Watertown-Based Athenahealth Laying Off Hundreds

WATERTOWN, MA – Watertown-based online health care provider Athenahealth will lay off 9 percent of its workforce, the company announced Thursday in its third-quarter earnings report. That amounts to over 400 people, a company spokesperson confirmed to the Boston Business Journal. Athenahealth reported more than 5,000 employees at the start of the year.

It is unclear how many of those cuts will be in Watertown, where the company has its largest office. Athenahealth also has locations in Belfast, ME; Austin, TX; Atlanta, GA and India and plans to close its offices in San Francisco and Princeton, NJ.

In its earnings report, Athenahealth wrote that the cuts will "result in a leaner, more simplified structure that is more responsive to client needs and is expected to improve employee engagement by increasing efficiencies, streamlining workflow, and enhancing accountability."

According to the Boston Globe, CEO Jonathan Bush said on a conference call Friday that the layoffs would focus on redundant positions and middle management.

The majority of the layoffs are expected to be made by the end of 2017, Business Journal reported.

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