in Atlanta---234 jobs---at the end of March, according to a filing with the state's Department of Labor.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the company was acquired last year by London-based Vantiv. The company's U.S. headquarters is based in Cincinnati.
The jobs being cut are related to "staffing and support of its call center operations, including some professional positions that provide support to other areas of Worldpay's business," the notice states.
The company received a $1.5 million grant from the city of Atlanta in 2014 after moving its offices from Sandy Springs to Atlantic Station. Invest Atlanta supported the grant, due to the possibility of losing the company to Orlando or California.
Executives were quoted at the time siting attracting millennials and software engineers as the motivation for the company's move, according to the AJC. The move was part of a planned expansion to nearly double Worldpay's workforce in Atlanta to 1,200 workers.
Cerner Corporation, a health IT solutions company headquartered in Kansas City, will let go 129 employees in Augusta on March 31, according to a filing with the state. The company has about 28,000 employees around the world.
A state filing shows Eclipse IA, a supply chain staffing and tech agency, will layoff 97 employees in Forrest Park on March 29. The company's U.S. headquarters is in Melbourne, Fla.
