Distributor Ingram Micro will lay off 150 people at its headquarters and distribution centers, but says it is working to make sure that solution providers don't experience any service disruptions as a result.

The 150 make up half of Ingram Micro's layoff of 300 employees in North America, announced a day ahead of the company's scheduled earnings announcement. Ingram Micro employs about 15,000 people worldwide, and the announced cuts this week represented about 8 percent of its North American work force.

"As you’d expect, a number of these associates are being asked to stay on board for a period of time while the company makes the necessary transitions to ensure business continues to run smoothly and there are no service disruptions to customers [vendors and VARs]," says Keith Bradley, Ingram Micro's president of North America. "Communications are happening now within the company.  Outreach is also under way to Ingram Micro customers as well."

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In addition to the 150 at the headquarters and distribution centers, known as "National Logistics" centers within Ingram Micro, the company will cut 100 from its Buffalo, N.Y., location and 50 in Canada.

Carol Kurimsky, vice president of marketing at Ingram Micro, was among the casualties of the announced cuts.

Ingram Micro says the announced cuts are part of the company's so-called optimization plan, first mentioned in December 2008.  This is the first action taken to implement that plan.

Ingram Micro has said that the majority of actions within its optimization plan are related to "internal" measures rather than staff cuts, including things such as cutting the travel budget.

"Right now we’re facing a marketplace lined with many uncertainties," Bradley says. "The desire to postpone spending is understandable, but not sustainable. Businesses need IT in order to grow and thrive, and we expect demand to return to the IT industry—it’s just a matter of when, not if.”