Layoffs hit Dealer.com for first time in company history

Dealer.com is laying off about 45 employees as part of cost-cutting measures being implemented by its Atlanta-based parent company, Cox Automotive.

Cox Automotive announced last week it was planning to lay off 3 percent of its worldwide workforce of 35,000 people. The company placed the total number of layoffs worldwide at about 950.

The Dealer.com layoff is the first in the company's nearly 20-year history, spokeswoman Alison Von Puschendorf said. The company had about 1,200 employees in Burlington before the layoff.

RELATED:Dealer.com parent company Cox Automotive plans layoffs

"That doesn't mean we haven't let people go, but we've never had a layoff, nothing economic-based," Von Puschendorf said.

Dealer.com is one of Vermont's biggest business success stories, selling for nearly $1 billion to Dealertrack Technologies in March 2014. Dealertrack in turn was purchased by Cox Automotive in October 2015 for $4.2 billion.

Von Puschendorf said Cox is "right-sizing" after the "very significant" acquisition of Dealertrack. She said the employees affected by the layoffs range from veteran workers with 10 to 12 years of experience to people who started in the past year or two.

"There wasn't a cookie-cutter formula. It was really very thoughtful and meticulous about how positions were analyzed," Von Puschendorf said. "Everyone is important; that's the thing with these types of situations. One layoff is too many."

Von Puschendorf said some of the laid-off employees will continue to work through a transition period, while for others the layoff was effective immediately.

"It really depends on the function of the job and what's in the best interest of the employee and the organization," she said.

The company held discussions with affected employees Tuesday and is "working closely with them during this transition," Von Puschendorf wrote in an email.

In addition to providing severance and "outplacement support" from Cox Automotive, Dealer.com is working with several city and state agencies to provide additional assistance with job placement, Von Puschendorf added.

Employees leaving Dealer.com Tuesday afternoon declined to comment on the layoffs. Calls for comment to Gov. Phil Scott were not returned.

Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement that the city is working with Dealer.com to support its efforts to transition employees who lost their jobs into new jobs.

"I have met with the Dealer.com leadership and I'm reassured that the company remains committed to the Burlington office, which is the second largest office in all of Cox Automotive, and that the future outlook for its continued stability and eventual growth is optimistic," Weinberger said.

Von Puschendorf confirmed Dealer.com is committed to staying in Burlington. .

"Any time a company goes through this anywhere it's tough," she said. "But we are fortunate. We have an amazing group of people who come together on their own. it's a really supportive environment and the company is doing everything it can to help people through this."

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com.