On June 5, 2000, the entire Creative Resources Unit of Amway Corporation was fired. The employees, who knew that cuts were coming, never expected that they would all be out of work. The Creative Resources Unit makes videos and does photography. Company spokesman Mark Bain said he wasn't sure how many people were involved in the cut, but a department employee told the Grand Rapids Press that at least 100 were involved in the layoff.

An additional casualty of the cutbacks is Nan Van Andel. The oldest child of co-founder Jay Van Andel, Nan has been a Vice President at Amway for 16 years. Most recently, she was vice president of Creative Resources, but with the elimination of the department, she apparently no longer has a role in day-to-day administration. She will, however, remain on the company's board of directors.

According to a story in the Grand Rapids Press on June X, former Amway senior business analyst Steve Schwartz believes that it is

"more than a coincidence that, at the time of this restructuring, one of the family members is no longer involved."

In the same article, Jim Stover, another former Vice President at Amway, observed that "reassignment of family members does signal that the company is going through a significant transformation."

Van Andel's responsibilities have been steadily scaled back for months now. Once responsible for communications and catalog operations, she has seen her departments restructured into other areas within the company.

Dan DeVos, another family member, left the company abruptly several years ago, and now owns several sports teams in the Grand Rapids area.

More about Amway's Layoffs

More About Amway

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