After a decrease in student enrollment, WyoTech in Laramie laid off over 40 employees on Wednesday.

Krissy Humenesky, public relations manager for Zenith Education Group, says the layoffs were the result of a continued decrease in enrollment over the past several months.

The Laramie campus of WyoTech was purchased by Zenith Education Group in February. The school was previously owned by Corinthian Colleges Inc., which recently closed 28 of its schools.

Humenesky says the decline in enrollment has been happening since before Zenith Education Group purchased the school.

She says several factors have played a role in the lower student population.

“I think it’s been impacted by several factors, including enrollment caps in certain programs and a reassessment of our marketing program,” says Humenesky.

Guy Warpness, Laramie WyoTech Campus President, says that the layoffs have brought the staff down to about 90 personnel, reducing the staff by around 30 percent. He says about four of those laid off were part-time employees, and the rest were full-time. Warpness notes that this will affect every area of the school, and positions of all kinds were let go during the cuts.

Humenesky says that those employees who were laid off received either a 60-day notice or a 60-day payout. She adds that a severance was made available for full-time employees who were laid off.

While there are no guarantees of staffing, Humenesky says they do not anticipate further layoffs in the near future.  Warpness adds that if enrollment were to increase, those who were laid off may have the possibility of coming back to the school.

Warpness says that the reduction in staff is difficult for all involved.

“Times like this are always hard. They’re hard on everybody concerned,” says Warpness. “It’s hard times. It’s hard things to go through.”

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