Fidelity Cuts From HR, Retirement Plan Units

Fidelity Investments laid off an unspecified number of people, primarily from its human resources services and retirement plan services units.

The job cuts "weren't the result of a companywide directive, but rather were made by divisional leaders as part of a restructuring that took place last year," the Boston Globe says, citing a Fidelity spokeswoman. The spokeswoman described the size of the layoff as "a very small percentage" of Fidelity's work force of 46,000.

The casualties were concentrated in Fidelity's personal and workplace investing division, which operates retirement savings plans for other companies, and the human resources services division, which provides payroll administration and other outsourced human resources tasks for other companies. Some of Fidelity's own corporate human resources staffers were laid off as well.

No money management jobs were cut, the Globe says.

This is the company's third layoff round since last autumn. According to the Globe, Fidelity sent layoff notices to about 200 people last November and said it would lay off another 250 people in February in the wake of a restructuring that created the personal and workplace investing units. Although Fidelity's pretax income grew 22 percent last year, its new president, Rodger Lawson, has stressed a need to control costs.