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Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) is reducing its B.C. headcount and shifting product development traditionally done at its sites in Victoria and Burnaby to Israel. The consolidation leaves the New York-based international printing firm with roughly 500 employees in B.C. The company has made significant staff reductions since July 2008, when it employed 1,265 employees in the province. A representative for Kodak wouldn't disclose how many jobs in B.C. are affected by the latest consolidation, which the company attributed to operational efficiencies. Another Kodak employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that roughly 100 jobs are affected. Many of Kodak's B.C. employees were involved in developing the company's prinergy workflow systems and other products in its unified workflow portfolio. Kodak's workflow products are used by commercial, packaging and newspaper printers to manage the print production process. Prinergy was originally developed by Vancouver's Creo Inc., which was acquired by Kodak for US$980 million in 2005. The Kodak rep said that while the company is shifting development work out of B.C., it is also strengthening its B.C.-based professional services practice that supports the unified workflow portfolio. The practice is responsible for customer technical support, worldwide business operations and marketing. According to a report from Morguard Investments Ltd., Kodak sold properties in Delta and Burnaby to Vancouver's Kingswood Capital Corp. for a total of $43 million in the third quarter of 2009. The properties included 465,000 square-feet of office and industrial space. Kodak didn't respond to a request for comment about the sales by press time.
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