YARMOUTH — DeLorme, the Yarmouth-based mapping firm, laid off 15 full-time employees today – the first layoffs at DeLorme in about 10 years.

Spokesman Caleb Mason said the the staff reductions were necessary as DeLorme strategically repositions itself to compete in the global marketplace.

Mason said DeLorme was founded as a print-based map publisher, but the markets have shifted toward digital.

“We will have to grow in other areas,” said Mason, who did not rule out the possibility of hiring new employees this year. 

All the workers, who were let go today, were offered severance packages and job retraining, Mason said. DeLorme currently employs more than 100 workers.

Last Fall, DeLorme won Popular Mechanics’ Breakthrough Award for a new handheld GPS that lets users send text messages from the world’s most remote regions. That achievement highlighted the evolution of DeLorme from a paper mapmaker to a leading player iin the high-tech field.

DeLorme is located in distinctive headquarters on Route 1 in Yarmouth. Its glass-enclosed lobby houses Eartha, a 41.5-foot rotating globe, which is believed to the largest globe of its kind in the world.

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