Allegis Group's Hanover lays off 80; Local Allegis cuts part of 1,000 nationwide

A financial services staffing firm has laid off 80 employees at its Hanover headquarters, part of 1,000 jobs the company cut nationwide. Allegis Group, which recruits workers for accounting & finance, banking, HR, & sales & marketing firms, is the latest victim of a stagnant economy, said Neil Mann, the company's Executive VP. "There's been a general decline in the business of our clients, and that's had a direct effect on our business," he said. The displaced employees, about 10% of the company's total workforce, were let go Feb. 19, he said. Workers laid off from company headquarters, about 8% of the Hanover staff, worked in the finance, accounting, human resources & IT departments. The rest of the layoffs took place at Allegis' 300 office locations across the country, he said. The largest privately held staffing company in the country, Allegis Group's operating companies include Aerotek, TEKsystems, MarketSource, Stephen James Associates, Allegis Group Services, and Major, Lindsey and Africa. The last time anyone was laid off was in 2001, Mann said. "We don't have any plans for another one. I certainly hope not. We all hope not," he said. Allegis is at least the third county company to announce sweeping layoffs in the past three months. A week before Christmas, Texas-based Harland Clark announced it would close its Glen Burnie check-printing plant in March, cutting 115 jobs. The company is also closing plants in NC & MN. At the end of January, Capital-Gazette Communications in Annapolis cut 111 full- & part-time jobs throughout the company. As of December, the unemployment rate in Anne Arundel County was 4.8%, compared to 5.6% for all of MD. "We're not bulletproof, but we remain fairly strong because of the high number of military & government jobs," said Andy Moser, Assistant Sec. for the state Dept. of Labor, Licensing & Regulation. "Those all act as insulating factors for the state." The national unemployment rate in December was 7.2%, said Moser, a former head of the Anne Arundel County Workforce and Development Corp. Still, "we are impacted by what goes on nationally," he said. "Companies with contracts outside of Maryland are impacted by what's happening in another state." The economy walloped the financial sector early on, forcing banks, mortgage companies & accounting firms to cut back on expenses like recruitment, Moser said. That's probably what happened with Allegis. "Companies are making do with less," he said.