Carestream to Cut 500 to 700 Jobs ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - Medical imaging company Carestream Health is saying that it'll be cutting 500 to 700 jobs in the next few years. Half of those cuts are expected to be to the company's 1,400 person Rochester workforce.

Carestream is a Kodak spin-off, now owned by the Canadian firm Onex. Carestream spokesperson John Labella says the company is trying to "right size."

"It'll give us better margins on our products and therefore enable us to be more competitive in the marketplace with our pricing and with new product development. And secondly it'll just make us stronger for the longterm because as we begin to save money we can inject that into further development ... and marketing."

The 250 to 350 jobs to be cut over the next three years will come from areas like administration, information technology and finance, and could include manufacturing jobs. Carestream says it's exploring both outsourcing and off shoring, in order to reduce the cost of makings its products. Labella says currently revenues are strong, but industry benchmarks show that the company is too large to sustain its revenues.

Carestream became a firm when broke off from Kodak in 2007; it's owned by Canadian firm Onex. At its inception, the company had about 800 employees, and gradually expanded to its current size. Labella says cuts won't be made on a "last in, first out" basis. Instead, he says the layoffs will be determined within the groups targeted for reduction, based on the company's need for employees' skills.

Labella says Carestream is committed to keeping its headquarters in Rochester. He was not able to comment on whether or not executive compensation would be reduced or increased to match the layoffs.

Carestream manufactures high tech imaging devices like digital x-ray machines. The firm has manufacturing, support, and sales offices in 150 countries.
© Copyright 2009, WXXI