PORTLAND, Maine — Maine-based payment processing company WEX Inc. plans to cut 55 in-house IT positions early next year as part of a move to outsource technology jobs.
The company announced its restructuring plan, including the cuts, on Wednesday. Trish O’Donnell, the company’s spokeswoman, said WEX plans to eliminate 80 existing IT positions and add 25 new in-house positions.
The company said it plans to bring another 33 IT staff from its contractor, Computer Sciences Corp., to its South Portland office. CSC, based in Falls Church, Virginia, has about 70,000 employees globally.
“This was a difficult decision as WEX has many talented IT professionals and some are going to be impacted by these actions. However, the company believes it is necessary to reshape the IT department to better enable WEX’s growth and align with its global footprint,” the company said in statement.
The company said affected employees will get at least five months notice, a severance package and job search help.
WEX in recent years has expanded its fuel card processing business into Europe and Asia by purchasing other companies. It reached a deal to purchase a fleet fuel processing competitor for $1.1 billion in October and bought ExxonMobil’s European fuel card business about one year ago.
It also has expanded into other markets, such as processing health care payments and travel payments.
WEX noted the changes would result in a net loss of 25 IT positions based in South Portland as of April 2016.
The publicly traded WEX said it “remains committed to maintaining its corporate headquarters in South Portland.”
The company has about 1,700 employees, with nearly 600 based in Maine.