Imation lays off 124 workers in Oakdale

Imation Corp. sent layoff notices to 124 employees at its Oakdale headquarters this week, city officials confirmed Friday.

The layoffs come days after Imation informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it is closing two key data storage divisions and laying off an undisclosed number of workers as it tries to stop the hemorrhaging at the firm that lost $107 million last year.

The SEC filing disclosed that the troubled data storage company terminated four key executives and planned to sell its Oakdale headquarters plus properties in Chile, London and Canada. Imation confirmed that the Oakdale property has not yet been sold but declined to name who beyond the four executives was being laid off.

Oakdale Mayor Stan Karwoski, though, received a certified letter Friday from Imation stating that 124 Oakdale employees were terminated Wednesday. The layoffs are permanent, begin Nov. 30 and will be completed by Dec. 14.

Those affected include the four previously named executives — Chief Financial Officer Scott Robinson, divisional vice presidents R. Ian Williams and Gregory Bosler and General Counsel John Breedlove — whose terminations are on a different timeline. Others being fired are 10 engineers and dozens of account analysts, sales and supply managers as well as paralegals, financing, operations and human resource staffers.

Several employees said that unlike the top executives, they will not receive severance.

Bob Streetar, Oakdale's community development director, said the state will deploy its Dislocated Worker Program team this month to help affected employees find new jobs. State job counselors, through the Minnesota Workforce Center in Woodbury, will assist workers with resumes, interviewing and using the state's job posting website to find new jobs.

The downsizings are the latest move by Imation as a new management team tries to maximize the value of a company that has struggled for years to make a profit from data storage products. Going forward, interim President Barry Kasoff said Imation will focus on its newly acquired and growing data storage and data security firms IronKey and Nexsan.

The latest sweep of changes will not come cheaply. Imation's SEC filing said it will incur $140 million to $160 million in charges that include executive severance payments, and the write-downs of intangibles and goodwill and the reclassification of property "held for sale."