SeaChange cuts 200+ jobs in turnaround effort
SeaChange International CEO Ed Terino.
Video technology company SeaChange International has eliminated more than 200 workers as it navigates challenges brought by a fast-changing industry.
The Acton company has struggled since last fiscal year, when it totaled about $48 million in losses. In January, it recorded an $8.4 million fourth-quarter loss.
CEO Ed Terino told Worcester Business Journal exclusively on Tuesday SeaChange has laid off more than 200 workers globally within the past year, cuts that will save the company an estimated more than $30 million. Compared to competitors, SeaChange’s revenue per employee was lagging, he said.
From more than 700 employees when Terino became CEO in April, there are now less than 500. The Acton headquarters, with engineering and other main-office operations, has just over 200 workers.
Terino attributed the company’s rough patch to what he called a tremendous amount of turmoil in the industry.
SeaChange provides video software for companies such as Comcast for its on-demand feature, but what started out as a television-heavy industry has since shifted to mobile devices. In the meantime, new and smaller challengers, such as Brightcove in Boston, have arisen.
SeaChange has seen its annual revenue fall from around $150 million a year to roughly half that, though that has also included some small components that have been sold off.
The company, which got its start 24 years ago in Maynard, hopes to return to profitability within the fiscal year, which ends Jan. 31.
It plans to bring to the market in the first quarter of this year a product called NitroX, which allows users to move between various devices - say, from television to a cellphone - while having the same content presentation and capabilities on each.
WBJ Web Partners
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