[B]URLINGTON — Forty-five people lost their jobs at Dealer.com on Tuesday, according to parent company Cox Automotive.
“We held discussions with those impacted today and are working closely with them during this transition,” said Cox Automotive spokeswoman Alison Von Puschendorf in an emailed statement.
The statement said the type of positions affected “varied across the business,” and Von Puschendorf said it could be misleading to try to characterize the type of workers who were let go.
The newly unemployed will receive severance, access to employee assistance programs and “outplacement support” from Cox Automotive, which is working with city and state agencies to help them find new jobs, the statement said.
Dealer.com, located on Pine Street, provides advertising and web design services to auto dealerships. Over the last two decades it’s grown to be one of Vermont’s most successful startups and Burlington’s largest employers.
Tuesday’s layoffs represent close to 4 percent of Dealer.com’s roughly 1,000 employees. Cox Automotive announced earlier this month that it would lay off 950 people across its many holdings, or 3 percent of its global workforce.
“We are confident the changes we make today will position the company for greater long-term growth, stability and profitability,” the statement said, adding that the company is committed to keeping Dealer.com in Burlington.
That echoes a statement from Mayor Miro Weinberger last week when the Cox Automotive layoffs were announced. He said Dealer.com executives had assured him the company is staying put.
Weinberger said those conversations left him “reassured that the company remains committed to the Burlington office, which is the second-largest office in all of Cox Automotive, and that the future outlook for its continued stability and eventual growth is optimistic.”
