CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Sodexo, one of the world's largest food service companies, is eliminating approximately 80 positions at its facility in Cheektowaga and moving the jobs to Mumbai, India.
Internal documents obtained by 7 News reveal the impacted workers will be notified by the end of October, and if they stay on until the transition in complete in March, they'll receive a 10% bonus as they train their replacements overseas.
Sodexo refused to answer questions from 7 News but provided a written statement.
Sodexo is leveraging its global strengths and resources by moving selected activities from its Finance Shared Service Center, located in Buffalo, NY, to its Business Services team in Mumbai. The company will also continue to employ a Finance Shared Services team in North America, who will work closely with their Mumbai colleagues to serve the needs of the business. We recognize the impact this decision has on our people, and we are committed to supporting our employees through this change.
State Sen. Sean Ryan (D-61st District) is critical of the move because Sodexo was awarded nearly $4 million in taxpayer subsidies in 2015 when it decided to move into the newly-built Cheektowaga facility.
"Good luck keeping up with (Sodexo), because they're just going to go where their next dollars is," Senator Ryan said. "Like they'll move down the Thruway. They'll move to another country to save 2%. You can't win that fight."
Senator Ryan wants the Erie County Industrial Development Agency to claw back the remaining 3 years of Sodexo's awarded property tax abatement, which would amount to around $800,000. He acknowledged the sales tax incentives given to the company, which amounted to almost $1 million, are "gone", because that money was used to actually build the facility.
"We've just got to get out of the game of subsidizing billion dollar corporations," Senator Ryan said. "It's a fool's bet, and we need to stop making that bet with taxpayer dollars."
The president of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency told 7 News by phone that the IDA will take a close look at whether or not Sodexo is meeting the jobs requirements that were in the 2015 agreement. He believes Sodexo has fallen short, even before the upcoming layoffs. The IDA will reach out to the company to see if further action is needed, he said.
