Pleasanton employees behind the scenes of Kaiser Permanente’s direct health care operations were among those impacted by the company’s most recent round of layoffs.
Although Kaiser’s patient-facing Tri-Valley outposts were not among those impacted by the strike, 43 administrative and IT workers at the East Bay health care organization’s Pleasanton offices were among the 184 employees cut throughout the Northern California region this month.
According to a statement from Kaiser, the move to cut staff from “business functions, primarily in IT and food services” – roles that do not provide direct patient care – came from an ongoing goal to “put our people and resources where they are needed most”.
“We do not make these decisions lightly,” a Kaiser spokesperson said. “The people affected by these staffing changes have made important contributions to Kaiser Permanente. We are helping them transition into other roles within Kaiser Permanente where able.”
That sentiment was nearly identical to one issued by a spokesperson for the company last year, when the Pleasanton workers were hit by two other rounds of layoffs. Those rounds brought the total number of layoffs at the Pleasanton office to 162 between November 2023 and June 2024.
While the 43 layoffs announced this month made it the largest round since then, the company’s Pleasanton workforce continued to be chipped away at earlier this year, with more than 80 positions already axed this year prior to the latest round. The 43 layoffs this month bring the tally to close than 200 local jobs lost since over the course of less than two years.
“It is important to note that none of these changes will affect the quality of Kaiser Permanente’s patient care and service, which is always our primary focus,” a Kaiser spokesperson said this month and in 2024.
