Navient to Lay Off Nearly 1000 BPO Workers

American BPO company Navient is preparing to lay off approximately 945 employees as part of a broader cost-cutting strategy.

The impacted employees are primarily supporting a government program that is set to expire in the next few months, according to reports.

A large majority of these workers currently work remotely and around 800 of them were hired temporarily, the company told New York’s Labor Department. The layoffs are expected to go into effect by the end of May.

The layoffs align with Navient’s previously announced plans to streamline operations and save US$400 million in operational costs.

The Delaware-based company outlined these intentions in a press release on January 30th, mentioning “strategic actions” like outsourcing student loan services and potentially divesting its business processing division.

The restructuring may involve shutting down call centers and Omni customer service operations.

Navient began as Sallie Mae, primarily supporting the federal student loan program. Later, it diversified into providing business process solutions for government agencies. CEO David Yowan, explaining the decision to investors, highlighted the overlap between these areas.