Packard Bell Changes Were in the Works

The Jan. 22 story on Packard Bell’s layoff of workers omits several critical facts (“Packard Bell Plans to Lay Off Some Workers at Chatsworth Center”).

Packard Bell had notified all of our service and support employees last October that we were seeking a new site for the department. On Jan. 10, we informed them of the company’s decision to move service and support to Utah and asked them to accept or decline an invitation to relocate. Only 30 to 35 workers, or 7% of our technical support employees, were not offered a chance to relocate, based on unsatisfactory performance reviews.

We were all impacted by the Los Angeles earthquake Jan. 17. Packard Bell’s technical support building was destroyed along with our corporate headquarters. We were forced to move to a new site and accelerate the opening of our Utah technical support facility.

Packard Bell is very concerned about all of our employees. We are offering psychological counseling to any employee who suffered in the quake. We are also offering assistance to anyone who sustained personal losses.

Sadly, the earthquake brought personal devastation for thousands of people. Businesses were affected also. Packard Bell is doing its best to restore normalcy to our employees and the community as quickly as possible.

BENY ALAGEM

Chatsworth

Alagem is president and chief executive of Packard Bell Electronics Inc.