Avon, CVS Caremark among companies laying off

About 950 pink slips are expected to be handed to workers around Chicago and the suburbs in coming months, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

The state agency, which posts official notices of companies that plan layoffs, reported about a half-dozen companies that plan to eliminate jobs starting this month. Suburban companies include:

•New York-based Avon Products Inc. will close its distribution center in Glenview by May and put the building up for sale. Layoffs of 242 workers are expected to start in February. The Glenview work will be shifted to a new center in Zanesville, Ohio, said John Lyons, Avon's acting human resources manager.

Avon has had its warehouse on Golf Road since 1970 and fulfilled orders for Avon representatives from 13 states. Avon intends to keep its manufacturing facility, which makes makeup and personal care products, across the way on Golf Road in Morton Grove, said Lyons.

•CVS Caremark Pharmacy Services will close its mail pharmacy-dispensing operations facility in Gurnee by April 1, said CVS Caremark spokeswoman Christine K. Cramer. Teams are in place to prevent any disruption in mail pharmacy service to clients and plan participants, Cramer said.

•Salt Lake City, Utah,-based Teleperformance USA said it will close its office at 17 W. 642 Butterfield Road, Oakbrook Terrace, and eliminate 231 positions by Jan. 31. Workers were notified in December, the state document said. The call center management firm has about 100,000 workers in 267 in 48 countries, according to the company Web site. Calls to company officials were not immediately returned.