DST Systems job cuts hit 1 percent of workforce globally

Kansas City-based DST Systems Inc. confirmed Thursday that it laid off about 1 percent of its workforce through cutbacks across its global business network.

The company had at the start of the year about 13,420 employees in Kansas City, other U.S. markets and overseas. Its brief statement did not indicate where specific cuts were occurring. Roughly two-thirds of its employees work in the United States, including several thousand in the Kansas City area.

“This announcement reflects DST’s ongoing efforts to create and maintain healthy and sustainable businesses that are reflective of current and anticipated market conditions,” an emailed statement from the company said. “Overall, these actions were necessary to better position DST for long-term financial success in 2016 and beyond.”

The job cuts include eliminating a small DST brokerage office in Baltimore, though some of its employees will continue to work for the company.

DST’s CEO, Steve Hooley, told employees in an email that the “actions were most heavily concentrated in the financial services and enterprise services areas of the company, although many other business units had some level of impact,” according to a Kansas City Business Journal report.

A copy of the email was not available.

In April, DST reported to state officials in Pennsylvania that it would eliminate 107 jobs in a DST Health Solutions office in Harrisburg that is closing at the end of June.

In 2014, DST cut about 150 jobs across its businesses in Kansas City, Jefferson City, Connecticut and India, which involved closing an office in Jefferson City.

The latest job cuts come after DST had reported growth in its health care and financial services businesses and improvement in the profits of its customer communications business. The year had begun with DST management alerting investors that the stock market’s rough start to 2016, currency market trends and other issues presented a headwind against DST’s performance.

DST’s emailed statement said the company is providing severance, job placement and other benefits to those losing their jobs.

The company provides data processing and other services to financial firms such as mutual fund companies and health care businesses. It also provides printing, mailing and digital communications services to clients.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 3:12 PM with the headline "DST Systems job cuts hit 1 percent of workforce globally."