Kaiser Permanente is cutting 860 information technology jobs nationwide under a realignment that includes a $500 million deal giving IBM management duties at Kaiser's medical records data centers.
The Oakland, Calif.-based health maintenance organization said Monday it has signed a seven-year deal with IBM to maximize the performance of its data processing units.
The agreement with IBM puts 700 Kaiser jobs in jeopardy at data centers in California and Maryland. Phil Fasano, chief information officer for Kaiser Permanente, said approximately 40 percent of those workers could become IBM employees during a six-month transition period.
Kaiser is also eliminating an additional 160 information technology jobs scattered across 30 locations as it pares back spending due to the impact of the economic downturn.
Of the 700 employees affected by the IBM deal, 500 work at one of the California data centers, which are located in Pasadena, Corona, Napa, Walnut Creek and Irvine. Kaiser has a total of 6,200 IT staffers, so the job cuts affect 15 percent of that workforce.
Fasano said the average employee notified of a layoff will receive pay and benefits for eight months.