"Zimmer has recently taken steps that further position the company for long-term, sustainable growth...Less than 5 percent of the global work force is affected by the realignment; that is true for the Warsaw site, where just over 100 of our total employment of more than 2,800 are affected," a company statement says.

The firm is nding retiree self-funding medical and life insurance benefits for all eligible participants Dec. 31, and the change will affect about 1,700 former employees in the United States and Puerto Rico, company officials said.

It was announced Thursday that the president and CEO of Zimmer Holdings has been named head of Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific Corp.