• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 24, 2008

Nielsen, which has faced a number of high-profile data processing glitches over the past year that have led to faulty ratings reports, will lay off about 100 staffers in its primary data processing center in Oldsmar, FL. The Tampa Tribune this morning reported that Nielsen plans to shift that workflow to "outside contractors on site."

The cuts come as Nielsen continues to expand its data processing needs with rollout of new local people meter markets, the adoption of new time-shifted viewing streams for its local ratings reports, a massive data harmonization project for its national TV ratings, and the introduction for new audience measurement projects, as well as a live test of its so-called "integration" panel of TV and online measurement.

They also follow previous cuts in the data processing facility that began in 2006 when Nielsen announced a plan to reduce 10% of its global workforce.

A Nielsen spokesman quoted by the paper, however, said the total number of employees at its Oldsmar facility will fall to 1,500 following the new round of staff cuts, which is still up from 1,200 in 2001.

More recently, Nielsen cut 67 jobs from its internal technical support division, and outsourced 50 workers to TATA Consultancy Services, an Indian-owned global services company, according to Nielsen spokesman Gary Holmes.