Lauth cuts 40 more jobs at HQ
Cory Schouten - cschouten@ibj.com
IBJ staff
Indianapolis developer Lauth Group Inc. is letting go of at least 60 more employees, including 40 at its local headquarters, in its third round of job cuts this year.
The firm has pared its staff by more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year, from about 450 employees to 220, said spokesman Marc Lotter. The previous layoffs were in January and March. Those who are losing their jobs in the most recent staff reduction were informed this morning.
Lauth had frantically added employees in recent years to manage a booming development pipeline that has since sputtered. The company now expects its project volume for retail, office and industrial developments to drop by 30 to 40 percent next year, Lotter said. The lone bright spot is health care.
The company had grown to be the nation's 13th-largest developer prior to the three rounds of layoffs, each of which the company described as a realignment. About 90 percent of Lauth's business is outside Indiana, much of it in markets hit hard by the flagging economy and a challenged lending environment.
The company built $592 million in projects in 2006, up from $143 million in 2004. During the same period, the company grew from 168 employees to 405. Its revenue doubled from 2004 to 2005, then doubled again from 2005 to 2006.
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