Restructing Charges - Note 6

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Restructuring Charges [Abstract]

Restructuring Charges Disclosure

6. RESTRUCTURING CHARGES

In 2011, we incurred $1.4 million in contract termination costs related to revised estimates of our future rent obligations associated with a vacated leased facility, net of sublease income. The revised estimates are based on a final settlement with the landlord, which includes exiting from the lease arrangement in July 2015, rather than the initial lease expiration of March 2019. The final settlement also reduces our total future lease commitments from $9.6 million to $3.8 million, which includes a lease termination and other fees of $1.0 million. Of the $3.8 million in future lease commitments, we expect to pay out $1.7 million in 2012 and the remaining balance on a declining basis through July 2015.

In December 2011, we also initiated a cost reduction plan, which included workforce reductions and a plan to transition our operations in Canada to our Germany facility. We expect to recognize synergies through the consolidation of our operations and anticipate a cost reduction of approximately $0.5 million in 2012 and approximately $1.2 million per year thereafter. As of December 31, 2011, we recorded $0.5 million in employee severance benefits related to this restructuring. We expect to incur an additional $1.1 million in employee separation and other charges related to this restructuring plan in 2012.

In 2009, we incurred $2.6 million in restructuring charges, net of reserve adjustments. These restructuring charges primarily consisted of employee severance costs related to a significant reduction in our workforce.

The following table summarizes our restructuring activities for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009:

	Employee	Contract
	Severance	Termination
	Benefits	Costs	Total
	(thousands)
Balance at December 31, 2008	$ 3,496	$ 1,240	$ 4,736
Restructuring charges	2,859	159	3,018
Payments	(5,859)	-	(5,859)
Reserve adjustments	(407)	(15)	(422)
Balance at December 31, 2009	89	1,384	1,473
Restructuring charges	-	-	-
Payments	(83)	-	(83)
Reserve adjustments	88	(178)	(90)
Balance at December 31, 2010	94	1,206	1,300
Restructuring charges	452	1,437	1,889
Payments and settlements	(370)	(76)	(446)
Reserve adjustments	(94)	94	-
Balance at December 31, 2011	$      82	$ 2,661	$ 2,743

As of December 31, 2011, $1.2 million of the restructuring balance was classified as short-term and recorded within accrued liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet, and the remaining $1.5 million of the restructuring balance was classified as long-term and recorded within other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheet.