Tyson Foods Inc. recently announced that it has hired an outside service provider to accelerate the transformation of the company’s digital technology capabilities and reduce costs.

“The speed and scale of new technology presents a huge opportunity for us,” Tyson chief technology officer Scott Spradley said. “While we’ve made significant progress over the past two years enhancing our computing systems and digital capabilities, we need to drive more rapid improvements in our digital transformation to remain competitive.”

The company’s information technology (IT) leaders went through a year-long review that led to a decision -- supported by the company’s senior leadership -- that involves entering into a strategic relationship with a global digital services provider with offices across the U.S. and other parts of the world. This means Tyson will shift some of its current IT roles and responsibilities to the outside service provider.

“While it’s the right thing to do for the business, it’s a very difficult decision,” Spradley said. “That’s because it will result in organization changes in our information technology team, including some job loss.”

The transition to the service provider will take place over the next several months and will result in the displacement of about 330 IT team members, mostly in Springdale, Ark., and Chicago, Ill. This represents a large number of the positions the company previously disclosed it was eliminating through a restructuring program started late last year.

Some of the affected IT team members will be offered a position with the service provider. Others will be offered a severance and benefits package. Tyson is also bringing in a career transition services firm to help those being displaced find new jobs.