WOONSOCKET – CVS Health Corp. on Friday announced plans to lay off 198 Rhode Islanders working at the company’s headquarters here and in Cumberland.
CVS spokesman Michael DeAngelis confirmed in a statement to Providence Business News that the 198 positions would be cut beginning on Oct. 21. DeAngelis said the layoffs will primarily affect corporate positions and will leave the employee count in Rhode Island at approximately 7,500 people.
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However, a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter the company planned to file with the state on Friday is for an estimated 500 employees, including those who work remotely from out of state but report to someone in Rhode Island, DeAngelis wrote. The federal notification law requires companies to alert the state Department of Labor and Training before laying off a significant number of workers.
The notice obtained by Providence Business News lists the number of employees in each job classification who will be laid off, as well as their termination date. While most of the employees’ last day is scheduled for Oct. 21, some layoffs will not go into effect until Dec. 30.
The filing comes after CVS announced on Aug. 1 plans to lay off 5,000 of its 300,000 employees nationwide but did not say then where the layoffs would occur.
DeAngelis told Providence Business News on Aug. 1 that the layoffs were part of the company’s plans to “reprioritize our investments around care delivery and technology.” He said affected workers would receive severance pay, benefits and access to outplacement services.
CVS runs prescription drug plans for major clients, including employers and insurers and covers over 25 million people across the country through its Aetna insurance arm. CVS’ second-quarter earnings and revenue beat expectations, but the company also reported a double-digit drop in profits from a year ago mainly because of restructuring and costs from acquisitions made earlier this year.
The company’s stock price has also dropped almost 10% over the past few days after Blue Shield of California announced that it would drop the company’s pharmacy benefit management services and instead partner with Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co., according to a CNN report.
(SUBS penultimate paragraph to clarify that CVS profit drop was year over year.)
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You can reach her at Castellani@pbn.com.
