This story has been updated.
A defense contractor is laying off 279 janitorial and housekeeping workers at Brooke Army Medical Center when its contract expires in November.
CBRE Government and Defense Services announced the mass layoff in a letter to the Texas Workforce Commission this month.
“This layoff results from the end of our contract with the client,” wrote Howard Young, the company’s chief people officer, in the letter. “These layoffs are expected to be permanent. However, there may be an opportunity for the impacted employees to be hired by the new service provider.”
Employers with 100 or more full-time employees are required to submit a notice to the state under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988. Those layoffs are listed online by the commission.
Young’s letter said workers had been notified as of Oct. 1 and the layoffs would take effect Nov. 30, the same day the contract expires.
The $164.9 million contract was awarded to J&J Maintenance, but that company was purchased by real estate company CBRE in 2024 and rebranded as CBRE Government and Defense Services.
The agreement started in February 2021 and was later increased to $175.9 million.
Some workers are represented by the Laborers’ International Union of North America.
Matt Gonzales, business manager of Laborer’s Local 1095, said Teya Services, an Alaska-based contractor, will take over the contract on Dec. 1.
Federal spending records show Teya Services was awarded a $23.8 million contract to take on the work at BAMC until 2026, but that contract could be extended to 2031 for an additional $127.5 million.
Gonzales said the union already works with Teya Services at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo and Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio.
He expects a transition period where Teya Services conducts its hiring process, but added that in most similar cases, many workers are rehired and their wages and benefits would remain the same.
“Employees must still meet mandated requirements from the government to maintain access to the facility,” Gonzales said.
J&J Maintenance has several other San Antonio based contracts that will expire in 2026, according to a federal spending database. None are as large as the Brooke Army Medical Center contract.
The company will provide corrective maintenance at Tri Service Research Laboratory, near Brooke Army Medical Center, for $5 million. That contract expires in January.
J&J Maintenance has several other facilities support services contracts that are primarily performed in San Antonio and are set to expire in the spring.