This article first appeared on the Boston Business Journal, a sister publication of BostInno.
Progress Software Corp., a Bedford-based enterprise tech firm with customers like IBM (NYSE: IBM) and HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ), is laying off approximately 450 employees – about 20 percent of its global workforce.
The cuts are part of a strategic shift away from its DigitalFactory software product offering announced last May and toward a "Cognitive Applications" platform that helps businesses build better ways to use their digital data. The restructuring efforts "will include consolidating facilities, implementing a simplified organizational structure and reducing marketing and other external expenses."
The layoffs, which are set to take place during the first half of 2017, were first announced in a press release on Jan. 16 and were referred to again in an annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Neither document included details about which locations would be affected and Progress did not respond to a request for clarification in time for publication.
"Over the past three months, members of my executive management team and I met with customers and partners and collaborated with employees to determine the best plan for growth and profitability," CEO Yogesh Gupta said in a Jan. 16 statement. "Market feedback and lessons learned from previous product strategies helped inform our view, and we fully intend to evolve Progress into a leaner company that will help lead in building the applications of tomorrow.
As of Nov. 30, 2016, Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) had 1,912 employees worldwide. The company has offices in 10 countries, including in Australia, France, Germany, India and Singapore. Progress says it has not yet determined which offices will be consolidated.
In a phone interview last November, Gupta said Progress had about 400 employees in Massachusetts.
Progress said it expects the layoffs and office consolidations to cost between $17 million and $20 million in 2017, mostly due to severance packages and post-employment benefits. The company expects the restructuring to save $20 million per year going forward.
Gupta took over as CEO in October, replacing Phil Pead, who led Progress from 2012.
In 2014, Progress Software agreed to acquire Telerik AD, a Bulgarian provider of application development tools with U.S. headquarters in Waltham, for about $260 million. There were rumors in early 2016 that Progress, which has been publicly traded since 1991, was exploring a sale.
The company reported $405 million in revenue in FY 2016, up from $377.6 million the year before.
