One of the companies that bought part of Signet Jeweler’s credit business a year ago and took on Signet credit employees as part of that deal said Thursday that it is laying off 150 employees working at Signet's Akron campus.

A man who declined to give his name said he was among the Akron employees with Alliance Data Systems who were told at a 10:45 a.m. meeting Thursday they no longer had a job as of that day. The entire second floor in the building where they all worked is now empty, he said.

"It's everybody," the now-former employee said.

Alliance Data Systems, with offices in Columbus and corporate headquarters in Texas, issued the following statement:

“To enable Alliance Data’s card services business to better leverage resources and capacity, the collections, customer care, security and human resources work currently being performed at its Akron Care Center is being consolidated into other Alliance Data facilities that perform the same or similar functions.

“As a result, 150 associates were notified that today that they will no longer have a position at Alliance Data.

“They will be paid for the next 60 days and will also be eligible to receive severance, in addition to outplacement services.”

The company declined to provide additional information beyond what was in its statement.

Alliance Data manages branded credit cards for retailers. The Plano, Texas, company on Thursday reported first-quarter revenue of $1.33 billion and net earnings of $149 million. Revenue was down 3 percent from March 31 a year ago while earnings were down 9 percent from $164 million a year ago. It said it expects to have $5.8 billion in revenue this year.

Signet Jewelers, the nation’s largest jewelry retailer with corporate headquarters in Akron, completed the outsourcing of its credit business last year.

The company announced it planned to exit the credit business in 2017 and that 900 of its Akron employees then would end up working for Signet’s new credit partners.

Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ