2 companies to lay off 550 in South Florida

2 companies to lay off 550 in South Florida

A Coral Springs-based company and the Miami office of a global company have announced mass layoffs.

BY HILARY LEHMAN
hlehman@MiamiHerald.com

Layoffs by two local companies will eliminate 550 jobs by May, according to documents filed with the state this week.

A Coral Springs-based company that distributes CDs and DVDs will cut more than 400 workers. And the Miami office of a global market research company will lay off 88 workers.
Source Interlink DVD/CD Distribution informed the state Friday that it will lay off 462 workers at its Coral Springs distribution center by May 4.

Employees whose jobs are eliminated will be offered jobs in Kentucky, said Cynthia Beauchamp, Source Interlink's group vice president for human resources and labor relations. But Source Interlink also plans to contact employers in Coral Springs to make arrangements for those who choose not to relocate.

Source Interlink bought Coral Springs-based Alliance Entertainment in 2004 and now plans to combine the local firm's distribution center with its own in Kentucky.
About 90 percent of the eliminated jobs are warehouse positions, Beauchamp said. The other eliminated jobs also will come from the distribution center, including supervisors, maintenance workers and security.

Source Interlink sells DVDs and CDs to retailers, and the Coral Springs warehouse had been its sole distribution site. The distribution jobs will be moved to Shepherdsville, Ky., where Source Interlink built a distribution center to merge its magazine distribution with its DVD and CD operation.

The magazine-distribution department of Source Interlink, which was already located in Shepherdsville, moved into the new facility in June.

The Shepherdsville building is 150,000 square feet larger than the Coral Springs facility to accommodate both distribution centers, Beauchamp said. Beauchamp said the layoffs will come gradually. They will start March 16, according to the document filed with the state.
Source Interlink will still have an office in Coral Springs after the layoffs, Beauchamp said.
Meanwhile, Synovate Inc., a market research company, will cut 88 jobs in its Miami office: 86 part-time telephone interviewers and two managers, said Greg Ouimet, Synovate's global director of telephone data collection.

The layoffs resulted from the ''economic climate'' and a company-wide review of its North American call centers. Synovate decided to focus on its centers in California and Iowa, Ouimet said.

The company will keep a small account group in the Miami office but is seeking new office space in Doral.

Employees will have the opportunity to relocate, Ouimet said.