SEC Watch: WebMD To Cut Between 4-5 Percent Of Staff
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
WebMD plans to cut its workforce between 4- and 5 percent, according to an 8-K filing. Severance payouts from the layoffs will add a $2.5 million restructuring charge to WebMD's books in Q4. But don't blame the economy for this onethe company said tech-based operating efficiencies are driving the staff reduction, as well as a push to trim redundancies from previous acquisitions.
Still, the poor economy has dealt WebMD (NSDQ: WBMD) a number of big blows in recent months: its deal to acquire Quality Health parent MTS for $50 million went bust in November, right after its long-standing plan to merge with its own parent company HLTH Corp got scrapped in October. Then there's also the increased competition coming from the combined Revolution Health/Waterfront Media juggernaut.
By Tameka Kee