ServiceMaster tells IT staff to prepare for changes

Computerworld - The ServiceMaster Co., which offers cleaning, lawn care and other services to homeowners and businesses, has told its IT staff that it is "considering a number of ways we can operate more efficiently" and that it will likely "make some business decisions" during this year's fourth quarter.

Exactly what that might mean for ServiceMaster's IT workers remains a mystery. But the Memphis Business Journal, citing "industry sources," reported last Friday that the company is expected to lay off as many as 200 IT employees as part of an outsourcing move.

Asked about that report, Memphis-based ServiceMaster issued a statement saying that company officials "are currently evaluating our organizational structure and processes." But, it added, "no decisions have been made at this point."

The company, which was acquired last year by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc., said that it centralized its IT staff early this year "to allocate resources and provide support to each of the business units as well as corporate."

In its statement, ServiceMaster said it has been "completely transparent" in its communications with employees. "Our IT associates were notified in June that we were considering a number of ways we can operate more efficiently to meet the needs of our customers and that we would continue to communicate with them throughout the process," the company said. "We expect to make some business decisions during the fourth quarter, and when we do, our associates will be the first to know."

ServiceMaster has a total of 32,000 employees nationwide. It owns a large number of services brands, including TruGreen for residential and commercial lawn care; Terminix for pest control; and Merry Maids for house cleaning.

In July, Convergys Corp., a Cincinnati-based outsourcing services provider, announced that it had hired Jim Goetz, formerly ServiceMaster's CIO, to run its IT operations.

Jill Herrin, president and CEO of JDResources Inc., an IT recruiting firm in Memphis, said she is getting queries from ServiceMaster IT staffers who don't want to wait for layoffs to take place. She added that the IT labor market in Memphis is strong, so their prospects of finding new jobs should be good. "The demand is extremely high," Herrin said. "We always have a shortage of good IT talent."

Herrin said one trend that is helping local IT growth are decisions by some companies to bring offshored work back to the U.S. The reasons for that shift include difficulties in managing offshore outsourcing relationships, a high turnover rate at many offshore firms and lower-than-expected cost savings, she said.