HelpSystems, a U.S. cybersecurity company, that recently bought Canada-based tech firm Titus has laid off 20 per cent of the acquired firm’s employees, according to the Ottawa Business Journal.
Mike Devine, HealthSystem’s vice-president of marketing, said the cuts – which are in the “low twenties” he says – were part of a “restructuring” aimed at “reducing duplicate roles within the company, which has just shy of 1,000 employees worldwide,” according to the Aug. 19 article.
HelpSystems acquired Titus and U.K.-based data classification software firm Boldon James, in June this year.
“Adding these outstanding companies to HelpSystems’ security portfolio establishes the leading platform in data classification and meets customers’ needs for a comprehensive, powerful suite of data security options,” HelpSystems had noted in a June 25 press release.
The initial news announcing mega-corporate mergers and acquisitions typically shed light on global appreciation for better organizational operations, staff and services; and improved finances, when the two companies become one.
However, talking about the human side of acquisitions and mergers, it is often said that acquiring companies don’t care about the well-being of the employees of the firm being acquired. The saying stands true in this case, especially because this has happened in the middle of a global pandemic.
Headquartered on Preston street in Ottawa, ON, a provider of enterprise-grade data protection solutions comprising data identification and advanced machine learning technologies, Titus reportedly had about 130 local employees before this week’s layoffs. The company has customers in more than 120 countries around the world, which include Fortune 100 companies, and top government as well as military organizations.