Cbeyond cuts jobs as part of nationwide restructuring

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By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta-based Cbeyond laid off about 200 workers in its 14 markets nationwide Thursday.

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PHIL SKINNER/pskinner@ajc.com

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Cbeyond eliminated 14 jobs at its corporate headquarters, but half of those workers were offered another position at the company, CEO Jim Geiger said.

Most of the other jobs that were cut nationwide were sales positions and sales support jobs. All were offered severance packages.

Cbeyond sells IT and communications services to small businesses in 14 metropolitan areas nationwide. The company employs between 900 and 1,000 people at its Atlanta headquarters.

Cbeyond had a sales force of about 750 last year but began cutting those positions through attrition, Geiger said. Executives said Thursday that 300 positions would be cut, but about 100 of those jobs already were vacant.

The cuts are part of a shift in business strategy that focuses on cloud computing -- using a system such as the Internet to store information as opposed to storing it on large servers.

“There’s a lot of interest for small businesses to move their applications and services into a cloud offering,” Geiger said.

“We’re not abandoning what we used to do for a living, but we’re putting more of our resources into this right now.”