November 10, 1999
WMU to reduce staff one-fourth
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___Woman's Missionary Union will eliminate one-fourth of the staff positions at its Birmingham headquarters in an effort to "stabilize expenses," the agency's leaders announced Nov. 2.
___The downsizing will not affect any program personnel, said spokeswoman Teresa Dickens.
___The 39 positions to be eliminated--out of 150 total--fall primarily in the areas ofcustomer service, order entry and information technology, Dickens said. The majority of the affected workers are hourly employees rather than salaried employees, she added.
WANDA LEE
___Most of the functions currently performed by these employees will be outsourced to third-party vendors, she said.
___The first and most pivotal of several third-party contracts has been signed with Media Services Inc. of Birmingham, which will provide technical and personnel support for WMU's customer service requests.
___WMU customers should experience no difference in the way they order materials, Dickens said, explaining the changes to be introduced all will happen behind the scenes. "Media Services will have 10 customer service representatives" assigned to assist WMU customers. "When they answer the phone, they will still say, 'Woman's Missionary Union.'"
___Negotiations are ongoing with other vendors to outsource additional operations such as information technology, travel planning and food services.
___All the changes are projected to be in place by March 31, and the majority of affected employees will have jobs through that date, Dickens said.
___"The challenge of staying current in technology has been consuming more and more of our fiscal budget for several years," said Wanda Lee, national WMU president. "In an effort to stabilize these expenses, the WMU executive board previously discussed and affirmed the possibility of contracting with outside vendors to assume these responsibilities.
___"The goal of the board was to free up more of WMU's revenue to support the central purpose of WMU, which is to provide the best possible missions-education resources for churches," she said.
___"While this is a reasonable decision from a business standpoint, it is a heart-wrenching situation from a personal angle," Lee said. "All the employees at national WMU are loyal, dedicated workers. They see their jobs as a ministry and thereby are not just working, but fulfilling a spiritual commitment."
___All employees in positions to be eliminated will receive a "generous" severance package and out-placement assistance, Lee said.
___WMU leaders cited no specific cost-savings figures in their announcement. The effect on the bottom line probably will not be immediate but should become apparent in future years, Dickens said, noting a major reason for the change was the perpetual expense of upgrading equipment.
___WMU derives the bulk of its operating income from the sale of age-graded periodicals and other missions-education literature. Circulation of these periodicals has been declining steadily over the last decade, with some publications experiencing more than a 50 percent drop.
___According to data reported in SBC Annuals, Accent, the magazine for teenage girls in the Acteens missions education program, had an average circulation of 46,084 in all its editions last year, compared to an average of 105,423 just 10 years before. Missions Mosaic (previously Royal Service and Contempo), the magazine for adult Women on Mission members, has dropped from a circulation of 378,308 a decade ago to 250,818.
___National WMU does not receive any allocation from the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program or the two Southern Baptist annual missions offerings, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, which it promotes.
___WMU receives a combined total of about $500,000 annually from the SBC's International Mission Board and North American Mission Board, Dickens said.
___The changes come at a time when WMU is awaiting election of a new executive director. Dellanna O'Brien retired from that post this fall, and a search committee has yet to recommend her successor.
___However, the process leading to the staff reduction was started before O'Brien retired, Dickens said. Over the past year, WMU leaders have engaged two separate consultants to analyze the agency's operation, and both independently made similar recommendations, she said.
___The timing of the news release was dependent on finalizing negotiations with Media Services, she said.
___Having this difficult transition completed before a new executive director comes on board will be "very good" for that person, Dickens predicted. "It will be a tighter ship, and she will not have to make those decisions."
___Wanda Lee
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