On May 1, 2005, CH2M Washington Group Idaho, LLC (CWI), assumed responsibility for
the management and operation of the Department of Energy's (Department) environmental
reniediation project at the Idaho National Laboratory site. In its contract proposal, CWI
included a strategy for workforce restructuring to optimize employment levels and obtain
the proper skills mix to safely address the project's objectives. The Department approved a
two-phased restructuring approach, permitting CWI to separate up to 700 employees by
offering a voluntary separation program in January 2006; and, if necessary, an involuntary
separation program in March 2007. As a result of this initiative, 291 CWI employees were
separated voluntarily at a cost to the Department of $14 million.
