AVID Technologies, Inc. is not a name that many people outside of the field of engineering really know about. For those of you who are not familiar with the company here is a look at how they have chosen to describe themselves,  “AVID Technologies, Inc. provides comprehensive engineering and design services to enhance customer success in the development and creation of advanced electronic products. Our team of 50+ technical professionals serves customers in all markets from medical and military to process control and consumer electronics.  Our acute process and project management expertise ensures responsiveness and effective customer communications.” Apparently the company is hoping that they can do that without a significant portion of its staff.

How significant of a portion of the staff? Well the company is getting ready to get rid of about 360 of its workers in a bid to cut back on its expenses. For those of you who are looking at the big picture this is a loss of about one-fifth of the overall staff employed by the company. These kinds of losses are not really a sign of health for the overall company.

These kinds of losses are more then enough to qualify as a mass layoff action under the current federal guidelines. For those of your who are not familiar with the idea of a mass layoff action here is a look at how the federal government defines the term, “The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.”

The company, which is based in Burlington, has also announced that they are going to also be selling off the portion of its business that deals with consumer audio and video products. The company describes its consumer based initiatives in the following terms, “ AVID demonstrates extensive experience with regard to consumer product technology requiring a high level of knowledge of how a product will be realistically utilized by consumers. We offer innovative solutions throughout the design phase to enhance a product’s success in this competitive and global marketplace, including cost verses performance objectives, high-volume production criteria, and local or overseas sourcing alternatives. AVID’s Expertise in the Consumer Market Includes: – RFID Reader Electronics for Animal Tracking – Interfaces and Radio Designs for Home Control Applications – Wireless Walkie-Talkie – Real-Time RF Response System for Audience Participation – PowerPC Internet Server for Home Monitor and Control” And those are the kinds of services that the company will be selling off in order to set profits to right. The company is expected to get about $91 million from the sale of these sections of the business.