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ROUNDUP
• EDS Leaving Poulsbo but Employees Will Stay
By Susie L. Oh, soh@kitsapsun.com
July 27, 2005
Poulsbo
EDS Corp., a Texas-based Fortune 500 technology firm, will
close its Poulsbo office and distribute the 150 employees
working there to other EDS offices or to client sites. In
addition, some employees will work from home.
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The move is part of a company-wide effort to reduce expenses
and consolidate real estate, said Maxine Levy, a spokeswoman
for EDS in Plano, Texas. Management in the Poulsbo office
declined to comment.
Since January, 125 people have been moved out of the Poulsbo
office. More than half were relocated to client sites. Levy
did not reveal the names of clients, but EDS is a Navy contractor.
The rest of the relocated individuals are working from home
or were sent to other EDS locations. The company has offices
in Bellevue, Federal Way, Keyport, Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane
and Vancouver, Wash.
The employees in Poulsbo are mainly skilled technologists,
such as programmers.
"Our employees are accomplishing the same work as before,"
Levy said.
By Sept. 15 the remaining 25 employees in the office will
be moved. Levy said she did not know of any layoffs at the
Poulsbo location, although the company offered its Poulsbo
employees early retirement options last year. EDS reported
last year that it could eliminate up to 20,000 jobs by 2006
to cut costs. The company employs 118,000 people globally.
EDS rents space in an 8th Avenue building in Poulsbo Village.
Part of the decision to close the office was made because
the lease is up in November, Levy said.
Poulsbo Village manager Bev Lyon said the building owners
are working on several leads to fill the space once EDS vacates.
She expects there will be additional retail in the building
to incorporate it into the retail core of Poulsbo Village.
Building tenants besides EDS include Curves for Women, Kitsap
Children's Clinic and the Glen Eden Institute.
Poulsbo Councilman Ed Stern said the news had a silver lining.
For one, more Kitsap residents working from home is a positive
trend. Stern believes the future of the Kitsap county workforce
depends on the use of technology to work from home and reduce
commute time.
EDS established a work-from-home policy for its employees
prior to the office closure. In 2003, 23 percent of employees
in Poulsbo worked from home at least once a week and of those,
more than half worked at home full time.
Teleworking, as its called, also has a positive impact on
traffic.
"There might be less people going to Starbucks or Quiznos,
but there's going to be less people using Highway 305 by the
same token," Stern said.
EDS has had a Poulsbo presence since 1984. The company is
publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It had $20.7
billion in revenues in 2004.
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