South Florida tech giant UKG announces layoffs

One of South Florida’s largest tech companies is laying off hundreds of employees.

UKG announced the layoffs in an email to staff on Wednesday. UKG is perhaps best known for its sponsorship of the Miami Heat basketball jerseys, which ended after the 2022-23 season.

The company offers human resources and personnel management software. It has two headquarters, one in Broward County.

UKG did not say how many jobs it would cut at its Weston site. The decision to cut 14% of its workforce equates to a loss of around 2,000 jobs.

In an email to staff shared with WLRN, CEO Chris Todd said the job cuts “will create a more agile and responsive organization.” He wrote that they come after a comprehensive review of its business and “a reorientation of our investments to better support our strategic objectives.”

The layoffs are concentrated in the company’s U.S. operations. In addition to its headquarters in Weston, the company has a headquarters in Massachusetts. That dual-headquarters structure is the result of the 2020 merger between Kronos in the Bay State and Ultimate Software in South Florida.

“Largest office renewal in Broward”

A year ago, UKG expanded its presence in western Broward County by leasing more office space in a four-building complex. At the time, the total leased space was described as “the largest office turnover in Broward County since 2019” by Deanna Lobinsky, executive director of real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield, which represented UKG’s landlord.

UKG had planned to inform its employees next week but brought forward the announcement due to speculation about layoffs within the company. Some employees affected by the layoffs were informed the same day.

The company did not say whether any of the affected employees would be offered early retirement or other severance incentives. However, in the email to staff, the CEO said employees who lose their jobs will be offered severance packages, prorated annual bonuses and job search assistance.

In May, Broward County’s unemployment rate was 2.8%, one of the lowest of any county. Florida added more than 14,000 tech jobs last year, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association, making the state second only to Texas in new tech positions. And South Florida ranks fourth in tech job gains among major metropolitan areas. The trade group’s analysis of government employment data found that by 2023, one in 22 people working in the region is considered to be in the tech sector.