HOLMDEL - iCIMS, one of the anchor tenants at Bell Works, plans to lay off 69 employees and is subleasing some of its space at its corporate headquarters as part of a restructuring plan, officials said this week.
The technology company also said it would ramp up its investment in automation and artificial intelligence to help its customers use its product more effectively.
"As part of our companywide transformation, we’re optimizing other aspects of our business, which includes a restructuring of some of our teams and made the difficult decision to part ways with some team members," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
iCIMS, one of the Jersey Shore's biggest technology companies, develops talent acquisition software that is used by about a quarter of Fortune 500 companies. It has about 1,000 employees who work at the corporate headquarters in Holmdel and offices in Paris, Dublin, London and India.
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The company joins a long list of technology firms that ramped up during COVID-19 to meet the soaring demand of consumers who were suddenly working from home and now are scaling back.
iCIMS announced the layoff on Aug. 1, saying it would provide resources and separation benefits to help find a new job. Meanwhile, the company said it is reducing its footprint at Bell Works, where it leased 350,000 square feet in 2017, becoming one of the first major tenants to move into the redeveloped Bell Labs building.
A spokesperson said the company has adopted a remote-work policy in which employees are encouraged to come to the office two days a week. The result: It is trying to sublease about half its space, said Jon Meisel, senior vice president for CBRE, a real estate firm.
The job cuts at iCIMS come as New Jersey's labor market is showing signs of slowing from what was a torrid pace. The state from June 2023 to June 2024 added 53,300 jobs. By comparison, the state added 89,600 jobs in 2023 and 115,700 jobs in 2022.
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The unemployment rate of 4.6% in June was up from 4.4% a year ago.
Economists said the technology sector has been at the forefront of job cuts as they return to their pre-pandemic employment levels and turn their attention to AI.
"I don't see the layoffs as being particularly dramatic," said Michael Ehrlic, a finance professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology's Martin Tuchman School of Management in Newark. "I see them as kind of a fairly normal and relatively minor correction and a response to where they over-hired and grew too rapidly" during the pandemic.
iCIMS said it would increase its investment in automation and AI. The company in December named Jason Edelboim as chief executive officer. He previously was president and chief operating officer of Dataminr, an AI company that provides real-time alerts.
It marked iCIMS' latest step into AI. The company four years ago acquired Dublin-based Opening.io, adding machine learning to its platform, and it named its founder, Andreea Wade, as vice president of artificial intelligence.
Wade in a recent podcast called The Open Talent Report said employers could use AI not only to hire workers who would be good matches, but also to retain existing employees. It sets the stage for a paradox: iCIMS is embracing AI, but its business depends on employers hiring and training people.
Wade wasn't convinced machine learning would lead to widespread layoffs.
"It's clear a lot of jobs will be automated, but it doesn't mean that roles will be outright replaced," Wade said on the podcast. "But they will alter in nature."
Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter for the Asbury Park Press who has been writing about the New Jersey economy, housing market and health care industry since 1999. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bell Works anchor iCIMS lays off 69 workers, focuses on AI, as part of restructuring
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