Diebold is set to cut hundreds of jobs over the next two years, in a major plan to reduce costs. And the plan will affect the company's operations in the Akron/Canton area.

The cuts mean "less than 100" workers among the 1,900 employed at eight Diebold facilities in the area will no longer work there, according to spokesman Mike Jacobsen, who says that many of those cuts have already been made in some areas of the company.

"Marketing, sales support, and a lot of leadership positions," Jacobsen tells AkronNewsNow.com. "Senior leader, VP, director level and management level positions were affected by this recent decision."

The total number of job cuts - 700, mainly in North America.

Jacobsen says the company has actually invested in keys to its future growth, including in the Akron/Canton area.

"During the first quarter, we opened a new operations center for our electronics security group," Jacobsen says, "of about 60 employees in Green, on Massillon Road."

Diebold officials plan to sell operations in North Carolina and Virginia.

The moves company-wide will save the company about $100 million.

Executives at Diebold did not mince words when reporting their results for the fourth quarter of 2012, as well as for the full calendar year.

Executive Board Chairman Henry Wallace called the latest numbers "disappointing". The company reported revenues of nearly $80-million for 2012, but that's compared to nearly $145-million raked in for 2011.

Wallace told investors on Tuesday that cost reductions and structural changes will be needed to get back to those levels.

The company has seen a sharp turnover in the front office, with CEO Tom Swidarski stepping down as CEO in January, and other officials taking over new executive positions.

As for the search for a new CEO, Wallace said the committee has been formed, but there is no timetable for naming a successor.

In looking ahead to the rest of 2013, Wallace expects the numbers to remain relatively flat. They are encouraged, however, by a backlog of orders overseas.

The full report from Diebold is available with this story.

The city of Green will reap much bigger benefits than just a new headquarters building when Diebold builds its new corporate headquarters in the city.

Green Planning Director Wayne Wiethe (Wee-thee) says what will be developed around that corporate headquarters will mean new construction along the east side of the Massillon Road Corridor for another decade or more, involving more than 246 acres.

The two new projects are called Union Square and Park Place. The new development will stretch along Interstate 77 from Town Park Boulevard south, and includes land owned by Akron General Medical Center.

"We took a multitude of different zoning districts from industrial to business to office to a planned development area that Akron General was on, and just combined it into a planned development," says Wiethe.

As for what will be developed on the land ? " It has areas delineated . Like there's a small eight acre area of this that is kind of designated office-retail. Only about 13 acres of it will be residential. And then we have corporate headquarters and other office areas," says Wiethe.

Wiethe explains how the massive development project came together. " This has been a good working relationship primarily between Diebold and DeHoff Development, who are the developers of Union Square. They sat and they developed what they visualized. They shared that with the city."

Ground breaking for the new Diebold headquarters is expected in the summer of 2013, with the company moving into the new structure in 2015.

After that Wayne Wiethe thinks it could 15 to 20 years to complete the total development project.

While the Planning Department has signed off on the massive project, Green City Council will have to approve before it can become a reality.

Diebold has announced plans to move about 200 information technology jobs to India.

The Beacon Journal reports a portion of the moves will impact employees at Diebold's Green headquarters.

Diebold officials say the decision to move the jobs was based on making better use of software expertise in India and expanding the company.

The exact number of local jobs that will be cut are still unknown.

Around 80 employees currently work in Hyderabad, India.

On the Web: www.ohio.com 

Diebold has selected a new home for their global headquarters location.

Diebold announced Thursday that they have signed a purchase agreement for the 55-acre site in Green near the intersection of Massillon Road and Town Park Boulevard, adjacent to Interstate 77 south.

Plans will be finalized once the company completes environmental tests and approval from the government and community. Diebold hopes to break ground sometime in 2013.

Green Mayor Dick Norton says several offices for Diebold in Green, Canton and Jackson will be moved inside the new headquarters once it's built.

"They (Diebold) wanted a 'green site'," said Norton. "Where it's a site that never had a building there before so that they didn't have to do a reconstrcution or a reconfiguration of any property."

Diebold New Global Headquarters by Amani Abraham

Norton says he believes the new global headquarters will leave a lasting impression for residents and visitors.

"I'm convinced that what we see is going to be one of the features that stands out in the Akron-Canton region," said Norton.

The new corporate campus will house about 1,500 of the company’s employees.