Wow, ASE, so the space will be made available for sub-lease as of June?
Where will PBC be situated to do the work formerly done by Maximus? And presumably, several hundred Maximus workers will be let go?
No as mentioned above they want to move into a new space_ideally_by or before fiscal year end so they have several months to do so - but there is no drop dead deadline or pressure to do so, its simply a smart business move since they're paying for space currently mostly unoccupied. Remember Maximus Canada is part of a huge Virginia-based entity operating on five continents in nearly a dozen countries so pockets are deep.
The move will happen whenever they find suitable space, *ideally* by October - but there is no driving imperative to do its merely the happiest outcome given the current reality.
PBC is Burnaby-based and will remain so. Purely IMO - and let me stress I am speaking for no one beyond myself - at a guess considering Maximus' service level performance on this contract over almost 18 years has been exceptional I think the optics for an NDP government of having a US-based corporation managing MSP and Pharmacare was much less palatable than having a BC-based firm do the job. Again this is 100% my opinion and based on no hard information whatsoever. Obviously I was not part of the original bid team so am not privy as to the exact reasons why the BCG opted for PBCS.
I don't believe the number of displaced staff will be large; those Maximus people like me working on the current HIBC contract will continue to do so only under the PBCS umbrella. We move laterally exchanging one corporate banner for another is all. Current union policies, procedures remain in force and a new collective agreement was actually signed just last year so all is good on that front. Maximus Canada has many other contracts in place besides HIBC, including with other BC provincial bodies besides the MoH, so the remaining staff in general should be fine with a few exceptions here and there.
I do know of those IT folks who will not transition to PBCS many have already been offered positions with another large and very well known entity that also performs a lot of contracted systems and support work for various BCG ministries and related orgs, and so for the most part those folks should be ok.
Maximus also has a new national (Canada) managing director with some outstanding experienced executive talent and they will presumably continue to source out new opportunities wherever they present themselves including with other provinces and with the federal government in particular. Contracts already exist in both cases and have done so for several years now so they are relatively diversified in that regard.
When you think about it the business model is a nice space to play in by partnering up with all levels of government in whatever local or national or international market they exist: federal, state, provincial, county, territorial etc. With pressure on governments 'everywhere' to deliver services competently and professionally bearing in mind extraordinary costs and other intangibles like finding and hiring staff, Maximus will continue to do very well IMO. Its an extremely well run and managed org and I have immensely enjoyed my time working with and for them.