St. Charles sheds 254 jobs, still top C.O. employer

(Update: Adding St. Charles statement on job reductions, 344 current openings)

Despite a still-growing Central Oregon economy, the region’s largest employer — St. Charles Health System — shed 254 positions, or 5.7 percent of its workforce in the past year, according to Economic Development for Central Oregon’s annual list of the region’s 50 largest private employers, released Monday.

The new ranking still shows the medical system, with hospitals in four cities and numerous clinics, as the largest private employer on the High Desert, by far, with 4,183 workers. But that is the first drop seen in its employee count, from 4,437 workers last year, one of several of the top employers to see a workforce reduction from a year ago.

The list — made up of self-reported and unaudited data, which some businesses choose not to take part in — also ends a steady workforce climb for St. Charles in recent years that saw it grow to 3,724 employees in 2015 and 3,982 workers in 2016.

Asked about the lower workforce in the list,, St. Charles Public Information Officer Lisa Goodman provided this statement from the hospital, which is marking its centennial this year:

“Facing flat to declining revenue last year, St. Charles had to take a number of cost-savings measures, including offering buy-out packages to 72 caregivers and laying off another 30 more. We also put in place a strategic hiring council that scrutinizes every open position to determine whether it should be filled or if there is an opportunity to restructure the work.

“Taking these steps allowed us to stabilize our finances without significantly impacting the services we provide,” Goodman added.

Goodman also noted that St. Charles currently has 344 open positions, some because they “are difficult to fill, but we also have attrition.”

As for the rest of the list, Sunriver Resort moved up a spot to become the second-largest private employer in the region. The resort said it added 100 employees, for a total of 1,100, while Bright Wood Corp. grew to 986 employees, adding more than 70 workers and moving up from No. 5 to No. 3 on the list.

EDCO’s top-50 employers list showed Bend-based and Prineville-born Les Schwab holding steady at No. 4, with no change in its Central Oregon workforce of 926 employees. Safeway, which has merged with Albertson’s and closed its Redmond Albertson’s store last year, fell from No. 2 to No. 5 on the Central Oregon list, dropping from 1,013 employees to 878.

Mt. Bachelor added 70 workers, for a total of 840, holding at the No. 6 spot, while Fred Meyer, despite a small drop in its Central Oregon workforce from 652 to 628 still moved up to No. 7. McDonald’s also saw a reduction in its regional workforce, from 748 to 615, and traded places with Fred Meyer to come in at No. 8.

IBEX, the Bend call center, held steady at 540 employees, but that moved it up this year’s list to No. 9. Summit Medical Group-BMC (formerly Bend Memorial Clinic) reported it shed nearly 100 workers, dropping its employee count to 538 and slipping from No. 9 to No. 10.

There are quirks and caveats to any list — for example, in the 2018 EDCO Top 50 list, former No. 10 Walmart drops all the way from 10th to 21st, and from 628 workers to just 281 — but an asterisk and footnote notes that “some locations did not respond to requests for data.”

Here’s EDCO’s news release on the regional and community lists released Monday:

Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) is pleased to announce the 2018 Largest Central Oregon Employers, complete with breakouts of the top employers in each Central Oregon community. This data, collected by EDCO annually for nearly the past 20 years, is the most comprehensive major employer list in Central Oregon.

This year, the top 50 private companies collectively employ more than 21,000 Central Oregonians, or roughly 19% of the region’s current total employment of 111,427. St. Charles Health System tops the list again, employing over 4,100 people region-wide.

According to Damon Runberg, Regional Economist at the Oregon Employment Department, 78% of Oregon establishments had nine or fewer employees and the average private establishment employed 11 people in 2018.

“A big ‘thank you’ to all the tri-county companies, non-profits, cities and counties that provided information for these lists,” said Roger Lee, CEO of EDCO. “While our economy is dominated by small employers, the region has, over time, also attracted and grown some significant employers.”

EDCO often fields requests about the employment base and largest private employers from both traded-sector companies (manufacturers, high technology, and some professional service companies) and non-traded sector (retail and commercial businesses, education, healthcare, hospitality, construction, etc.) looking to evaluate the region for investment and new or expanded operations. EDCO’s regional list focuses on private (for-profit and non-profit) employers while those at the community level include both private and public employees.

“It is a significant undertaking to gather this data, however, we believe it is useful information from which trends can be seen on an employer-by-employer level, as well as shifts in the overall economy,” said Elise Rossman, Director of Marketing and Communications for EDCO.

To download the lists in their entirety, click the links below:
Central Oregon Largest Private Employers
Bend Largest Employers
Redmond Largest Employers
Jefferson County Largest Employers
Crook County Largest Employers
Sisters Largest Employers
La Pine/Sunriver Largest Employers

Data for the lists is self-reported and not audited, and is to be used as an informational guideline. Some businesses chose not to participate in these lists and are therefore excluded.

About Economic Development for Central Oregon
EDCO is a non-profit corporation supported by private and public members and stakeholders, whose mission is to create middle-class jobs in Central Oregon by: recruiting new employers to move to the region; helping entrepreneurs start new, scalable businesses; and working with businesses that are already here to grow their operations. For more information, visit www.edcoinfo.com.