Layoffs and consolidations at Citrix

FORT LAUDERDALE Software company Citrix Systems has notified regulators that it plans layoffs and office consolidations beginning in the current fourth quarter and continuing into 2018.

None of the consolidations would be in Fort Lauderdale, where Citrix owns three buildings and leases one. But layoffs will be “across most functions,” said Stacy St. Louis, spokeswoman for Citrix.

She said as Citrix broadens its services on the cloud, where the internet is used to maintain data and applications, the company will be hiring people with the skills it needs to make that transformation.

Citrix confirmed with media in North Carolina that there were employees who lost their jobs at the company’s downtown Raleigh operation this week. Citrix had announced plans in December to hire 400 workers in Raleigh and make a $5 million capital investment, which made it eligible for a nearly $6 million grant, according to The News & Observer in Raleigh.

The company has employees worldwide, with major operations also in Santa Clara, Calif.

The corporate restructuring will involve the elimination of full-time positions and consolidation of leased offices, according to a Citrix filing on Wednesday with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

“This is the classic painful part if you want to be a hub for technology companies. You have to be nimble,” said Bob Swindell, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, which works with companies on expansions.

He said when Citrix redesigned its Fort Lauderdale campus in 2015, it created flexible floor plans to shift workers as they needed. “They’ve been really creative,” Swindell said.

Citrix said it expects to record $60 million to $100 million in charges for the restructuring program. Included in those costs are $55 million to $75 million in severance costs, according